For the first time in human history, we need to educate all of our children at a high level - yet high school students are disengaged and bored - even our most academically able. It is a national problem that needs our collective wisdom and innovative thinking. We are missing the opportunity to tap into the passions of our young people when we miss opportuities to help them learn to problem solve, think creatively, and learn to become involved in solving community issues. By standing still we are shackling our brightest minds and dooming many poor and minority children to lives of poverty, poor health care, and for many prison. It is a moral and an economic imperative that we, as a nation, address this crisis. We have not changed our schools in over 100 years 鈥?we must do so now.What will it take to remove boredom from our nation's high schools and replace it with empassioned learning?Curb the social engineering and %26quot;self esteem%26quot; training etc, and get back to a solid program of basic topics taught by faculty that are employed strictly on subject knowledge and the ability to communicate it. Expand the mandatory math %26amp; science requirements, as well as a mandatory 2nd language (4years).
Education also suffers from a society that demands that every enterprize must be %26quot;fun%26quot; in order to have value. Sometimes certain undertakings are necessary, even though they may not always be entertaining. That is not to say that because something is not fun, that it can not be stimulating. Course content should be relative to real world issues, and steps should be taken to insure that the students understand the place that the information / skills they need to master will be used in life, (even if they do not see it as being so in their immediate world).
You mention problem solving; I agree that it is a pivotal skill that has not been emphisized. I think that it has connection with a society that on some level has had less outside challenges for the average individual, and people who do not see the value of a challenge as a growth tool.
