Is Education Declining or Improving?

[Barnette ⋆˙⟡ (my girlfriend's version), Creator, Head Moderator]

Thanks, Ray!

[soph ₊˚ෆ (semi-ia) 🍉]

i'm not quite clear on what this debate is about, but i'll share what i think. honestly i think it depends on the school/child's personal experience, if that's what you mean. now that everything has been transitioned to online, i think there's a lot more room for students to get misinformation, as opposed to textbook learning (my school doesn't even use textbooks anymore). it's also been scientifically proven that writing things down helps you remember then better, as opposed to electronic notes. then again, that depends on the student's personal experience.

if we're talking about statistics and test scores, it's declining. people aren't being taught how to find reliable information anymore, and reading and math scores in Canada have declined 10-15 points since 2018. in the US, math scores of 8th graders have been the lowest they've ever been in 50 years, and reading scores regressed back to scores from 1998. in Italy, test scores were 30% lower than they were before the pandemic. then again, testing isn't a very accurate measure of a student's knowledge, in my opinion at least

if we're talking about the education system as a whole, i honestly don't know. it varies from place to place, but in Canada i believe it's declining. i do think the education system in Europe is a little better, but of course they all need a lot of work.

okay phew that was long, but lmk if i answered the question correctly!

[✰ g i g i - jisung season ✰]

Personally, as someone who's worked as a teacher's assistant in a high school, we think we're improving by material, but in reality, we're failing the next generation by shoving an incredulous amount of information, and not pushing them to become strong in all aspects, just in things we think or see that they're good at

[Sai :), Assistant Moderator]

in the us, definitely declining. performance on standardized testing has went wayyyy down.

https://www.npr.org/2023/06/21/118344....


however, standardized testing isn't the best way to test students, but such a sharp decline is still concerning.

https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-new...

[Sai :), Assistant Moderator]

✰ g a g e - bbnotestosterone ✰ wrote: "Personally, as someone who's worked as a teacher's assistant in a high school, we think we're improving by material, but in reality, we're failing the next generation by shoving an incredulous amou..."

agreed! like most state-provided curriculums (especially in math) the questions are very straightforward and don't provide much thinking. it only requires memorization, and no actual critical thinking or any other real skills

[Sai :), Assistant Moderator]

like for our math at school we use big ideas, and in elementary school we used origo stepping stones, which are both probably the dumbest things ever.

[Kylie]

I think the technology and resources are improving but the care put into teaching is declining and some of the new ways of teaching isn’t helping anyone like stick to the basics yk

[D1bs (kpdh's version)୧]

rayner wrote: "this debate is supposed to be about whether or not you think people are better educated today than they were before or vice versa, are current education standards better or worse, etc. etc."

well, it also depends on what time we're comparing it too as well, and subject because of the variety of them

[Sai :), Assistant Moderator]

starryskies wrote: "I believe education has improved since the advent of modern technology, but there are plenty of areas that could greatly benefit from change. For instance, I believe there is too much memorization ..."

thissss
i think that a main reason that student's aren't feeling encouraged to learn at school is that yeah, teachers show videos and teach techniques stuff but they don't care about it. people don't try to make school interesting, students just sit there bored all the time and you aren't willing to learn when you think what you're being taught is stupid

[shreya‎ ‎ ‎ ⋆‎ ‎ ‎ semi ia‎‎ ‎ ‎ ⑅‎ ‎ ‎ ֺ]

hot take but education in schools stunts creativity, and is a way to brainwash (slightly too harsh of a word?) children. especially in the us.

[Sai :), Assistant Moderator]

i'm not sure if this is on topic or not, but i don't think a lot of teachers care about their students' workload