The Dumbing Of America, page 1
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reply posted on 12-3-2008 @ 07:10 PM by Scalamander



reply posted on 12-3-2008 @ 07:48 PM by xander68
reply to post by Scalamander



The dictionary disagrees:

TRANSITIVE VERB: Inflected forms: dumbed, dumb·ing, dumbs
To make silent or dumb.

www.bartleby.com...


reply posted on 12-3-2008 @ 08:17 PM by ProfEmeritus
reply to post by Master_Wii


As someone who spent most of his working life in industry, and the last decade in academia, I can say that I was shocked the first year that I taught at a college full time. The incoming freshmen lacked basic skills in English, math and life skills. Their grammar and spelling was atrocious, many of them couldn't even perform simple calculations without a calculator, and most of them didn't know how to balance a checkbook. These, by the way, were students going into the business field!
The amazing thing was looking at their transcripts. Most of them had A's and B's. The "dumbing down" starts in elementary school and continues through high school. The students are concerned with grades, in fact, that is all they are concerned with. How did we get into this situation?
Well, I think there are several causes.
1.) New technologies have allowed students to produce without thinking.
2.) Teachers Unions have encouraged mediocrity. Those teachers that try to go above and beyond are chastised by other teachers and union reps.
3.) Parents put so much pressure on school boards regarding grades, that the school boards then pressure the administrators, who then pressure the teachers, who then just give in , and give everyone A's and B's. (One student told me that in his high school, the grading system was as follows:
Come to class, do some homework, You get an A
Come to class, you get a B
4.) Concentration on memorization, rather than thinking and learning.
5.) Standardized tests, with multiple choice, true/false, memorization. Why are they so popular? They are easy to grade. No thought is involved on the teachers' part. By the way, many students told me that their high school teachers would go over the tests in advance, and give them the answers. Furthermore, many of them allowed NOTES during the tests!
6.) A precipitous decrease in the amount and quality of homework given to students.
7.) Rampant cheating by students, using text messaging, etc.
8.) Poor role models in real life, where cheating, dishonesty, and "If you can get away with it, do it" attitude, are prevalent.

There are so many more reasons, but suffice it to say, that our educational system in this country is in as much trouble as our economy.


reply posted on 12-3-2008 @ 08:45 PM by GAOTU789
reply to post by ProfEmeritus



That is a guideline to what is happening right there folks.


For anybody really interested in this subject, I recommend that you have a look at John Taylor Gatto, You can find his ebooks on line. Former New York State 3 time teacher of the year who is very critical of the school system in America.


reply posted on 12-3-2008 @ 09:10 PM by bobafett1972
While I do not disagree with this, it isn't the complete truth. Though this is based on my life experience and not supposed facts. I didn't really want to learn until I went to college. I can not say what clicked inside of me but thank god it did. Maybe it was the fact that I actually wanted to be there. It was my choice to learn. Then after college I continued to want to learn new things and expand on things that I already had learned as well.

Though where are we really, when we have an entire generation growing up using internet slang in real life? And we continue to let then get away with it. That mixed with new social norms that every form of media seems to condon: You can do nothing and be a millionaire.

Maybe this is just me rambling or maybe not. Though I disagree with the title; I think it isn't just America that is "dumbing down". But people have to want to learn at some point as well. We, as individuals have to ask questions; have to yearn for knowledge.

It is easy to look around and see this in action. All I have to do is turn on my television and here a so-called news anchor use the word which is not a word, "misremember" and see it and hear it in living color. I am sorry, just because thousands, if not millions of people are doing it does not make for a valid arguement that it should be done.

Then again there are too many issues to list. Teachers can not really teach anymore. They have to walk a fine line as to not upset anyone living in our politically correct, sue happy nation. And they are still out there; teachers that want to teach. That actually do care about the youth of this country.

I would like to think that it is like anything; that it comes in waves. But it seems to only be moving in one direction the last 20 to 30 years. Only time will tell.

~B


reply posted on 12-3-2008 @ 09:36 PM by ProfEmeritus
You have made some excellent points. I had many students like you, students that were not inspired by their prior educational experiences.
One of the things that I tried to do, was tell students exactly why they were learning what I was teaching. I also told them to question me, and don't be afraid to tell me if they disagree with me. I tried to encourage thinking, not memorization. I gave numerous group project assignments, which enabled students to exchange ideas, and learn from each other. I even took them to actual businesses, and had them interact with business leaders, so that they could see what the real world was all about. Student groups had to create their own business enterprise, create a business plan, develop a product or service, and then "market" it to the rest of the groups. Almost all of the students expressed how much "fun" it was. In the process of having fun, however, they learned much more about business than they ever could from a textbook. The students were extremely supportive of my teaching techniques, but as I'm sure you can imagine, I was not very popular with the "pure academics" (those people that inspired the saying "Those that can, do...those that can't, teach"), and the book store was not very happy with my choice of "textbooks", namely paperback books such as "Getting to Yes" by Roger Fisher. I always gave the students advance notice concerning the books we would be using, so that they could get it from addall.com or other resellers, at a fraction of what the bookstore would charge.
As you can imagine, I made a lot of enemies, but NONE of them were students. When students were ready to graduate, I had no trouble placing them in businesses that I had worked with, prior to my "retirement job" in teaching. I still get emails and phone calls from former students that tell me how much our activities in the classroom prepared them for the real world.
I think that the entire system is backwards. Instead of hiring teachers and professors right out of college, I think they should have to go into the real world, and succeed in a real job for 10-15 years, before they can teach.
HOW CAN YOU PREPARE SOMEONE FOR THE REAL WORLD, WHEN YOU'VE NEVER BEEN THERE?



reply posted on 12-3-2008 @ 10:12 PM by ProfEmeritus
reply to post by bobafett1972


Thank you for being the student that you were. It is students that make our lives worthwhile. Sometimes, people will ask me how many children I have, and I'll reply, oh about 4,000, because those students are like my children, and I am so proud of what they have done with their lives.

What I would say to people that want to teach is the following:



    Go into teaching, only if you love people, and only if you can admit that you can learn more from students, than they can learn from you.

    Understand that the more you do above and beyond what the teachers unions dictate you should do, the more you will be despised by your "colleagues". (colleagues -from collegial -meaning in harmony!)

    Ignore those colleagues, but always be there for your students.

    Hold many office hours, and let students know that they can discuss anything with you.

    Be there for them, not just as a teacher, but as a mentor, a friend, and someone they can go to, if they need help, not just with academics, but life and life's problems.

    Learn to have a hard shell, because you will become the instant target of the "established academics". They will do everything they can to disparage you to the administration, and the students.

    Know, however, that if you do what is right by the students, they will stand up for you.

    Find the few teachers that are like you. They will need encouragement also.

    The other good teachers will be easy to find. The students talk, and are very honest with their views on teachers



reply posted on 14-3-2008 @ 01:47 PM by Holygamer
reply to post by Swadriboth



Home schoolings a double edged sword.

On one hand your getting a more then likely better education, BUT your also not getting exposed to other ideas as often, and may not be achieving your full Platorian scholarly ideals by only being exposed to one teachers views. (usually your parents)


reply posted on 14-3-2008 @ 02:15 PM by Swadriboth
Originally posted by Holygamer
reply to
post by Swadriboth



Home schoolings a double edged sword.

On one hand your getting a more then likely better education, BUT your also not getting exposed to other ideas as often, and may not be achieving your full Platorian scholarly ideals by only being exposed to one teachers views. (usually your parents)


In a sense couldn't you be exposed to even more diverse views through books? Oddly enough I don't ever remember my parents actually telling me what to read, there were books to choose from, on all sides of the spectrum.

But I agree, if done incorrectly, the bias can be pretty insane.


reply posted on 14-3-2008 @ 08:45 PM by ProfEmeritus
Homeschooling, like traditional schooling is what you make it. One myth that seems to be prevalent in this country is that the better the college or university(translation-prestige and high tuition), the better the education. Students can get an excellent eduction from virtually any accredited college(and even some that are not accredited). The effort that a student puts into her/his studies will determine the level of education.
Now homeschooling does diminish one aspect of education, and that is the group interaction aspect of learning. It is possible to participate in group learning as a homeschooler, but it requires much more effort and resourcefulness to accomplish that. Since most(I know, not all) homeschool programs certified by the states involve the internet for test taking, and some lessons, small networks could be set up for group discussions and group projects, at the secondary level. It is much harder to accomplish this at the elementary school level, however. I homeschooled our youngest adopted child, because our child was the target of racial and ethic prejudice, which the public school did not make any attempt to stop. (being called the "N" word continuously(Colombian child, dark skinned), and being told that our child should "go back to the country you came from, because we don't need your kind here").
Our child ended up going to a Big 10 University, getting a 4-year degree,
and attaining the Dean's List. Our child was very active in groups at college, and did not seem affected by the lack of student interaction during the high school years.
Even sites like ATS may help broaden a high school homeschooler, although some of the threads get a little rough at times, with flamers, and I'd have to think about that more. I think that may have to be moderated by a parent. I know the mods here do a great job, but since it's "Live TV", so to speak, things get out that may be harmful, before they're cut out.
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