Rethinking Education: Schools, Curriculum, and All Things Learning: Recent Episodes
Dr. Gregory J. Stratman
Dr. Greg Stratman, a forty-year veteran of education, with experience from kindergarten to college, shares his perspectives and experiences on the state of education -- its strengths, its woes, its fads, its misplays, its misfocus, and its reality. Today's schools, from K-college, are focused less on education and more on job preparation, with administrators who increasingly make decisions based not on academic effectiveness but on convenience, cost, and retention. Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/gregory-j-stratman/support
The pandemic has impacted our educational systems significantly, sending tens of thousands of students online for their learning. Will that be a permanent reality for some students? Will the convenience of online classes trump the need to transport students to school?
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Writing is a foundational skill for success in education and in professions, yet it is often relegated to the English Department to accomplish in one or two semesters. But sound writing skills must be developed during a student's entire college experience, and all departments need to recognize and accept the need for them to heed the quality of their students' writing and include it in the assessment of the assignment. Short, informal writing activities should also be included in every course.
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American students are underachieving in science and math, but more alarmingly, also in reading and writing. How can that be in the most technologically advanced country in the world? The answer from many is to push STEM education down into the elementary grades. But that will have a deleterious effect on foundational skills of reading and writing. Language arts must predominate in elementary education.
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Not everyone needs nor wants a college degree, but every person would benefit from one year of college, taking the courses outlined here.
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History is not only vital and significant; it is also filled with events, people, cultures, inventions, wars, triumphs, disasters, etc. that should (and would) ignite the interest of our young people. Let's start focusing on this subject with the intuition that it should never be boring.
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Sometimes, progress means looking back at the way things were once done and realize that some changes have not been positive or productive.
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Education can occur anywhere, and the college experience offers a rich variety of ways and places for young people to learn and grow far from the confines of a classroom or laboratory.
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Certain trends in education over the last several decades have developed for reasons unrelated to learning and academic excellence. In fact, some have been detrimental.
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In our fast-paced information age, in which practically any piece of information is available with a few clicks of the keys, is it still important for students to memorize and know information easily accessible on a device? Some say "no". I disagree.
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What is education -- genuine, true, meaningful education? Are our schools still focused on educating our young people? Or are they increasingly focused on training them for employment? There are distinct differences, which have significant and far-reaching effects.
In the 1930's, J. Alfred Nock predicted that the waning of classical education models in favor of more vocational approaches would overtake secondary and post-secondary institutions. He was right.
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