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HawkeyeLinus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2020
5,816
42,070
Iowa
To George‘s point, critical thinking and pulling together facts is a lost art. In schools, if a student were to think for themselves based on the above points, they would find themselves in trouble when they expressed any factual ideas that weren’t based on emotions or feelings or whatever the agenda of the day is.
Hard disagree there - but not enough time or energy to discuss the tensions between those who dictate curriculum and how it is delivered and those who actually teach - bad and unmotivated eggs in every basket and we are now a full generation and beyond into an era where kids and parents aren’t held accountable (what I think is the other side of the equation). Many sides to it!

I’m biased but the one thing that gets my wife excited about a school day is still an example of a kid that can work stuff out, reason, demonstrate original thought.

What were we talking about? :)

If we are really talking about how folks search for and receive information, sounds interesting.

But that question has nothing to do with the inclusion and/or juxtaposition of threads used as a jumping off point for various discussions.
 

Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,960
14,335
Humansville Missouri
My wife and youngest daughter are both too humble to agree with that, so I’ll just say there are no professions more important, IMO.

How about this.

Without schoolteachers in dozen years those that could not read would be the slaves of those who could.

The public schools are the most important government program in any democracy.

You must be able to spell demagogue to recognize one.
 
Wait, it's early and the coffee is still working its way to my brain. What exactly is this thread about? Research, Briar Lee's vocabulary, or schools in general? As I scan all of the posts, the discussion just seems to be knee jerk reactions to some word in the OP.

That said, it never ceases to amaze me how Kevin has been able to keep pipesmagazine in the top 10 first responses to any searches related to pipes. That's a guy who knows his internet.
 

HawkeyeLinus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2020
5,816
42,070
Iowa
Wait, it's early and the coffee is still working its way to my brain. What exactly is this thread about? Research, Briar Lee's vocabulary, or schools in general? As I scan all of the posts, the discussion just seems to be knee jerk reactions to some word in the OP.

That said, it never ceases to amaze me how Kevin has been able to keep pipesmagazine in the top 10 first responses to any searches related to pipes. That's a guy who knows his internet.
Yes. :)
 

telescopes

Pipe Dreamer and Star Gazer
Hard disagree there - but not enough time or energy to discuss the tensions between those who dictate curriculum and how it is delivered and those who actually teach - bad and unmotivated eggs in every basket and we are now a full generation and beyond into an era where kids and parents aren’t held accountable (what I think is the other side of the equation). Many sides to it!

I’m biased but the one thing that gets my wife excited about a school day is still an example of a kid that can work stuff out, reason, demonstrate original thought.

What were we talking about? :)

If we are really talking about how folks search for and receive information, sounds interesting.

But that question has nothing to do with the inclusion and/or juxtaposition of threads used as a jumping off point for various discussions.
37 years in the industry as someone who taught at the local level as well as worked as a professor and helped design curriculum at both the state and national level - I’ll stand by my statement. Of course a forum like this is not capable of much more than a cursery statement or two and of course at a micro level expectations and experinces will wildly differ. But none of my colleagues locally or nationally would or do disagree with my overall statement. I am glad your wife likes her job and her students. All my colleagues as well as myself do and did as well. We all saw students who were excited and we all were a part of something fun and important. And yet the ship of public education is sinking no matter how well the band plays on or the deck chairs are rearranged. The testing data and the proformance data are not made up. American schools are frighfully bad and there is no actual testing data that can refute that statement. Antidotal evidence and personal stories are great for pipe forums apparently.
 
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HawkeyeLinus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2020
5,816
42,070
Iowa
Anecdotal evidence and personal stories are great for pipe forums apparently.
We can only relate our own experiences. Wife has 37 years as a HS teacher, a daughter teaching HS, a sister teaching at a private university, I’ve taught at the community college and major university level, heck my Grandma had a long career starting back in the days she had to get married in secret or lose her job, lol. So sure, we all have our backgrounds which color our opinions.

I don’t think anyone would seriously debate we have serious issues and challenges in the educational system - my small point was pushing back at the general suggestion that teachers squelch or discourage individual thought in students. Nothing more than that.

We won’t fix it here but yes, personal stories are what we’ve got and always happy to read any you may share!
 
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We can only relate our own experiences. Wife has 37 years as a HS teacher, a daughter teaching HS, a sister teaching at a private university, I’ve taught at the community college and major university level, heck my Grandma had a long career starting back in the days she had to get married in secret or lose her job, lol. So sure, we all have our backgrounds which color our opinions.

I don’t think anyone would seriously debate we have serious issues and challenges in the educational system - my small point was pushing back at the general suggestion that teachers squelch or discourage individual thought in students. Nothing more than that.

We won’t fix it here but yes, personal stories are what we’ve got and always happy to read any you may share!
We have a segment of the population that has bought into a mistrust of anyone with higher education, mistrust of education, mistrust of media, mistrust of science, logic, real research in general, and an overall mistrust of facts. So, we have a segment of the population that lives in an alternate universe, where these alternate websites keep feeding them anti-knowledge and false narratives. People who do these weird connect the dots type of reasoning without any acknowledgement of any real statistics, validity, or reliability in their points. They just weave these vast conspiracies... and there is no real point in discussing things with them, because when your whole argument is "distrust," there is no reason or logic that will dispel any of that. So, we just have to coexist with these folks.
 

HawkeyeLinus

Lifer
Oct 16, 2020
5,816
42,070
Iowa
LOL. I woke up extra cranky today after 3.5 hours of setting in traffic in the middle of the desert. I always appreciate your post as well.
My pup woke me up at 4! But that just allowed me to watch an extra couple hours of Andy Griffith so I'm not my usual cranky, lol - always puts me in a good frame of mind. As to any more in this thread I say, "Tick a lock!"
 
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Gandalf The Grey

Might Stick Around
Feb 6, 2024
69
247
Origanally from Oxford, England
"Never memorize something that you can look up."
-Albert Einstein

The art of vetting sources have become a bane in this society. Too take a simple path of asking a question to which you want a simple answer is now wrought full of peril in today's want-now-I-dont-want-to-do-it-myself society.

People will ask questions and use anecdotal stories to get the point across as they know them. This is an old method that still works but people grow tired and want direct answers when the stories explain the answer and not just give the answer.
 
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Briar Lee

Lifer
Sep 4, 2021
4,960
14,335
Humansville Missouri
Wonderful logic. I suppose by your thinking you must be able to spell demagogue to be one.

Xxxx

The State Department recognizes 195sovereign nations, including the 193 member states of the United Nations, as well as the Holy See (Vatican City) and Palestine, which are not UN members.

Xxxx

If we are to be our own masters, responsible only to ourselves, then we must as a nation resolve the ancient landmarks of our constitution and our unwritten traditions of self government, be taught in the public schools down to the last hillbilly boy who can see Bug Tussle, Missouri from his house.

We must each know instinctively no man how high or low, is beyond the reach of the law.

We must have confidence our laws and institutions however imperfect are constantly striving for perfection.

We must know our neighbor cannot force us to worship his Gods nor can we limit his.

You must know Lincoln’s Lyceum Address before you can be a responsible member of American society.


The other 194 sovereign nations are not going to establish our schools , build our bridges, defend our nation, or pay one school teacher a penny.

That is the burden of American civilization.
 

sardonicus87

Lifer
Jun 28, 2022
1,347
13,998
37
Lower Alabama
I mean, there are studies that show critical thinking skills are decline, well at least one study. Of course, it blames the pandemic, but I think that just hastened what was already there and already happening, most didn't notice until it was really bad:
 
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