Did You Find School A Waste Of Time?
<div class="IPBDescription">Mainly for people in the UK</div> Where I'm moving house atm I dug out a load of my old school reports from secondary school and was having a read of them with me mum (she' round helping me move) and it got me thinking.
As my mum was reading through some of them she started tuting and saying how what they said was right, that if I had applied myself and not been as dsiruptive in class I would have done a lot better at school with regards to my exams.
pfft I though I didn't learn bugger all at secondary school and it wasn't cos I didn't apply myself it's because I wasn't given the chance to; being stuck in classes where the highest grade I could have gotten was a D doesn't really encourage you to do well and any protests about being stuck on a foundation paper for GCSEs was met with "If you tryed harder then we might move you up to the intermediate paper where you will be able to get a C"
What a load of **** tbh! I wasn't at all supprised that they scraped the foundation paper less than 2 years after I left school because it was considered unfair. The thing with GCSEs is the min grade is U = for ungraded and the highest is A* so it runs from U - G - F - E - D - C - B - A - A*. Unfortunatly the only grades worth getting at GCSE level is C - A* anything less than that may as well be a fail with regards to going onto do A-Levels or in an employers eyes. Making kids do a foundation paper when I was at school where the highest they could get was a D was just a complete waste of time.
4 Years at secondary school amounted to 11 grade Ds GCSEs all of which were foundation papers and a grade B in Georgraphy.
3 Years at college amounted to 6 GCSEs all C or above, 3 A-Levels all Grade C and a AS-Level grade B. I didn't apply myself any more at college I was just entered into a paper that gave me a fair chance. They didn't even do the foundations papers at college because they saw them as pointless.
Has anyone else found school to be an utterly pointless experience?
As my mum was reading through some of them she started tuting and saying how what they said was right, that if I had applied myself and not been as dsiruptive in class I would have done a lot better at school with regards to my exams.
pfft I though I didn't learn bugger all at secondary school and it wasn't cos I didn't apply myself it's because I wasn't given the chance to; being stuck in classes where the highest grade I could have gotten was a D doesn't really encourage you to do well and any protests about being stuck on a foundation paper for GCSEs was met with "If you tryed harder then we might move you up to the intermediate paper where you will be able to get a C"
What a load of **** tbh! I wasn't at all supprised that they scraped the foundation paper less than 2 years after I left school because it was considered unfair. The thing with GCSEs is the min grade is U = for ungraded and the highest is A* so it runs from U - G - F - E - D - C - B - A - A*. Unfortunatly the only grades worth getting at GCSE level is C - A* anything less than that may as well be a fail with regards to going onto do A-Levels or in an employers eyes. Making kids do a foundation paper when I was at school where the highest they could get was a D was just a complete waste of time.
4 Years at secondary school amounted to 11 grade Ds GCSEs all of which were foundation papers and a grade B in Georgraphy.
3 Years at college amounted to 6 GCSEs all C or above, 3 A-Levels all Grade C and a AS-Level grade B. I didn't apply myself any more at college I was just entered into a paper that gave me a fair chance. They didn't even do the foundations papers at college because they saw them as pointless.
Has anyone else found school to be an utterly pointless experience?
Comments
All I could think of when doing most exams is "When will I ever need to know any of this ever again?"
Somehow I feel that learning all these extremely complicated math formulae really isn't worth it unless you're goibng for advanced computer engineering.
The only thing I've ever found useful is studying Electronics in Physics. They're teaching me how to calculate my electricity bills!
And some Biology. And a little bit of Chemistry too.
I have the rules of English engraved into my head (I'm a Filipino but I grew up using English as my main language), and am a rather natural genius (I can play games and get top 5 in my class, woohoo!)
However, I feel that learning stuff past 8th grade realy doesn't teach anyone anything useful....I'm in Form 5 (11th Grade?) and I don't find much of anything I'm learning useful in daily life. At all. I do not want to calculate the angle of depression from the roof of my building to the highway <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/sad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Sure maybe only the first few years are important, but that's about it, unless you're going to be a nuclear phycisist(sp?) or something.
at college i got all of them lol school sucked college rocked
"School is a waste of time"
Or "Foundation papers are waste of time"?
Both arguements are so flawed in everyway I'm tempted to break into a flame. (But I won't, as it's not the kind of guy I am.)
School (and the education system in general,) may not be perfct, but it has too much going for it and is such an important part of your social and mental development to call it "a waste of time".
As for Foundation papers, that's a different issue.
They're NOT just papers where you do the same questions, but are limitted to worse grades.
The questions are worded and re-phrased in such a way that you have to do less *thinking* to approach them. You are given values and must find equations to plug them into, in a series of step-by-step stages. (This could apply to maths/physics/chemistry, but not really many others, but you get hte idea.)
This is done as tutors and exams have shown that the people who go on to do foundation would have done much worse had they been entered into a higher exam. In fact, if they fall below a C, they get a U.
You may now be thinking "Well, why not merge the exams into one, with easy and hard questions?"
:|
Would you, as a Higher Paper candidate, appreciate going through boring questions?
As an Intermediate/Foundation candidate, would you really benifit from the much harder Higher-questions at the end of the paper?
Exactly.
--
I do agree that the English education system is, quite frankly, ****. Most of Europe, and especially Germany, have much better technical and work-based apprentiships available. If you have your heart set on becomming a lawyer, go to law school. A Plumber, don't go to uni, go to work and get experienced.
(The UK places far too much emphasis on University; it's much harder to start your own business / get apprentiships in your chosen business.)
"School is a waste of time"
Or "Foundation papers are waste of time"?
Both arguements are so flawed in everyway I'm tempted to break into a flame. (But I won't, as it's not the kind of guy I am.)
School (and the education system in general,) may not be perfct, but it has too much going for it and is such an important part of your social and mental development to call it "a waste of time".
As for Foundation papers, that's a different issue.
They're NOT just papers where you do the same questions, but are limitted to worse grades.
The questions are worded and re-phrased in such a way that you have to do less *thinking* to approach them. You are given values and must find equations to plug them into, in a series of step-by-step stages. (This could apply to maths/physics/chemistry, but not really many others, but you get hte idea.)
This is done as tutors and exams have shown that the people who go on to do foundation would have done much worse had they been entered into a higher exam. In fact, if they fall below a C, they get a U.
You may now be thinking "Well, why not merge the exams into one, with easy and hard questions?"
:|
Would you, as a Higher Paper candidate, appreciate going through boring questions?
As an Intermediate/Foundation candidate, would you really benifit from the much harder Higher-questions at the end of the paper?
Exactly.
--
I do agree that the English education system is, quite frankly, ****. Most of Europe, and especially Germany, have much better technical and work-based apprentiships available. If you have your heart set on becomming a lawyer, go to law school. A Plumber, don't go to uni, go to work and get experienced.
(The UK places far too much emphasis on University; it's much harder to start your own business / get apprentiships in your chosen business.) <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
I'm arguing that secondary school is a waste of time and that foundation papers are pointless, if you can't get a C grade at GCSE then you may as well have a U cos a G, F, E or D basically means the same thing when it comes to going on to A-Levels or employment if your gonna try that having less that a C at GCSE isn't that bad then your an idiot tbh.
I spent less time at college than I did at secondary school and came away with a lot more so they have got to be doing something right at college and something drastically wrong at secondary school.
To be honest, any social experience that you have at school can be had elsewhere. And I consider "You need to interact with people your own age" to be totally wrong, for two reasons:
1) Most of the people my age (I'm 16 now) are idiots who are going to die while trying to have sex in the backseat of a moving car while attempting to drive said car.
2) There is a lot more to learn from talking to older people. They're usually cooler, too.
Public education systems need serious improvements.
By the way, <b><a href='http://www.welltrainedmind.com/classed.html' target='_blank'>this</a></b> and <b><a href='http://www.schola-tutorials.com/selfed.htm' target='_blank'>this</a></b> may interest you.
If schools taught independence and self-confidence as much as they did conformity and acceptance rather than self-improvement [i.e teaching only what you need to know to pass the next exam], then I'd bet a whole lot more people would be leaving after year 10. Of course, they'd still have to work hard to get anywhere, because the school education system has somewhat of a monopoly on employment aspects.. What's that? You don't have a slip of paper with a number marked 'UAI' on it? Oh, I'm sorry, we're looking for somebody more 'qualified'.
You could argue that the school system is about teaching you the social and mental state of mind to be a useful and productive member of society, and employers want to see that you can do what you're told, and competently. But I believe that this is not the most appropriate system, and in that regard I believe the schooling education system a waste of time.
Please feel free and encouraged to tear apart my late night fuelled ideas.. Don't flame, be productive. We're all here to learn, and I'm not going to sit around stupidly defending misstaken beliefs when I could be busy understanding a more intelligent approach to it. Thanks, and good night fellas.
Also why any plumbers in the UK get paid stacks of money.
I wish I had known about how much plumbers earn earlier cos I might have considered being one.
All I could think of when doing most exams is "When will I ever need to know any of this ever again?" <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Most GCSE Mathematic algebra is not really incorporated in to daily life, the furthest use we got out of it was being a cashier. As for A-Level rocket science, physics, accountancy and computer science is the most we could think of there.
Most UK education is not work related <!--emo&:(--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/sad-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
I'm currently in the process of writing my college application. The choices here are so brilliant and how they examinate you is nothing like school, with endless amounts of essays and coursework.
Cannot wait untill April...
And we watched A Bugs Life in of of the lectures today.
So Its all good <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo-->
And we watched A Bugs Life in of of the lectures today.
So Its all good <!--emo&:p--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/tounge.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='tounge.gif' /><!--endemo--> <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Heading the same way either Caladonian or Strathclye for software engineering.
As for usfullness most subjects are useless.
t(' 't)
But now im at college and things couldnt be better. They actually treat you like...adults! *gasp* and you learn alot more and get better qualifications in a much shorter time. It's fantastic <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
The only useful classes are English, Math, and your career class.
Overall, school/college is meant to give you an overall education...well-rounded, so you can have basics in a lot of areas. Sure, learning how to be a better speaker is good, sure...knowing how to write better is good. Sure, knowing history is good. However, it's not neccessary for everyone's future.
The big thing businesses look for when hiring you is your degree, and how well you present yourself (ie, they arn't going to accept a resume of someone typing in all l337 sp43k). How you present yourself, talk, write, and problem solve can really tip the odds in your favor. So yeah, school can help you in a lot of minor areas, but overall...only english, math, and career class is the important classes.
so first year college i resat that and a GNVQ got a pass and a D in english.. again
next year did ALL gcse resits... english D again. this time I was told I was 1 mark from a C so the college opted to pay for the remark... and I nwo got my C - prior to gettting it remarked I had my re-entry college interview... they didn'tlet me take A levels because i only had a D
then the remark result came in "C" yay all happy... but then i thought, bit late now to go back to college... almost a term has passed - so i don't wanna be that far behind...
oh well - RAF time it is for me, even though i won't be an officer "Weapon Systems Operator (crewman)" will do... maybe i'll get promoted to officer - which is not that often afaik
Too bad I realized all this after I graduated from college. <!--emo&;)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/wink-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='wink-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
Well, maybe a little bit of hate.
Sorry.
(THAT YOU'RE A GINGE).
Anyway, you did all have favourite teachers, right? I still feel so much respect for mine and I haven't been taught by them for four years. Mrs Cox (don't bloody laugh) complimenting me on my essays and spoken voice while reading still makes me smile. She called me "a joy to listen to." That's what they all say when I command on NS!
This means that the whole system is purely academic, most of the time you will need 5 GCSE's (The GCSE's were supposed to have no pass/fail boundries, but employers/collages will count an A* to C as a GCSE, and anything below as worthless.) to get into a sixthform/college, so you can then get A levels. That is, unless you want to start a career in hair dressing (pretty popular among the not-to bright girls), retail or another career that values experience over qualifications.
You may be wondering why the people who don't want to go to college can't just go into plumbing, or something similar. The problem is that there are very few aprenticeships in the UK, so it is pretty hard to get on the first wrung of the ladder.
The end result is that the entire schooling system is based around Exams. Years 1 to 6 are peparing you for your first SATS (which are about as useful as a square wheel), years 7-9 are preparing you for your second SATS (also about as useful as a square wheel), years 10-11 prepare you for your GCSE's (very important, if you fail to get 5 of these, it will be very hard to get into further education) and years 12-13 are preparing you for your A levels (needed to get into college. Very handy in most other careers). Ever since you first learn to read, it is drilled into you that going to university is a <i>must</i>, where you may or may not actually learn something that you can apply to your life.
Of course, this all depends on the school that you go to, some can really set you up for life while others can ruin your chances of ever getting a decent job.
What college was that? Every sixth-form and college in my local area asks for a minimum of 5 GCSE's to gain entry.
I do agree about papers on which you can't at least get a C are a waste of time, but luckily I didn't have to face such folly.
What college was that? Every sixth-form and college in my local area asks for a minimum of 5 GCSE's to gain entry.<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
The course i am on has 2 levels, foundation and intermediate. Applied for foundation because you dont need any GCSE's for it. Went to the taster days and they said my work was intermediate level, so they moved me up. (It's Doncaster college)
2) There is a lot more to learn from talking to older people. They're usually cooler, too. <!--QuoteEnd--> </td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'> <!--QuoteEEnd-->
Heh, I found that really amusing, its so true. I went to a little private school and I can't tell you how much I appreciated really knowing my teachers rather than just listening to lectures or doing text work all the time. I feel like I benifited insane ammounts in the private school system (although there are many people I wouldn't reccomend it to). I always found it funny when all the private school kids who thought they were cool wanted to leave to go to public schools because "all the work is easyer in public school". Work is work, I would rather learn some real life lessons from well meaning people with life experiance than just get a slightly lighter workload (I really didn't do any homework all through highschool anyways)
Good luck with EB!
Ah, ok then. Glad it worked out for you <!--emo&:)--><img src='http://www.unknownworlds.com/forums/html//emoticons/smile-fix.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='smile-fix.gif' /><!--endemo-->
<!--QuoteBegin--></div><table border='0' align='center' width='95%' cellpadding='3' cellspacing='1'><tr><td><b>QUOTE</b> </td></tr><tr><td id='QUOTE'><!--QuoteEBegin-->I went to a little private school<!--QuoteEnd--></td></tr></table><div class='postcolor'><!--QuoteEEnd-->
I feel pretty stupid for asking this, but is that a school that you cannot join just because you are in the local area? I ask this because over here in England, the large private schools (which you need to pay obscene amounts of money to enter) are actually called public schools, weirdly enough