Blog 41

I am attempting research into the eternal questions that all parents invariably face; is it ultimatley better to put my child in a private or a public school? Parents are told to weigh the options, looking for what they feel would be best appropriate for their own kids. Personally, I came into public school at 8th grade, having a solid 8 years in a parochial private school. (Well, actually two parochial private schools) I know the essential gist of ow these two systems can operate, and so I understand the selling points that come with both of them.

My internet research turned up some interesting articles;

http://www.publicschoolreview.com/articles/5 - an article that chooses to focus on the balance of pros and cons in both systems

http://www.greatschools.org/find-a-school/defining-your-ideal/private-vs-public-schools.gs?content=59 - a somehwat shortsighted, yet relevant article focused more on the reasons why the debate is even a debate

I recently read an article in Page 11 magazine in this past Sunday New York Times that, while not relevant to my research question, was still an interesting perspective on schools. I wasn't able to track it down online, but essentially the article spoke of a legislator in one of the western states who proposed getting rid of the whole senior year of high school. The journalist who wrote the article was heavily biased towards the concept of getting rid of the "unnecessary" year and generally heavily opposed to teenagers in general. I somewhat agree with the idea of only three years of high school, but at the same time, I understand the opposition. (The idea was met with overwhelming disdain) To leave high school friends beind is no easy task for a high schooler, and senior year is the buffer that makes it easier. This is the last time we all spend together, so why not make it last?

Blog 40

Interviews With People About School (No Imaginative Title today.)

Interview With P. McCarthy (Dad)

Do you think that students get a better education from a private institution or a public one? Why?

Private. Less children in a classroom, the private school system have more resources, and therefore better equipped to provide. Public schools are to tied by bureaucracy, and while they may be fantastic individually, they fall down together.

How important do you value education for your children? To what lengths would you go to achieve the best possible level of education?

On a scale of 1-10? 10. It's not the lengths that I would go, it's the lengths my children are willing to go. Parents don't educate kids, they just put them in a position where they can be educated.

What do you think of homeschool?

I thinks it's highly impractical. Somebody then has to be at home, and that person has to be better educated in most disciples than ordinary teachers.

I think kids that aren't self motivated, for them it doesn't matter what school they go to. They're either intellectually curious or they aren't.

Can you make a kid intellectually curious?

not that i know of, schools offer a various selection of branches of intellectual curiosity, and its up to the kids to find them interesting. A certain amount of that has to do with what you do with your kids as they are young, ie reading to them or something.

If it would present a better opportunity for students to learn would you move?

provided that they were self motivate,d I would absolutely move. I think that tuition also shouldn't be a barrier from preventing kids from reaching their maximum potential.

What material do you think is the best to teach students?
Should they cater to an individual interest?

schools should have a well rounded curriculum, broad-based. at least for high school level, and college becomes the place where they can choose their own individual paths.

What do you think of the broad based material that we all tend to learn in high school? what kind of relevance does it hold for you, an adult out of college?

you can have a conversation with anyone; you dont have to be like duh. it makes you articulate and able to hold up in conversation. the stuff that is important lasts, the stuff that gets used lasts.

Get schooled

Good song to listen to about school - Signal the Riflemen by Say Anything

Questions
1.) Why do we put so much faith in teachers to show us how to do things 'properly', even though they are truly only students of other students?

2.) Why don't we learn about what's relevant to our lives personally? Why do we sit through hours of muck instead of getting life teachings?

3.) Why don't teachers secede that they are learning at the same time we all are? Why not admit that they haven't actually got it all figured out?

Ideas
1.) School is really just a place to herd youth together in a single place in order to subject to the vicious opinions of the board of education.

2.) School is also a place where we can unite with one another under a common banner, where we can find a common enemy and good friends.

3.) A place where if you lock in and focus on success in the system, you can do wel and later on in life get a good paying job and stable living.

Experiences