Recognizing capabilities

[Klukie]

In all this discussion about Education and the push for higher education, something is blatantly missing. What's missing is the fact that everyone can't be a rocket scientist. The lack of recognition of this fact is very disturbing to me because I believe it sets up a false standard from which we are trying to move this country forward. In my mind, when things are based on falsehoods they will inevitably fail. If we refuse to recognize that there will always be a giant faction of society that will only posses the ability required to work on a factory line or at the local piggly wiggly, how will we be able to recognize the need for these jobs?. There is nothing dishonorable about these professions in any way, but in some sense our push for everybody to be at the "TOP" has deemed it such. We need to do better in this regard IMO.

[peacebird]

1. it's also disturbing to hear the mantra that more training/education is needed to keep jobs

How we need a "better trained workforce" to compete. The jobs being created tend to be service industry, the jobs we a losing to outsourcing started out as blue collar factory work, but now encompasses traditional white collar workers as well. Many jobs are shipping out now - from medical test results and reading of xrays to IT and software coding.

These jobs are leaving NOT because of a poorly trained workforce, they are leaving because the corporation can get the same work done for less money in a third world country.

[Klukie]

2. +1000000

"These jobs are leaving NOT because of a poorly trained workforce, they are leaving because the corporation can get the same work done for less money in a third world country." Spot on!!!

[Klukie]

3. Is the mantra that "We can be or do anything if we just put our minds it" accurate?

[mrcheerful]

7. Nope its not accurate or true I can put my mind to believing that if I flap my arms hard enough or f

fast enough I can fly, but I aint going to jump off a cliff any time soon. Another words everyone has limitations on abilities, you might be good with english and dumb in math, hey the girl behind me in math is at fault.....she caused me to drop my pencil, she wore mini skirts to school every day. But no one size don't fit all and not all kids learn at the same pace or at the same age.

[Klukie]

9. Limitations.........a dirty defeatist word or a realistic view?

[mrcheerful]

10. Nope suffered a server head injury at age 5 that went into school records for safety reasons,

part of my skull in the back of my head was removed so the doctors didn't want anyone smackin me in the head. The coma left me with a speech defect so combined the school came to the conclusion that made me mentally defective which meant teachers were allowed to not teach me, hey it was the 60's. So yeah limitations put on me by the school system made education interesting. Like I couldn't go on class field trips that involved a lot of exercise but I had to take gym class.

[mrcheerful]

4. Then there are kids like the SO's who figured out a math formula that worked for him

he got the questions right but because he didn't use the formula that the teacher taught he failed the test. I also noticed that he dealt with a structured school setting then he did an unstructured open campus setting, given his free will on when he could go to school what class work he wanted to do his grades went from top of the class to just sliding by. At 17 he quit.

[LWolf]

5. Neither end of the spectrum benefits from the current

round of education "reforms."

[Klukie]

8. Agreed!!!

[Klukie]

6. Oh and would someone please define the "TOP" in our race to the top