Interview 1- Marco
How do you think school would be affected if you could choose your own curriculum from anything you wanted to learn?
Some people would be responsible and choose things that would help them later in life and others would choose to learn things that may not be as important. It all depends on the student.
Would it be beneficial in the long run?
Yes and no. The responsible people will spend more time on what they actually want to learn and will have higher quality learning. The less responsible people won't have the knowledge they need to have a good career.
If you were a teacher, how do you think you would incorporate the interests of the students into the structure of the class and the curriculum?
I would connect whatever those students were interested in to the subject I was teaching to the best of my abilities.
Would you teach something new that the students wanted to learn or stop teaching one of the things you were teaching if they were uninterested?
It all depends because if they aren't interested in something they need to understand to learn something else you can't skip it or they won't learn those other things correctly, which could include what they initially wanted to learn.
Would you teach something they wanted to learn but you felt wasn't as necessary as something else you had already planned that they wouldn't be as interested in?
They should learn the fundamentals first and then use that knowledge to fully understand anything else they want to learn.
How do you feel success in school is reflected in later success in adulthood?
They are proportional in most cases, success in school is equal to success in life. However in cases where somebody is an athlete or an artist of some form they don't have the same relationship. While we see these cases more often than we see businessmen thanks to the media, there are in fact more business men and lawyers and such, all of which succeed based on their performance in school.
Would you say that school is worth all the time and effort required to succeed in it?
Yes.
Interview 2- Sylvia
How do you think school would be affected if you could choose your own curriculum from anything you wanted to learn?
Well I guess the school would have to restructure its budget in order to accommodate the many different classes that different students would want, not to mention that many teachers would have to be trained in those many different fields and more teachers would possibly have to be hired.
How about from a students standpoint?
I think it depends on the student. I'm sure that many people would be able to choose the classes they were truly interested in and therefore would pay more attention and do better in that class because they wouldn't be bored with it or annoyed. I do think that some people would choose classes that wouldn't really contribute to knowledge that would be needed later on in order to succeed and some might take easier classes just because they were lazy therefore lowering their chances of success later on.
If you were a teacher, how do you think you would incorporate the interests of the students into the structure of the class and it's curriculum?
I guess, because if you're not interested in learning something you are more likely to slack off, fool around, not pay attention, day dream, etc. Making it more fun might boost grades and participation.
Would you teach them something they wanted to learn if you felt it wasn't necessary?
If it was a short unit, sure, but if it would take away from time spent on something actually important, then no.
How do you feel success in school is reflected in later success in adulthood?
Well those who can support themselves and are able to do so whether they be freelancers, marketers, businesspeople, artists, or whatever they may be are often the ones that did well in school. However there are a few underdogs who can succeed later on despite the fact they did not do well in school.
Overall, would you say that all the effort people put into school is worth it to succeed?
Well it depends on what you're aiming for. Sometimes you just need talent to succeed instead of acquired knowledge. Artists rarely use english/math/science to create their works, others do very well in school but end up as cashiers where they don't need anything they learned. Others that wants to get into fields such as physics or teaching need to do well in order to ensure they can stand up to the requirements of their future jobs.
Interview 3- Hayley
How do you think school would be affected if you could choose your own curriculum from anything you wanted to learn?
I would not be in favor of having people replace educational institutions because that's what they're there for. The technique for education has been built up for hundreds of years. To make these education institutions better, we should perhaps revert to the Greek times when music and art were just as important as math, science, english, and social studies. Now music and art are not as important as a foreign language, which is something that should really be looked at critically.
What if the institution remained but instead of choosing from a set list of courses, the student body determined what the classes would be?
I would fervently disagree with this because I usually clash with the ideals, opinions, and values of fellow classmates and a large sector of my generation.
Do you think this would be beneficial for everybody involved?
It would be another popularity contest of what teens enjoy to learn, so it would probably be on the echelon of what people regard as interesting and "cool" and my stance on such things always differs greatly.
Would it be beneficial though? Would this ultimately be a good way for schools to operate and for students to learn?
No.
If you were a teacher, how do you think you would incorporate the interests of the students into the structure of the class and the curriculum?
Depending on who the students are I would try to incorporate more or less of their interests into the curriculum. The younger the children, the more ignorant. I would give more leeway to the older students.
Would you teach something that they had great interest in if you felt it was not fully necessary to learn?
Maybe, depending on if it would open doors for a subject I was trying to teach.
How do you feel success in school is reflected in later success in adulthood?
Some adults were never the scholarly types and transitioned into the workforce just fine. Some students are better suited for academics and others for more creative work. School doesn't define a person, but initiative one's life does.
So you would say that the two are not directly related?
Yes and no. School sets certain foundations for particular occupations, but in others not. A high school education is necessary for ignorance to not be abundant.
Would you say that all the effort put into school is worth the rewards it brings?
For some people, yes, and some people no. Overall, I view a certain level, as I said to High School level to be necessary for future life. However, the social abuse and learning disabilities that some children have to deal with on a regular basis makes school more depressing but it's still beneficial. It is rewarding to do well in classes and have an academic future and high school sets the grounds for collegiate life. For some persons, effort is not entirely met with rewards though.
Interview 4- Dad
How do you think school would be affected if you could choose your own curriculum from anything you wanted to learn?
If kids got to pick whatever classes they wanted, who would be the professors? I mean, how do you get professors for that, there would be a million professors. If kids were allowed to pick whatever they wanted somebody would have to group them up and see if they were viable subjects, everybody can't just pick whatever they want because it wouldn't be economically feasible. That would be the main thing. I wouldn't be so worried about kids not picking the right things because some kids would be smart about it and would take the required classes because they know they need them. Then you have the kids that want take skateboard class. My basic concern is you wouldn't be able to do it economically.
Do you think the students the students would benefit from this?
Yes and no because they would be more interested but they also might not get the required knowledge they need in life. It's good though because it would teach them discipline, but ultimately somebody needs to be in charge otherwise nobody will benefit and it will be chaotic. So even if they can do that somebody needs to coordinate it all and be in charge.
If you were a teacher, how do you think you would incorporate the interests of the students into the structure of the class and the curriculum?
I would ask kids what they want to learn depending on what I'm teaching. I would ask for input at the beginning of the semester and I would try to get a general knowledge of what my class is like and see what my students like and don't like so I could teach them better.
Would you teach something they liked that they wouldn't really need?
I would teach them anything they were interested in because if they are interested then they will want to learn it. If they want to learn it, it would be like them taking initiative towards something, and it would be my responsibility to teach them these things, because how could you not teach somebody who wants to learn?
How do you feel success in school is reflected in later success in adulthood?
You can't really relate one to the other. Success in school does help, because it teaches you discipline and how to act in a group environment with other people but it doesn't really relate to your adult life unless you are going to a specialty school where you get to pick the things you want to do. Then if you are successful at them they will help you later on. A lot of people who did really good in school didn't do well in life, they needed to find their way later. All it does is help you get to the next level in life but it doesn't translate over to success unless you are a by the book person and go into a field that is approached much like school.
Do you think school is worth all the effort?
Definitely. If it wasn't for school people would be lost.
Interview 5- Constanza
How do you think school would be affected if you could choose your own curriculum from anything you wanted to learn?
Much more interesting and much less stressful because I wouldn't have to take subjects that I am not, and never will be good at. Subjects I will never be interested in pursuing after graduation.
Do you think that this would be ultimately beneficial?
Yes, but I don't think it would be beneficial starting from freshman year. In the U.K. system kids in the equivalent of eleventh grade can choose their own subjects and focus in on those for final exams. This leads to greater focus in university instead of having to take a lot of pointless entry level classes in every subject, like we do here. So yeah, in terms of motivating kids to learn what they want to learn after a certain point, it would be beneficial.
If you were a teacher, how do you think you would incorporate the interests of the students into the structure of the class and the curriculum?
I would try and listen to suggestions from the students as to what type of projects they enjoy, and then try and make lessons more interesting and less sterile, if the school gave me the leeway to do so.
Would you teach less relevant things that you knew they were more interested in?
Not if it interfered with the required curriculum
How do you feel success in school is reflected in later success in adulthood?
It's not (Laughs).
(Laughs). Elaborate please.
Look at the president of the United States. Elaborate more? (Laughs). Well, depending on your personal circumstances, it may or may not matter. If you drop out of school to be a rapper, you may or may not make it big. Also, what determines success? Success to one person might mean having a corporate job, a mansion, and a million dollars in the bank, and success to another might be doing work that they love for little pay or recognition. School could have everything to do with whether or not you get a job as a big shot lawyer, or nothing to do with pursuing a profession that you truly love to do. People have built businesses from the ground up with little education, What's stopping other people from trying? School is a safety net, something to fall back on. it's good to have degrees if you're going after something that basically requires one, or if you need other job options.
Would you say that school is ultimately worth all the effort that goes into it?
I don't know yet, because I'm not out of school. but for the sake of my sanity, I'm going to have to say yes, because I dont want to think that I'll have wasted my whole life in school.
Part B
What I found interesting in these interviews is that nobody outright believes that there is a direct connection between success in life and success in school. Those who succeed in school might not always succeed afterwards and might need something else to help them find their way, like my dad said, or they might do poorly in school and start their own business later regardless, as Constanza said. What this leaves me to wonder though is whether it is worth attending or not. It's here that it becomes more apparent that school seems to be more important on a basic level or as an introduction to greater things, instead of being the greater thing itself. If this is the case, could it be reformatted in a way that this became easier and more apparent for the masses. As Constanza mentioned, the U.K. has specialized classes at their 11th Grade equivalent, which can help students gain introductory knowledge that one would typically have to wait for college for in the U.S. Is it possible that school were completely abolished and people would succeed without it though? What does the school system provide that is so crucial and unique that it can say that it is the sole source of?
I also found it interesting that despite this, most people found that school was worth all the effort put into it. This leads me to question the worth of our efforts and the quality of them. Granted, nobody is truly breaking their back for school, but a significant investment of time and work is put into it, but the results are not guaranteed, almost like an investment. Is that what school is like then? An investment that we can fall back on to support us for a while if we lose our jobs? I think that what is also of note is that there is always an exception to the results of school, whether it be the underdog who finds a way to succeed without the help of an education, or those who are gifted and never needed to put forth the effort required for school because it was irrelevant for them. School seems weak by this standard, and the only way to truly see if it guarantees would be to survey the world and see how school affected them later on. Also of note is that this is only discussing American school systems and not the world, and maybe they are like the U.K. as Constanza said, and this could be more helpful in the long run.
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