Malik Greatly Disapproves. Again.

[loyalrebel]

[It's been a while since Malik's spoken up on the network but this is something drastic to him and it needs addressing.]

It has been recently brought to my attention that the education system of modern times is sorely lacking in a number of regards.

I was told that beyond the basics of reading and mathematics anything else was not important and was not even taught, and this desperately needs to be rectified.

We may be learning magic and other such things from our overlays, but there are areas that are horrifically left by the wayside in this arms race we have entered in to.

I may not know much about history as it is from most of your perspectives but there has to be educators among us or at least those who will be willing to step up and help the children among us not return home uneducated louts who respond to the idea of mathematics or reading with "why should I care?" or "it is too difficult".

[He's not sorry Phillip. This is probably your fault kid.]

Comments

[thornsofmalkav]

It's Why Math Is Important: The Disney Special.

[haveabiscuit]

I do know a great deal about keeping a school running even under trying circumstances.

[professorwolf]

Should be, perhaps, but the government-- and the parents-- want some sign that their children are actually learning something in school rather than ignoring the teacher or copying their neighbor's classwork, so tests were developed to see how well they learned various subjects, usually at the end of the current term for school but sometimes interspursed throughout as well. It got a little out of hand from there, I'll admit, to make standardized testing all over a very large country, but the original intention was sound.

[darkhourdear]

[...sigh.] Fine.

[haveabiscuit]

[There's a moment's hesitation. But everyone else is quite open about magic. She's well out of any jurisdiction where the Statute of Secrecy applies, especially given that it's normal here for Muggles to acquire magic.]

It's a school for young wizards and witches. I teach Transfiguration. Obviously that's not relevant here, but the underlying mathematical principles can be taught.

[thornsofmalkav]

Oh no, the duck in question isn't teaching. He's learning why math is important and interesting and the idea is that you're supposed to learn with him. Do you remember films from when we were in Brooklyn? It's a film.

[truerevelation]

Yeah. Looked like if you put that place 'n ours together and shook 'em up you'd get two decent schools outta it.

[senpaidol]

If I have enough money to care about the first one, I have enough money to pay an accountant.

[Rise this is what happened to Gary Coleman.]

[thornsofmalkav]

I know you like Disney, dude. You'll like this.

[professorwolf]

[Oh. Huh. That's... not what he was expecting.]

What type of mathematics is involved in transfiguration? Is it algebraic?

[He's not doubting you that there is math involved, Minerva, he just isn't familiar with the subject enough to know if it's the same math.]

Private

[shiroganeheir]

[Naoto's voice is grumbly, an accidental broadcast to Rise]

And some of us have better things to do than stuff our heads with information irrelevant to our creers. If I need to be aware of something, I will look it up.

[darkhourdear]

[his vaguely overdramatic tone is dampening down a little bit now.] Ok.

Private

[senpaidol]

I think you can generally get away with being a genius, Naoto-kun.

[It's not like she's super-intimidated by the really smart women she's met on Persona business or anything.]

[claudiometer]

Sure, if you want to end up broke because they mismanaged it, either accidentally or deliberately.

[loyalrebel]

But if they do not care then they will not show up and participate either.

[he's totally fine with teaching adults too but... yeah.]

Why is learning how to rip people's hearts out of their chests more important than arithmetic or a second language?

[professorwolf]

That's a little older than Phillip is, Thorne, I'm afraid. It may not... actually be something he'll enjoy. I recall it being a bit dated, if we're thinking about the same show.

We might try to find something from, say, the Animaniacs about math, though. That might be more engaging for the younger crowd. There has to be something in that show's run about it.

[senpaidol]

W-well, I mean, I've got things I'm good at, and other people have things they're good at. Why shouldn't we all just work to our strengths?

[loyalrebel]

Vaguely, yes. I do not have the memory of some here but... why do you need a duck to demonstrate that math is the foundation of things?

[loyalrebel]

The only place government has in education should be lawyers and tax collectors.

[thornsofmalkav]

Yeah, well, there are a lot of things I like about it like the internet and vaccinations and civil rights, but god do I hate the fact that basically everything I'm good at is basically useless in terms of supporting myself.

[claudiometer]

That's why you start out by giving them a reason to care. To use your other examples, schools are notoriously bad at actually teaching the practical applications. Math class doesn't cover how to balance your funds, and geography barely touches on using that info for navigation - not to mention modern maps are maybe half as informative as yours at best. You might be able to figure out where you're going, but not what to do when you get there.


...Okay, I seriously hope no one's asking for that particular lesson, but the point is people are finding practical reasons to get into the magic and the Grid crap and everything else we pick up from jaunts. Give 'em a practical reason to get into math and science and they'll probably show up, and if they don't, their loss.

[darkhourdear]

...You know I'm fifteen now, right? [and also RIGHT HERE.]

[loyalrebel]

Congratulations, you never need to learn anything else ever again and will never want to understand the basics of any other discipline than you already know.

Go forth and father many fat babies.

[professorwolf]

I'm going to have to disagree with you there. We do need some standards imposed by an outside source, or huge swaths of the country will be getting a terrible education. We'd have schools in New York teaching about evolution and climate change and the historical horrors of slavery, while Texas is teaching out of the Bible and the hymnal and about how our founding fathers were perfect in every way.

[professorwolf]

I still enjoy Animaniacs, Phillip, and I'm in my thirties. But if you like educational cartoons from the fifties, more power to you.