A little continuation of yesterday Learning theme, this time underlaying two major paradoxes, as today, 14.03.2024 in #MarchInLeo we talk about controversy.
)Uniformity ( as in the state or quality of being uniform; overall sameness, homogeneity, or regularity: uniformity of style. something uniform), is a big issue in the learning system. They are trying to get teachers to give a basic level of knowledge for all the pupils, and nowadays is quite big the trend of making school accessible for everyone. Sadly, this is a big lie, as most of the efforts are made to integrate the less gifted into a ''normal'' school, where the knowledge gap will either increase, if the school is understaffed and there are too many pupils per teacher, or if they are really lucky, a teacher will do extra efforts to help them catch up, but this will reflect into less time for the average pupil, so, even if they save somebody self esteem, the other average pupils will suffer, as less time will be spent teaching them. I know that special classes are not what some people want, especially if they are only slightly below average, even if the schools for less gifted got a much better ratio of teachers per pupil, as in there is the reversed situation, when the ones that are just slightly challenged may be distracted and side-tracked by others with much serious problems. And this is not good either. There is no way for us to win with this kind of education, isn't it? We would need more teachers, more specialists, and even more schools, with a better way to clasify and integrate everyone at his/her right level of understanding. Some may even say that form a point of view of economics and profit, this is wrong. But, it is even more problematic that what you think.
)Economically speaking, there is another category that we totally ignore, and sometimes punish, for being much better that others. I am talking about gifted people, genius level students, whom, if they are treated correctly and helped to develop, at least in theory, can solve all the major problems that we face right now on the entire planet.
Quoting the UK Parliament website:
"In England, there is no national definition of “more able” or “gifted” students or national support programme since the Young Gifted and Talented Programme closed in 2010. The inspections body, Ofsted, evaluates whether schools “nurture, develop and stretch pupils’ talents and interests”. In two evaluative reports, published in 2013 and 2015, Ofsted was critical of the support provided to “more able” pupils, and called upon schools to improve their curriculums, the transition between primary and secondary school, and their work with families to support aspiration."
So, the program for gifted and talented people in UK closed in 202 for lack of funds. And the rest is just political BS, to look like they care about it, even if they are not. If you are gifted, all the support that you receive is the one that you gain working with yourself, and the close family. There are one or two charities helping with this issue, but they are just a drop into the ocean. There are some parents forums, and this is all. Nobody cares about these people that can potentially change the world. Acording to some old data, mid 2000, 7 out of 8 geniuses get lost through the system, never achieving their full potential. They are punished and 'hunted', both in school and at work, for looking or being too clever for their own good. One may reach some great success here and there, but 87.5% are never able to fullfil their dreams, or learn as much as they want to. I am almost sure that the new data may be even worst that the old data, regarding these statistics.
In terms of government actions, again, 2013 data, around 15000 initiatives to suport people less gifted, as opposed to 20-30 initiatives to support gifted and talented individuals. This is crime, to ignore exactly the ones that can solve your problems in the near future. This problem is so real, that sometimes make me doubt the entire future of the humanity.
As for the second, continuing some counter intuitive way to focus on your learning subjects, I could quote Serena and Venus Williams' father, who said that his girls may be a bit behind when you talk about math, geography, history and sciences, but gifted at tennis. So, instead of helping them to become average in school, learning what they lack, he focused entirely into tennis, their strong point, and this brought them to the heights of mastery. I must to admit, before I watched that movie about them, I was initially thinking the same, if my kid would be bad at math, I would tutored him to become decent, so he would be decent at everything at school. We have that ideal Universal Man, promoted by the Leonardo da Vinci, but the guy learning skills were literally of the charts, so, he could do it. We cannot do that anymore, not without great sacrifices. Time is limited. So, from a wealth perspective, makes sense to focus on your best skill, and train to get better than most, for the biggest profit.
What do you think about this issue? I was mostly reflecting the UK perspective, but I will be curious to know how they do this in your country. Tell me more about it.
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