I think I had a pretty similar experience in school to the author
I regret having that attitude now
kids hold adults to unrealistic expectations, they expect them to be omniscient (tbf adult don't really discourage this), and then become disillusioned when they realize that isn't the case
adults are human too, they make mistakes, they're not perfect, its really hard to figure out how to manage 30 some odd kids and figure out to best reach as many of them as possible, if they start making homework exceptions for 1 kid, do they have to start making them for 30 kids, how do you manage 30 unique homework assignments? how do you balence that with making things work less well for that one kid who would really do well with a unique homework assignment? Its actually a hard philosophical problem
I feel I didn't have any appreciation for that when I was a kid, I wish I did now
when you're a kid, you feel like adults are all up in your business, when you're an adult, you realize that its a luxury to have people who are available to turn to for help, them being in your business actually isn't that bad a tradeoff
as an adult, you want access to people's time and experience, you often have to pay for it
I recommend kids take ownership over your own education, the classes that are in high school actually cover wide wide swaths of human knowledge, and are actually applicable to all sorts of life goals
whatever you want to do in life, there are likely things in each of your classes that apply to doing that thing
you can ask your teacher whatever you like about that, figure out how to get whatever knowledge you can out of them
homework is actually a gift, the science of how knowledge get imbedded in you is actually well established, you have to work with it and apply it
homework is that opportunity, even if its not perfect, will you be able to draw on that knowledge when you're 25? how much you embedded that with homework as a 15 year will be the factor of that
I'm rambling, but public education is a far from perfect, but its a gift, and like all things in life, its what you make of it
Well one approach would be not to require students to do homework. In my experience, when I'm learning something that I'm interested in, there would be no benefit to somebody checking work that I do. If I want a second opinion, I seek it out rather than the other way around.
To me, a school that really "respected" students in the way the author is suggesting would have no need for telling students into learning anything in particular.
people don't like homework because its required, but its actually really useful if you're trying crystallize what you're learning so you can use it 10 years later
Well I'm not suggesting that there be no homework. I'm just saying that teachers don't necessarily need to worry about managing it. It seems to be that this is one way to realize the kind of school system that the author wants.
people let their ego's need for 'respect' get in the way of what's best for them in the long run
I think there is more to the "respect" that the author wants than just satisfying his ego. If respect for students leads to giving students autonomy then it can lead to a meaningful change in the way that schooling operates.
I regret having that attitude now
kids hold adults to unrealistic expectations, they expect them to be omniscient (tbf adult don't really discourage this), and then become disillusioned when they realize that isn't the case
adults are human too, they make mistakes, they're not perfect, its really hard to figure out how to manage 30 some odd kids and figure out to best reach as many of them as possible, if they start making homework exceptions for 1 kid, do they have to start making them for 30 kids, how do you manage 30 unique homework assignments? how do you balence that with making things work less well for that one kid who would really do well with a unique homework assignment? Its actually a hard philosophical problem
I feel I didn't have any appreciation for that when I was a kid, I wish I did now
when you're a kid, you feel like adults are all up in your business, when you're an adult, you realize that its a luxury to have people who are available to turn to for help, them being in your business actually isn't that bad a tradeoff
as an adult, you want access to people's time and experience, you often have to pay for it
I recommend kids take ownership over your own education, the classes that are in high school actually cover wide wide swaths of human knowledge, and are actually applicable to all sorts of life goals
whatever you want to do in life, there are likely things in each of your classes that apply to doing that thing
you can ask your teacher whatever you like about that, figure out how to get whatever knowledge you can out of them
homework is actually a gift, the science of how knowledge get imbedded in you is actually well established, you have to work with it and apply it
homework is that opportunity, even if its not perfect, will you be able to draw on that knowledge when you're 25? how much you embedded that with homework as a 15 year will be the factor of that
I'm rambling, but public education is a far from perfect, but its a gift, and like all things in life, its what you make of it