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14 votes
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New Jersey approved LGBTQ-inclusive school curriculum — And it's only the second in the nation
7 votes -
Betsy DeVos Is Fabricating History to Sell a Bad Education Policy
14 votes -
The Valedictorians Project
5 votes -
The “skills gap” was a lie
11 votes -
‘I feel invisible’: Native Americans languish in public schools
9 votes -
If universities sacrifice philosophy on the altar of profit, what’s next?
7 votes -
Chinese schools monitor students activities, targeting truancy with 'intelligent uniforms'
Straight from the horse's mouth - China's own Global Times: Chinese schools monitor students activities, targeting truancy with 'intelligent uniforms' A different view - the Australian...
Straight from the horse's mouth - China's own Global Times: Chinese schools monitor students activities, targeting truancy with 'intelligent uniforms'
A different view - the Australian Broadcasting Commission: Chinese schools enforce 'smart uniforms' with GPS tracking system to monitor students
11 votes -
What are some common skills that will become extinct in the next couple of decades?
Today I got into a conversation with my coworkers about how cursive is all but dead with our students. We adults all grew up learning it and were often forced to use it even when we didn't want...
Today I got into a conversation with my coworkers about how cursive is all but dead with our students. We adults all grew up learning it and were often forced to use it even when we didn't want to, but it has been out of vogue in American schools for a while now, so most of our students legitimately don't know how to read or write it. Opinions as to whether or not this was a bad thing were split. Some people considered the skill unnecessary and were happy to see it go the way of the dinosaur. Life moves on, they said--and the skill was inessential anyway because students could simply print instead. Some even took things a step further and argued that print was also going to become outdated with the prevalence of computers and phones. Nevertheless, others argued that cursive was important and valuable for kids to learn, particularly if they wanted to be able to sign their names or read documents written in script (e.g. old letters from family members, historical documents, etc.)
The discussion then continued to analog clocks. Being able to read them is still technically in the curriculum standards for many states, but it's the kind of thing that often gets briefly touched on and then discarded. Because digital clocks are so prevalent now, many students never practice reading analog clocks outside of those specific lessons, and thus they never truly master it. While more of our students can read analog clocks than can write in cursive, it too seems to be headed down the path to extinction. Opinions about whether this was bad were much stronger, with nearly everyone agreeing that it's a worthwhile skill rather than something inessential.
The conversation made me curious to hear what everyone here thinks--not just about these but about dying skills in general. What are some skills that you believe will fall out of widespread use in the coming years? Is their departure a good/bad thing?
27 votes -
A Texas elementary school speech pathologist refused to sign a pro-Israel oath, so she lost her job
18 votes -
In China, a school trains boys to be ‘real men’
12 votes -
Major for-profit college chain abruptly announces closure of dozens of schools
12 votes -
Middle-class San Francisco tenants are moving into dorms for reasonable rent
9 votes -
Gay student gets standing ovation after coming out in front of whole Catholic school
17 votes -
Everything You Know About State Education Rankings Is Wrong
5 votes -
Poor English, few jobs: Are Australian universities using international students as 'cash cows'?
9 votes -
Cultural activist from Guyana's Wapishana tribe tries to revive a near-extinct language
6 votes -
'It's torture': Critics step up bid to stop US school using electric shocks on children
21 votes -
Students protest Zuckerberg-backed digital learning program and ask him: ‘What gives you this right?’
10 votes -
Why are we still teaching reading the wrong way?
9 votes -
Bonfire of the humanities: The role of history in a society afflicted by short-termism
13 votes -
Why is my university forcing me to see colleagues as "customers"?
8 votes -
US Court: Detroit students have no right to access to literacy
24 votes -
US elementary school staff dresses up as Mexicans and MAGA border wall for Halloween
17 votes -
Modern STEM toys don't do a good job of educating because they're just toys, not tools
11 votes -
Your kid’s apps are crammed with ads
17 votes -
In need of cadavers, 19th-century medical students raided Baltimore’s graves
7 votes -
Winners take all: The elite charade of changing the world
7 votes -
The iPhone’s new parental controls block searches for sex ed, allow violence and racism
25 votes -
US school apologises after canteen serves dish with kangaroo meat
16 votes -
Tech suffers from lack of humanities, says Mozilla head
10 votes -
Huge majority of Australians oppose laws banning gay students and teachers
7 votes -
When pop-up books taught popular science
9 votes -
As Harvard’s admissions policy goes on trial, alleged victims of racial bias remain anonymous
3 votes -
Scott Morrison will change the law to ban religious schools from expelling gay students
10 votes -
How to study abusers: Should reading lists come with a content warning?
12 votes -
German far-right party AfD launches site allowing school students to report teachers for being politically partial
16 votes -
Religious freedom review enshrines right of schools to turn away gay children and teachers
Religious freedom review enshrines right of schools to turn away gay children and teachers How religion will divide the Liberals and inflame the Parliament
3 votes -
Academic grievance studies and the corruption of scholarship
11 votes -
The Grievance Studies Scandal: Five Academics Respond
6 votes -
The US was once a leader for healthcare and education — now it ranks 27th in the world
9 votes -
How to teach kids where food comes from – get them gardening
11 votes -
Three teachers discuss what it’s like to survive a school shooting, and then return to the classroom
16 votes -
Scientific publishing is a rip-off. We fund the research – it should be free
28 votes -
Texas board votes to eliminate Helen Keller and Hillary Clinton from history curriculum
18 votes -
Why I let my daughter wear makeup to school
13 votes -
Chief Rabbi publishes first LGBT guide for orthodox schools
News article from the BBC: Chief Rabbi publishes first LGBT guide for orthodox schools An adapted summary in the Jewish Chronicle: the Chief Rabbi's groundbreaking message to Orthodox schools on...
News article from the BBC: Chief Rabbi publishes first LGBT guide for orthodox schools
An adapted summary in the Jewish Chronicle: the Chief Rabbi's groundbreaking message to Orthodox schools on LGBT+ pupils
Background: Ephraim Mirvis is the Chief Rabbi of the United Hebrew Congregations of the Commonwealth. This guide therefore applies to all Jewish Orthodox schools in the Commonwealth (the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, India, and so on).
11 votes -
The other political correctness: America's elite universities are censoring themselves on China
11 votes -
The mismatch between the school day and the work day creates a child-care crisis between 3 and 5 p.m. that has parents scrambling for options
16 votes -
What should the government's role in education be? How much schooling should be compulsory? How much of it should be paid for by the student or their parents?
This started as a sub-thread in a topic about possible contenders for the 2020 US Presidential race, but it generated enough interesting discussion that I thought it'd be worth spinning off into...
This started as a sub-thread in a topic about possible contenders for the 2020 US Presidential race, but it generated enough interesting discussion that I thought it'd be worth spinning off into its own topic, particularly so we can include people outside the US who are ignoring or filtering out topics about American politics.
To expand on the questions in the topic title:
- What level of education should be required by law of every citizen?
- How should schools be funded? What role should taxes play vs. tuition paid by the student or their parents?
- Should homeschooling be allowed, and if so, how strict should the educational requirements be?
And if you want to go really deep:
- What is the purpose of education in the first place? Is it to make better and more productive workers; to create an informed electorate; to learn for the sake of learning?
16 votes