Posted: Nov 10, 2011 10:21 am
I can remember feeing awkward at school because my friends were in higher sets for maths. If it was obvious so that everyone, not just your friends, knew... Fucking hell.
As for the comment about the best students getting the best teachers etc... The "best" students (that should say "most interested") always get the most attention from teachers. If a student is REALLY interested in your subject, you will spend more time with them because they will have more to ask you, it's that simple. It's not about ability. The thing is, if you enjoy something, you do tend to be good at it and continue to get better. In my opinion, it's less about ability and more about personality. It's shy kids who really miss out in school, even if they are paying attention and doing the work, one can't help wonder how much better they could be. The world praises those who are, to a certain degree, quite loud and willing to make themselves noticed.
Not quite the same thing, but in the UK (at least in my experience) you're practically forced to go to university, which in itself is such a blatant removal from discovering what's best for the student. Every level of schooling is just about doing well to get to the next level, there is no thought about an end place... At 17, to complete my A-levels, I had to apply to university otherwise I'd have failed the course. The thing is, how can there be consideration for an end place when you're so young? My logic was just plog along and do things I enjoy, but when It came to uni I put it off for 2 years, taking a foundation course and a year out because I simply didn't know what to do, but eventually felt forced into it. I studied a pointless subject and now I have a pointless debt.
As for the comment about the best students getting the best teachers etc... The "best" students (that should say "most interested") always get the most attention from teachers. If a student is REALLY interested in your subject, you will spend more time with them because they will have more to ask you, it's that simple. It's not about ability. The thing is, if you enjoy something, you do tend to be good at it and continue to get better. In my opinion, it's less about ability and more about personality. It's shy kids who really miss out in school, even if they are paying attention and doing the work, one can't help wonder how much better they could be. The world praises those who are, to a certain degree, quite loud and willing to make themselves noticed.
In Ontario, for example, you are "guided" into a set in certain subjects but people can and do choose the "college" or "workplace" streams themselves, and at least there's a sense of choice involved. You can also fight the guidance department and get into a "University" stream. You can change the course of your life at 15, 16, 17-- and you will find people who did.
Not quite the same thing, but in the UK (at least in my experience) you're practically forced to go to university, which in itself is such a blatant removal from discovering what's best for the student. Every level of schooling is just about doing well to get to the next level, there is no thought about an end place... At 17, to complete my A-levels, I had to apply to university otherwise I'd have failed the course. The thing is, how can there be consideration for an end place when you're so young? My logic was just plog along and do things I enjoy, but when It came to uni I put it off for 2 years, taking a foundation course and a year out because I simply didn't know what to do, but eventually felt forced into it. I studied a pointless subject and now I have a pointless debt.