Comment It will never work (Score 1) 561
Every time I see something like this I have to wonder what the person in charge is actually thinking. Then I remind myself that they aren't.
Group psychology will tell you that rewarding some at the expense of others only makes the rewarded outcasts. It will do the exact opposite of what they are trying to accomplish.
As my boss is so fond of saying; "Reward the behavior that you want to enforce." If you want better teachers, then reward them for bringing their classes up to par. Give them time to do their jobs. Get rid of silly practices like "No child left behind" and let the teacher actually teach.
Teachers know how to make learning fun, but they are not given time to do it because of all of the standardized testing. This testing is what they must teach the students how to master. It doesn't help the student one whit. Just because I can rip an algebraic equation down in thirty seconds doesn't help me a lot. Sure I use it in my job once every blue moon, but guess what? I don't need 6 semesters of math to be able to do it.
The second issue is that we need to quit treating little Johnny like he is exactly like Bill, Doug and the rest of the class. Little Johnny has an IQ of 80. Why are we holding back the folks who have an IQ of 112 just so little Johnny doesn't get his feelings hurt? Suck it up. Little Johnny is going to find out when he hits the employment market that no one gives a care that he can't figure out how to turn on a faucet and mop the floor. They will fire him and move on. So why are we pandering to try and make everyone equal when we know full well that they aren't? Sure, it's a sad situation, but don't punish those who can for the sake of those who can't.
We need full education reform. The system we have in the US is horribly broken and nothing is going to fix that with a major overhaul.
Group psychology will tell you that rewarding some at the expense of others only makes the rewarded outcasts. It will do the exact opposite of what they are trying to accomplish.
As my boss is so fond of saying; "Reward the behavior that you want to enforce." If you want better teachers, then reward them for bringing their classes up to par. Give them time to do their jobs. Get rid of silly practices like "No child left behind" and let the teacher actually teach.
Teachers know how to make learning fun, but they are not given time to do it because of all of the standardized testing. This testing is what they must teach the students how to master. It doesn't help the student one whit. Just because I can rip an algebraic equation down in thirty seconds doesn't help me a lot. Sure I use it in my job once every blue moon, but guess what? I don't need 6 semesters of math to be able to do it.
The second issue is that we need to quit treating little Johnny like he is exactly like Bill, Doug and the rest of the class. Little Johnny has an IQ of 80. Why are we holding back the folks who have an IQ of 112 just so little Johnny doesn't get his feelings hurt? Suck it up. Little Johnny is going to find out when he hits the employment market that no one gives a care that he can't figure out how to turn on a faucet and mop the floor. They will fire him and move on. So why are we pandering to try and make everyone equal when we know full well that they aren't? Sure, it's a sad situation, but don't punish those who can for the sake of those who can't.
We need full education reform. The system we have in the US is horribly broken and nothing is going to fix that with a major overhaul.