Reference: Subject: Education
Education in schools seem to be taking a nosedive. The need for self-learning seems to be greater than ever. Self-learning is a life long activity. The student should be self-learning naturally from what he observes, reads and listens. But the current education system seems to make it so difficult that the student gets discouraged and gives up.
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Mathematics & Language Arts
The subjects of mathematics and language-arts are very important. Mathematics helps develop the discipline of critical thinking. Language-arts helps develop the ability to communicate precisely. But these subjects are not taught that way in the school system. The students are increasingly confused and less motivated to learn.
The first action should be to clean up all the confusions that the students have in mathematics and language-arts, and then teach these subjects with the purpose to sharpen critical thinking and communication. This will motivate them to start learning again.
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Development of a Subject
A subject comes about because there is some human need to be met. It has a scope. It starts out with a basic premise. Concepts develop around this premise as the subject develops. The subject acquires a certain logic. A person who is having difficulty in a subject has holes in his understanding. These holes seem to parallel the logic of the subject.
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Handling of a Subject
So we first clarify for the student the need for the subject, and its scope so he can relate to it. Then we clarify the premise of the subject, and the surrounding concepts. Then we go over later concepts in a logical sequence and resolve remaining confusion.
So we handle confusion of a student in a subject by clarifying the logic of the subject. This tells us that the curriculum for any subject should follow development of its logic starting from its purpose and basic premise. The textbooks also should follow the logical map of the subject, but that doesn’t seem to be the case with most textbooks these days. So, a person, interested in learning, must discover the logic of a subject for himself.
Data on most subjects is available on Internet these days, but the student need to rearrange that data in a logical order to fully understand the subject. This is a skill that needs to be learned. This will need a study course in Self-learning.
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Summary
In short,
- The current education system is on a nosedive. It engages the teachers more in testing the student than teaching him. It expects the students to learn from videos and textbooks. This is the case at High School level.
- The current education system is weak and inefficient in teaching the students at the earlier elementary and middle school levels. The students end up memorizing the contents of a subject in a rote manner. They are unable to think with the subject.
- So, the students arrives at the High School level full of holes in their understanding. They are then pushed through the High School curriculum at a rapid pace, with no regard to their confusion.
Two things must happen before a student can become a self-learner.
- We first resolve all holes in his understanding.
- Then we put him on a path to Self-learning.
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