The State of Education

Cornholio

Cornholio

Well-known member
Will preface this by saying, I obviously understand that in general how education is done over here will be very different in a lot of areas versus how it is done in the UK. However, just wanted to have a thread to discuss the current education standards in general.

To start off, I have been a licensed teacher for several years now and quite enjoy it. After leaving the USCG, was not 100 percent sure what I wanted to do with my life career-wise and did some odd jobs for a couple years(I.e. landscaping, manager at a pet store, etc). I then finally decided to become a teacher and got my degree in Special Education with a minor in History and have been teaching since.

Being an educator definitely has its ups and downs, good and bad. Some children, teenagers, etc really make it worthwhile through their progression, and then of course on the opposite side, are the challenging ones who make it hard, along with certain education policies doing the same.

To sum it up, I think there should be a lot of things over here that need to change in order to make USA education at any level, better than what it currently is. I think, especially in the middle school level where I teach, that standardized testing needs to be lessened and more real world things need to be taught( I.e. having personal financial courses, less homework and more field trips to really engage with topics, etc). Also, I think discipline needs to be restructured in order to ensure that students understand the consequences of their actions and not just have the impression that they will pass regardless what they do.

In yall's opinion, what needs to change about the UK education system to make it better? What are the main pro's and con's of it?

Cheers all.
 
Cornholio said:
Will preface this by saying, I obviously understand that in general how education is done over here will be very different in a lot of areas versus how it is done in the UK. However, just wanted to have a thread to discuss the current education standards in general.

To start off, I have been a licensed teacher for several years now and quite enjoy it. After leaving the USCG, was not 100 percent sure what I wanted to do with my life career-wise and did some odd jobs for a couple years(I.e. landscaping, manager at a pet store, etc). I then finally decided to become a teacher and got my degree in Special Education with a minor in History and have been teaching since.

Being an educator definitely has its ups and downs, good and bad. Some children, teenagers, etc really make it worthwhile through their progression, and then of course on the opposite side, are the challenging ones who make it hard, along with certain education policies doing the same.

To sum it up, I think there should be a lot of things over here that need to change in order to make USA education at any level, better than what it currently is. I think, especially in the middle school level where I teach, that standardized testing needs to be lessened and more real world things need to be taught( I.e. having personal financial courses, less homework and more field trips to really engage with topics, etc). Also, I think discipline needs to be restructured in order to ensure that students understand the consequences of their actions and not just have the impression that they will pass regardless what they do.

In yall's opinion, what needs to change about the UK education system to make it better? What are the main pro's and con's of it?

Cheers all.
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Scrap Ofsted. If the inspectors are so good then give them jobs as school improvement coordinators and make the whole process a collaborative and less fear-inducing thing.

Speed up the process that gets help for children who need it. Kids with obvious learning barriers sometimes wait 4-6 years before getting the help they need.

Give TAs a decent pay rise. Us teachers have had a couple recently but TAs need to be recognised for the unbelievable work they do.
 
My wife was a Teacher, and when we first got together my mind was blown by the way that schools and the education system operate. I know that my views are probably skewed by my experience of working in business my whole life, but it seems like schools deliberately make it hard for themselves - or rather the leadership teams make it hard for the regular staff.

Each school (I'm talking junior school here, no idea on others) implements the curriculum differently. This means that the Teachers (who are already over-worked and over-stressed) are having to come up with lesson plans, materials and resources for 3 different ability ranges within the class. They aren't allowed to use paid for online resources (such as Twinkl), they aren't allowed to re-use resources from previous years or lessons. They change the strategies from year-to-year, term-to-term so the Teaches need to relearn how to teach phonics etc... It's so inefficient and draining.

Now I know that not all kids are the same, but deal with the exceptions on a case-by-case basis and give Teachers/schools a leg up by providing them with the nationally approved resources and lesson plans, with the scope to change them if needed.

I also know that not all schools are like this, but if my wife's school was then I am certain that many others are too.

And totally agree with scrapping ofsted. Schools become more pre-occupied with passing than actually teaching, it's a sham. As my dad said, your driving lessons are to teach you how to pass your driving test; you learn to drive afterwards. It always seems to me that this is the schools attitude towards ofsted as well, the goal is to pass the test, not be good.
 
I'm not sure if they already do this to an extent (they didn't when I was at school) but critical thinking is absolutely something that seems to be lacking across many in society.

The number of people take stuff at face value on the internet is frightening. Not just politics, anything. E.g. Someone will post a photo of Messi, put some "quote" next to it where he says he always hated Ronaldo and people just believe it without questioning it. Comment after comment getting annoyed by it (even after others point out it's made up).

People are so easily manipulated.

When I was at school history was probably the closest we had to this. We were taught to think about the source, where it had come from, did the source have a bias for any reason, was it collaborated anywhere etc.
 
One thing you realise in time is stop relying too much on anyone else . Parents need to be a bigger influence . We can’t rely 100% on one source of income and even pensions in the future .
There maybe a good reason to blame someone else but when we do that we give away control .

Note: hopefully my comment is actually relative no time to read OP properly I’ve got 3 bathrooms and boiler to fit today 🫣
 
I have been a teacher since 2010 and unfortunately, many years of government under funding have left it in a poor state. I don’t want to to go into a rant about this part of education but yes it needs to change. Ofsted is not fit for purpose. Is it what I thought it would be when I qualified? Probably not. Would I do it again? Unsure.

Teaching is very rewarding. You get so many great things out of it. You get to have such a great impact on a child’s development and it’s rewarding to see children leave school having seen the impact you have had. They may never thank you for it, but just seeing it for yourself is enough.

Teaching is also very hard. You are an educator but you are also having to wear so many different hats which can be very draining. Pupils with SEND/mental health/behavioural is ever increasing and it’s a very time consuming part of the job. When taking these issues on board, there isn’t enough staff. Trying to plan a lesson is time consuming when you have so many working at different levels, some with SEND who need resources making etc, EAL pupils who speak very little English and then you only see them for a few hours a week. Bare in mind you only got a few hours planning time each week built in to your timetable.

Wait times for pupils to be seen in regards to all these issues is ridiculous, which impacts a child’s education heavily. Councils seeing children as a financial figure rather than an individual. I could go on and on.

I have always found that 99.9% children are great (yes you get some difficult ones but there are always a reason behind their behaviour. Just meet the parents and you can usually see why). Parents have become a nightmare. When I was a child, if a school said something had happened at school, it was taken as gospel.

Now, parents are quick to blame the school and staff for whatever happened. It’s got to the point where you are constantly having to watch what you say or do out of fear it’s taken the wrong way. I’ve known staff who have had their mental health suffer and have left the profession because of the stress parents can cause.

I just wanted to add that not all parents are like this and some parents are great and they want to work with the school in order for their children to be as successful as possible.

I will stop there, it’s a hard job and can be very rewarding. It’s just not for everyone.
 
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