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- Path: sparky!uunet!ogicse!sequent!muncher.sequent.com!petel
- From: petel@sequent.com (Pete Lancashire)
- Newsgroups: misc.education
- Subject: Re: Magnet schools
- Message-ID: <1993Jan8.164758.21563@sequent.com>
- Date: 8 Jan 93 16:47:58 GMT
- Article-I.D.: sequent.1993Jan8.164758.21563
- References: <1993Jan07.182300.7993@eng.umd.edu> <1993Jan7.200126.13933@wam.umd.edu> <1993Jan8.024823.20241@meteor.wisc.edu> <1993Jan8.040433.12644@julian.uwo.ca> <1993Jan08.052327.18128@eng.umd.edu>
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- Organization: Sequent Computer Systems, Inc.
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-
- clin@eng.umd.edu (Charles Lin) writes:
-
- > Magnet schools provide the kind of challenge that schools ought to
- >providing, but unfortunately, do not.
-
- BINGO!!!!!
-
- >Part of the success is not only
- >due to dedicate teachers, but much more importantly, to dedicated students,
- >who have parents that are aware of the value of better education. I recently
- >read that Americans were tested in math skills and still fared just as
- >poorly as ten years ago. When asked, typical American parents were
- >satisified with their children's education,
-
- Please netters, remember you don't represent the 'typical', take some
- time and socialize with the 'great masses'. It is very hard to convice
- someone who drives a truck, or works on a production line, etc. that
- math and science is of any use. Some where we have forgotten the idea
- where we want our kids to get a better education than we had. You and
- I on the net are in a way the lucky ones, but again remember we are
- not the majority. WE HAVE to come up with some way of getting the idea
- across to these parents that education is worth it for their kids.
-
- >while typical Japanese parents
- >were not. While one might consider the Japanese system extreme, one advantage
- >is that, for many parents, education is at a premium. Valuing education must
- >first come from the home, and then the school.
-
- Have you been in some of these homes ? I have, and I don't just mean
- typical urban such as NY City. But areas that are considered pretty well
- off. We are going to have to re-educate the parents before we can
- educate the kids.
-
- >The best schools will not help people who are unwilling to learn.
-
- I've worked with kids that have been pegged as TOTALLY unable to learn,
- basically given up on, now these aren't the urban kids that are in gangs
- etc, but they could be or would be if they had a chance. BUT IT is very
- interesting after less than an hour how much they do learn, AND WANT to
- learn. What I'm trying to say is that in most casses it is not the kids
- that are unwilling to learn, but the environment (mostly
- home/parent) that is the problem.
-
- -pete
- Pete Lancashire
- petel@sequent.com
-