I am a "victim" of the type of education he stated. At a young age (4th grade-ish) I was forced into taking ritalin. I was never a good student (i wasn't a bad person or a bad student) becuase all of the classes were too easy to me, and I did not feel like trying. I was learning at the same pace as my peers, and I learn much faster than they (I was reading near-college level by the time I was in 7th grade) I was put into "special ed" because they thought that I might have a learning disability (which after given an IQ test my learning curve was thus discovered). Little did they know, that our education system was my disability. It was impossible for me to conform.
Finally, I started High School and was given the choice if I wanted to take ritalin or not, to which I immediately replied "NO!" - so I did not. My grades did not improve, as I never did my homework, and by sophmore year I starting skipping school. Well, it's the LAW that you have to go to school, so I got into a bit of trouble and had to go to an eight hour class on a Saturday (wake up early and everything...also my parents had to attend - they were pissed) and was forced to go back to school. I still never did my homework. During all of this, mind you, I kept a TEST score over 95%. Junior year rolls by, and I was miserable, didn't do my homework, and completely LOATHED/HATED/DISLIKED school. Senior year rolls around, I never did my homework, my grades were in their 20s and 30s (only because of my tests) I started skipping school again, and eventually dropped out. I did end up getting my GED, which for those who do not have one, is NOT "generally equivalent" (I am sure it has kept me from getting some of the jobs I would like - including trying to get into the military).
The moral of this story?
Putting people who are of the same age and making them do the same ridiculous repetitive work, is not conducive to a learning environment. Instead of being taught things that were relevant, I (and many others like me) was forced into something which, in my mind, was a waste of time. A much better learning environment for me, would have been learning about jobs or subjects that I had an interest in (science being top, followed by math) and having hands on experience of REAL things. Looking at a book, reading a book, being asked a question about what the book says, then doing it again with either the same book or a different one, is not the best way to teach some people. If, as a child, I could have been taken to a real laboratory with real science and investigated real things with my own eyes and not through a book and a test sheet; I could have succeeded so well. Unfortunately, this is not the case.
Our education system MUST be flexible. Take college; I can choose to show up to class or not, and still pass my classes. I choose (for the most part) what subjects I wish to learn about (the BIGGEST pro of college) which through my own curiosity ensures that I will show up to class (because I have genuine interest in what I am learning).
We need to find a way to find children's interest past "being a rockstar", and have things that they can chose to learn about. This will enable us to find a correct learning environment for that particular person.
anywho, that is my 2 cents
