TED Conversations

moni sri

This conversation is closed. Start a new conversation
or join one »

Debate: Has education changed?

Has education become more about temporary results and grades than long-term success and knowledge?

Related Talks:
Topics: colleges education schools
+1
Share:
progress indicator

  • Yash Jalan

    • +1
    Nov 8 2012: Change in very important for the world to develop and adopt to the environment around you. The change in the education system is very important and these d style of learning should be enhanced for better quality output to the society. Teaching and understanding the subject will always remain the same , its only the way we educate ourselves had been changed. However the pace in the learning increases with improved opportunities to learn and enhance your knowledge in the society.

  • anil seven

    • +1
    Nov 7 2012: I think education have to change because there lots of insignificant things students have to learn, peolple's abilities to the works can be learnt in early ages and acording to these they have to be educated and thus there would not be unsuccessful personnel in the world and lots of people can work without being bored from their jobs. the world can develop very quickly as well because the students will be very profesional in their jobs.It is so important to change education.
  • thumb

    Mats Kaarbö 10+

    • +1
    Nov 6 2012: Yes, it certainly has and it has been for a long time unfortunately. But Finland did something extraordinary and revamped their education system from being competitive to collaborative and scored number one in the world in education. Check out this video to learn more about it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qlOfZL_J5fo
  • thumb

    Yuddandi Sivasubramanyam

    • 0
    Nov 3 2012: education has not changed. it is commercialized and diluted in such a way that the craving desire of people to opt for money fetching professional degrees is weakness and strength to organizations to loot money. people are holding degrees with dummy brains.

    most failure candidates in competition are compelled to go for teachers job in private schools
    it will ruin the creativity of youth and in turn Nation..

  • Mickey Mercer

    • +1
    Nov 3 2012: I could write a book on how education is changing/has changed. As an older teacher and one who graduated from high school many years ago I have seen education go from truly helping/educating all students to one in which the only "good" students are the ones that excel in academics and are good at answering multiple choice questions--teaching to the test. Because of the high stakes testing the first classes cut from the schools are the vocational and arts which means that many students are denied the education that they want/need. I have taught many students that could take an engine apart and put it back together again or build a house but are not getting to improve those skills because of the focus on academics. In fact, many of them are not able to graduate and become labeled as failures. We need to get back to the idea of a comprehensive education for all students that allows every student to excel in whatever field they want. I sometimes wonder if the colleges have an economic reason for wanting everyone to go to college and supporting the idea of an all academic curriculum. I could go on and on about how are education system is failing so many of our young people, but I will stop and not bore you with my diatribes.
  • thumb

    moni sri

    • 0
    Nov 2 2012: fritzie, feyisayo, robert, i agree with you people.. iam an indian.i am in the 12th grade.i think the educational system here has totally changed and it is just pressurizing the students. getting good grades and entering in to a good college has only been the great goal for each and every student, teachers n parents..The truth is that one always needs to improve and showcase their skills, otherwise the potential in them would wither and die away. Besides, being good at only academics is in no way significant of the fact that the student is a good person and is capable of other things. After all, we all know that academics isn’t everything in life. i think everywhere in the world even the little kids at the age of 4 are made to study multiplication tables etc what does this little kid will know about it! everybody wants their kid to be the best.. nobody is trying to understand their chilldren and their abilities and capacities.. i hope the world would revolutionize soon in its educational system..
  • thumb

    Robert Winner 50+

    • +1
    Oct 31 2012: Moni, As Fritzie stated the two have always existed. Recent events have altered the educational outcome in relation to your question. By federal mandate the teachers evaluations have become dependent on the students grade. I am sure that the intent was to make the teachers somewhat accountable the immediate result will be to structure the testing and grading to ensure the perception of learning and good grades. The effect is to teach the test. All states were required by No Child Left Behind to devise a state test that measures educational levels and as a requirement for graduation. The initial goals were set very low and did not move for about ten years. With the recent failure on the USA in the PISA Exams Secretary Of Education Arne Duncan want this bar to jump significantly by implementing STEM and Common Core Curriculum into all schools nation wide. This is more of an effort to reduce the USA embarressment of its fall into the lower third of the lower third in the PISA Exams than to establish long term learning in students and again we are teaching the test.

    In the USA the goal is to answer the problem correctly thus recieving a good grade ..... In Singapore, the highest scoring country in the PISA Exams, the goal was application. USA approach relates more to grades and short term .. Singapore would more closely relate to understanding and long term success.

    I am no expert but this is how I see my country and one other country in terms of your question.

    One factor that has changed from the days that the USA was number one in academics and today is that the federal government is by far more involved, micromanaging, and holding federal funding as a club to ensure that the demands are implemented.

    In summary I do not think education has changed but begs the question does it need to change.

    Moni, How do you view your countrys educational system? Your a student ... what level?

    All the best. Bob.
  • thumb

    Gail . 50+

    • 0
    Oct 31 2012: Education has become more specialized. This is disastrous.
  • thumb

    Feyisayo Anjorin 50+

    • +2
    Oct 30 2012: It depends of the individual; and it depends on the society.
    In some places education is about the search for knowledge in order to make positive contributions to the society and to be well equipped to face societal challenges.
    In some places education is about getting a good job after school, getting a fat salary and joining the elite class. It is the responsibility of the individual to make sure that he or she benefits from the purpose of education. For me, I think schools are meant to give you the awareness of how much you don't know, so that you can make learning a life-long thing.
    The pressure of the school system and the tendency to conform to society's could cause an individual to lose sight of the real purpose of education; but someone who really values it would go for it as a successful athlete goes for gold despite numerous distractions and unfavourable circumstances.
  • thumb

    Fritzie Reisner 100+

    • +1
    Host
    Oct 30 2012: It probably depends on the culture at your school. Some students have always demonstrated a focus on learning and understanding, which is what every teacher wants to see in them. Others are focused on temporary results and grades.

    I think this has long been true.

    I think when parents put pressure on kids about their grades, though, it is not because the parents care about the grades per se but rather because parents see good grades as a measure of how well their kids are preparing for long term success. Parents see grades as a measure of that rather than as ends in themselves.
    • thumb

      Feyisayo Anjorin 50+

      • 0
      Oct 30 2012: Looking back to my days in college and university I now understand why my parents wanted me to have good grades. If one looks at the school system sincerely it may be hard to know if a student is doing well if the grades do not say so.
      • thumb

        Fritzie Reisner 100+

        • 0
        Host
        Oct 30 2012: My parents had not had higher education themselves and were not particularly aware of my college grades.

        But scholarships often depend on a student's demonstrating the good use he/she is making of the financial support. Grades are a quick way the granting agency can keep track, particularly relative to the alternative of reading piles of narrative evaluations of thousands and thousands of funded students.
Showing all 12 comments