Do you think the strict regime of schools act as a barrier for students to think in their own unique and creative ways?

[boy230]

Hello I am currently attending high school and I feel as though I learn much more meaningful information on holidays than I do at school, I spend countless hours studying for exams and to complete assignments but I feel as though all this time is being wasted when the possibility is there for us to all individually become something unique to benefit not only our selves but society as well. I am almost fnished with my highschool studies but I feel as though all this time I have spent studying for the sake of it is to get a job, I mean a job is neccesary to live in the current society in present but should'nt school be more than that should;nt schools allow students to think more about what they are learning and questiong everything they encounter(which is what I like to do, but after vigours hours of studying I feel the need to conform to a sort of thinking where I just do what everyone else is doing for the sake of passing and doing well in my school exams)?

 

... I don;t know, the world just seems so confusing

 

I mean if we were given the time to think about solutions to problems with a new way of unique thinking we can create for ourselves, rather than learning a method to solve a problem and then applying that method to a wide variety of problems which later on becomes a subconscious way of thinking.. we could actually evolutionise the world at a much faster rate with innovation and creativity for the benefit of all people!!!!

Edited September 12, 2013 by boy230

[ajb]

In my view school should give you some of the tools needed to think and disseminate your ideas in the right way.

 

School also should expose you to subjects that you would not have encountered otherwise. Most of the actual information you will probabily forget later. For example I know that I have forgoten lots of things that my biology and geography teachers told me, and that is independent of doing well or not in the exams. But this is not the point, the point is that I have some awareness that people do study biology and geography and that these are part of collective human collective knowledge. That is our culture.

 

The same can actually be said about my school education in physics and mathematics. Much of what I was told in high school I cannot really remember, I relearned it at university and of course greatly extended my personal knowledge. Could one simply skip school and go on to university?

 

In principal one could to an extent. But how would one know what to study and if that would actually suit ones tastes?

 

Similar statments could be made about finding work after high school. It is tough and you may not be able to do what you would really desire, but you have some feel if you think you are best suited to an office job or an outdoor job. School helped you form some idea of that, as wells as developing your own personality and traits.

 

In short, school is not just about pure academic learning.

[timo]

Not sure about the school system in [wherever you come from]. But in many countries school takes roughly half of a student's awake time (guesstimated, taking into account weekends and holidays). Doesn't that leave plenty of room to "think about solutions to problems with a new way of unique thinking" on top of understanding the mainstream? For those genuinely interested in it, I mean.

Edited September 12, 2013 by timo

[boy230]

Not sure about the school system in [wherever you come from]. But in many countries school takes roughly half of a student's awake time (guesstimated, taking into account weekends and holidays). Doesn't that leave plenty of room to "think about solutions to problems with a new way of unique thinking" on top of understanding the mainstream? For those genuinely interested in it, I mean.

Not sure about the school system in [wherever you come from]. But in many countries school takes roughly half of a student's awake time (guesstimated, taking into account weekends and holidays). Doesn't that leave plenty of room to "think about solutions to problems with a new way of unique thinking" on top of understanding the mainstream? For those genuinely interested in it, I mean.

If you study as much as I do so that you can get the best possible results necessary for the career you want in life it is very tiring and demanding, half of my awake time? there is studying also which i do alot of in order to keep up with 5+ courses i do at school and get an A for every subject each term... this takes alot of energy and drains you alot, which is why my mind is always focusing on school not on being unique and creative which teachers don;t care about because creativity is not included in the criteria of our assesments... this is highschool not middle school

[ajb]

...being unique and creative which teachers don;t care about because creativity is not included in the criteria of our assesments...

There are plenty of problems with how pupils, teachers and schools are assesed. Unfortunantly, examination results seem to be the thing people focus on. I am not sure how else to do it, and this maybe the best way we have at the moment, but I think we should try to find other ways.

[EdEarl]

Generally a person needs two things from an education: 1) credentials 2) a love for learning. Credentials are needed to get a job. A love for learning is needed to understand how to live and how to enjoy life. To understand how to live and enjoy life, one needs more than rote learning of facts and processes necessary to get a job; one needs to know about the arts, sciences and philosophy.

 

Ones formal education from first grade through high school, technical school or university is mostly about getting credentials for a career. In this culture, that means spending lots of time learning rote facts, which is often boring. Unfortunately, this learning process can create a hate for learning rather than a love of learning, and educators and their administrators need to improve their methods in some cases. If you survive and get credentials and still love learning, you can always study the arts, sciences and/or philosophy to learn how to live a better, happier life.

 

Live well and prosper.

[timo]

Technically, no one forces you to study all the time and get an A in every subject, right? Isn't is a bit off to complain about not having time for "creative thinking" when the reason you lack the time is because you decided to spend your time otherwise? That having said I of course understand that you'd prefer getting As for doing what you like, not what the school's evaluation scheme demands (I'm not being cynical here, I mean it). But I also believe that there is some common set of skills that everyone should have to some extend, irrespective of how uncreative they are. And I personally believe that testing these skills and common knowledge is a good thing, whereas testing "creative thinking beyond common knowledge" is impossible. Your spelling and especially your punctuation are quite "creative", for example. And I don't believe they are fit for a person that considers it important to note that his/her educational background is beyond middle school.

 

To extend what EdEarl said: Keep in mind that what you learn in school is not everything you need to, for example, become a successful scientist. It is the bare minimum knowledge that everyone should have been exposed to (see the comment by ajb). Neither do you need to be perfect in it, nor does having an A in school math give a guarantee that you're ready to study math at university or even become a successful mathematician. I believe that if you enjoy building robots that play soccer then by all means you should build some in your free time. Even if that means you get a B in your biology class and won't get accepted into MIT (who probably much rather accept someone building soccer playing robots than a boring study-all-day kid, anyway).

[CaptainPanic]

For really smart and motivated kids, school can be tedious and boring, and a bit of a waste of time. They would absorb more knowledge if they had more freedom.

 

But for the large majority of kids, more freedom means playing more video games or hanging out with friends. And I am not sure that is a good way to get started in life.

 

Also, school teaches you more than just what is in the books.

[cladking]

I hate to break this to you but school is going to get much worse after high school. I don't want to discourage you from college but you sound a great deal like me at your age. In school you are allowed to think for yourself but when you get to college this changes with most of the teachers.

 

Perhaps what you are seeing is similar to what I saw. The root of the problem is that there is so much knowledge today that it is broken up into an ever increasing number of specialties. This is necessary for most individuals to serve a function in a society where most human effort and natural resources are wasted. Most employers don't need efficient employees they need employees who do what they are told. So the situation is that most people get pidgeon holed into some job that is beneath their training no matter how little they've had. Adults lose most of what they learned in school because they aren't allowed to think. This is all great for the status quo which is what most people think they want because no matter how bad they have it they fear change. They fear it will get even worse. It's better to spend 14 hours a day picking through a junk yard for food and scraps than to have no junk yard at all.

 

The problem is specialization. There are no generalists. No one is trained to look at entire systems and see the illogic, waste, and inefficiencies. Each individual tends to see only tiny parts as defined by their field of study.

 

It is not wise to follow in my footsteps but I would make some suggestions. Don't believe anything until it fits with what you really know and has been independently verified. You will believe what you want to believe so always try to believe the truth. You will become your beliefs so it's helpful if they are palatable. Try to not forget whatever you learn even if this means reviewing your favorite (most accurate) text books every few years. In college read some of the reading lists and never be afraid to form your own opinions (don't necessarily report them because they won't be seen favorably).

 

There are only two reasons to be here. We are here to make the world a better place for our children or future generations and to have fun. Don't overindulge or neglect either. Decide now how you want to live your life and select a pursuit that is most favorable to it. Lofty ideals are very out of fashion so try to keep them out of your selection process.

 

Best of luck. I'm sure you'll do great (and have fun).

[CarbonCopy]

But for the large majority of kids, more freedom means playing more video games or hanging out with friends. And I am not sure that is a good way to get started in life.

 

If someone were to convince these students of how amazing learning is, they would spent more time in self learning. But, school gets in the way of that. If a student doesn't like school for whatever reason, he would have an aversion for the things taught there and would be frustrated with it. Thus, he would look to other activities as catharsis. So, school is the root problem, not the students.

 

 

The education system is more interested in catching fish for students so that they can be fed at that time and can pass an exam, whereas what students really need is to be taught how to catch the fish itself, so that they can feed themselves for a lifetime.

To me the whole ideology of our education system is broken. It's time we fix this, as we are wasting the most valuable resource, our human resource.

[hypervalent_iodine]

There are plenty of problems with how pupils, teachers and schools are assesed. Unfortunantly, examination results seem to be the thing people focus on. I am not sure how else to do it, and this maybe the best way we have at the moment, but I think we should try to find other ways.

 

When I was in my senior years of high school, the school system in my state had just been changed to pull the focus away from exams in the sciences. Instead they implemented some new types of assessments: Extended Experimental Investigations (EEI’s) and Extended Research Investigations (ERI’s). There were set up so that students were given a research question, but designing the experimental set up (where applicable) and generally deciding how to answer the question was left up to the student. Getting a pass in these was fairly straight forward and you were given some level of direction from teachers, but in order to get an A you were really required to apply yourself and be creative in your approaches. I think these worked excellently for students who, like me, wanted to be challenged and IMO, they really encouraged you to go out and learn about the topic (I also had the benefit of some incredible biology and chemistry teachers). Compared to the older system, I found it to be infinitely more engaging and conducive to student learning. Certainly, the school system here is broken in many other ways, but this is one thing I think they got right.