FROM REBEL TO RULER
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Sample
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Sample
Search

Lessons of the Private Sector I: Fundamentals

1/16/2014

0 Comments

 
Picture
Scholars studying K-12 education often examine public systems around the world (like the Finnish school system) to figure out ways to improve the American system and then completely ignore the massive, multi-billion dollar domestic private education sector.  This sector includes not only private schools, but also private tutoring and education-themed books and services.

The first lesson that should be drawn from an examination of the market:  Fundamentals are important.

There has been a great shift in the content of the courses in public schools away from fundamentals, which are disparaged as "rote learning."  Grammar is barely taught; it shocks many people when they realize that few high school students can define "adverb."  

Here is how the private sector has responded:

  1. Kumon: Kumon started off teaching math in the Japanese style.  Essentially, it is weapons-grade rote learning.  Students get worksheets with repetitive math skills and have to get every question on the worksheet correct to move on to the next level worksheet.  Sounds horrible?  Well, the company makes almost a billion dollars a year.
  2. Eats, Shoots & Leaves:  This book was a remarkable number one bestselling publishing phenomenon, and its subject was grammar and punctuation.  Imagine getting in a time machine and telling Catholic school attending baby boomers that a book on grammar and punctuation is a future bestseller.
  3. Trivia night: Part of the curriculum shift was motivated by the idea, "History shouldn't be about memorizing pointless facts. Kids hate that."  Bars all over the country have populated their slow nights with people trying to show off how many pointless facts they have memorized.

The shift away from fundamentals was motivated, of course, by good intentions.  The problem is the either/or mentality of many changes in education.  Pure fundamentals: bad.  No fundamentals: bad.  

Can't we meet somewhere in the middle?

0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Author

    I'm an entrepreneur and I teach math, history, economics, and fitness.  I'm looking for arguments. 

    Archives

    November 2019
    March 2018
    November 2017
    September 2017
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    July 2016
    May 2016
    September 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    August 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013

    RSS Feed

Proudly powered by Weebly
  • Home
  • Blog
  • Contact
  • Sample