tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post3603721826132231173..comments2023-10-15T10:32:17.331+01:00Comments on Tales from a Draughty Old Fen: colleges, closures and golf clubsFrugal Dougalhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07459572116047155640noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post-65455679099911737352009-01-23T09:48:00.000+00:002009-01-23T09:48:00.000+00:00Pam - thanks for the link, but I can't get the art...Pam - thanks for the link, but I can't get the article up. Can you give me a few keywords and the date it was published, and I'll try to get it through Google Advanced?Frugal Dougalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07459572116047155640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post-52695363337155527622009-01-22T23:46:00.000+00:002009-01-22T23:46:00.000+00:00Found this in the local paper - Houston Chronicle:...Found this in the local paper - Houston Chronicle:<BR/><BR/>http://apspam.maxen.net/services/go.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chron.com%2Fdisp%2Fstory.mpl%2Feditorial%2Foutlook%2F6201607.htmlPam H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01223991201236433802noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post-13627382823661784552009-01-21T22:19:00.000+00:002009-01-21T22:19:00.000+00:00Yep, that's more or less the situation here. With...Yep, that's more or less the situation here. With politically pointed agendas - I read in the paper today that the subject of geography is in danger of disappearing under topics like global warming and recycling.Frugal Dougalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07459572116047155640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post-83826775882650507982009-01-21T03:37:00.000+00:002009-01-21T03:37:00.000+00:00Not just under socialism, but here too. The childr...Not just under socialism, but here too. The children learn to test. There are months during the year that the elementary teachers in the public school "teach the test".. the higher the students score on the state tests, the more money the school gets.Lindahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05290534151500649637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post-27770923239891218082009-01-20T21:53:00.000+00:002009-01-20T21:53:00.000+00:00"Magnet schools" sound like a good idea. Anything..."Magnet schools" sound like a good idea. Anything that prepares kids for the real world would be better than what we have in state schools over here right now, which is merely directed towards preparing kids to pass exams, which are set so easy that a perfprmance which would get you a "C" 20 years ago would land you with an "A" right now, and supposedly shows how good the government's education policies are. But this is the reality of living under socialism - God be with you all.Frugal Dougalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07459572116047155640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post-17209509833877970192009-01-19T14:01:00.000+00:002009-01-19T14:01:00.000+00:00Oh, how I agree with you! It seems that students a...Oh, how I agree with you! It seems that students are expected to go to college, or not. There is no in between... like learning how to work! Students graduate without being able to count change. They are not able to write a resume. I do like the idea of magnet schools, which at least allow a student to have some focus and study those things that interest him and will encourage him in a direction of actual employment.Lindahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05290534151500649637noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post-31263656551249738512009-01-16T00:36:00.000+00:002009-01-16T00:36:00.000+00:00My Mum left school at 14, too, and when she was th...My Mum left school at 14, too, and when she was there she also learnt practical stuff like sewing, as there were loads of tailors in Glasgow then. She was in the lower academic stream, which she loved - had there been no streaming, it would have broken her heart to be in the underperforming section of the class. At school I learnt how to take down dictation, and in the office where I work now, the younger women there didn't even know what the word meant when I mentioned it to them. <BR/><BR/>I'm glad to see sewing and working with textiles is back on the curriculum over here, my daughters love it. But when they were learning cooking, a lot of it was stuff like designing a restaurant - as you say, what's the point of that if you're not going to be a millionaire TV chef? It would be much more useful to teach them how to eat healthily on a subsistence budget.Frugal Dougalhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07459572116047155640noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1926775615646909337.post-8473434214132719062009-01-15T23:51:00.000+00:002009-01-15T23:51:00.000+00:00In my grandmother's time it was, if I'm not mistak...In my grandmother's time it was, if I'm not mistaken, extremely common to leave school in, say, the 8th grade (i.e., around age 14). It was not considered degrading, merely practical. The school also offered numerous classes on practical things such as agriculture and animal husbandry. I see this as the equivalent of what you're proposing. It seems like a really good idea. Many kids these days see no point in the subjects in which the schools are educating students. If one isn't going to a professional career (and some folks have no desire for a professional career whatever), there really isn't any point in one's learning some of those things.Pam H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/01223991201236433802noreply@blogger.com