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Elite education.
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Gaiyara Offline
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Post: #1
Elite education.

I went from some top accelerated private school for the best of the best and ended up at your average community college. I have to say that my CC is superior to "elite schools" because of the people that are there.

There's a big difference between people who just study all the time and seem naive about life, and your average kid who is going to school, holding a job, and generally does something other than worry about grades and schooling.

What should Gaiyara do Onii-chan? ♡

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03-03-2009 10:18 AM
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classclown Offline
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Post: #2
Re: Elite education.

lol yea my school is like that. they talk a good game but there just dee dee dees.

life is just blah blah blah. we hope for blah, and sometimes we find it. but mostly its blah. and waiting for blah. and hoping you were right about the blahs you made. and when you think you just got the whole blah damn thing figured out, and your surrounded by the ones you blah. death shows up and blah blah blah.
-weeds-

Death may be the greatest of all human blessings. -socrates-

Schooling us to prepare us for the career in need
Not caring about our interests and dreams to heed
03-03-2009 01:11 PM
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whistlingwings Offline
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Post: #3
Re: Elite education.

The main problem as I see it with "elite" education is that it's all about image, from the top to the bottom. From Oxford in the 1950's or whatever to what's considered "proper" schooling now, and of course you can never do that due to the inescapable fact (and thank god for it too) that people are different. The best education is always a case by case basis; what works best for the individual, what do they hope to achieve, etc. Education has become about a few overlords dictating what people should be like, and if they're encountered with a reminder that education should be the individual exploration of your own individual mind - and not as part of a collective - they'll run screaming for the hills. Because they're by this point more accustomed to procedure than logic.
03-04-2009 05:58 AM
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Trar Away
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Post: #4
Re: Elite education.

"Elite education" is bullshit. So is "advanced" classes and "honors" whatever.
03-04-2009 11:08 AM
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Aviator Offline
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Post: #5
Re: Elite education.

I have to disagree about Honors and Advanced classes, Trar.

While the schools and their stupid staff make a big deal about the honors classes and the kids inside them, making them seem like some kind of challenging, college track, best-of-the-best-insider-club, they are something different than that for the kids inside them. As a "gifted" student, I have spent a good amount of time in both honors and regular classes.

In regular classes, I've ground my teeth in frustration with the pace of the class and the idiocy of some of the other students, I've lost interest in education through boredom, I've gotten yelled at and even kicked out for trying to move ahead at my own pace/working on something else, and been ostracized by my fellow students for sharing my opinions and putting in full effort on things (in a nice way, I wasn't being a bitch about it, but merely contributing).

But in Honors/Advanced Classes, I am in an atmosphere that is just so much more at my level. The other kids actually care to learn, they contribute in class, sharing stories and opinions which have led to great, mind opening discussions, they can behave most of the time so that we can at least move at a quick pace, yet they're not sheeple, we have argued over the curriculum and test dates and the point of things with teachers in the past. Working at our own pace isn't some horrible crime - it's what we're expected to do, and we arn't micromanaged, because, we're assumed able to handle it.

While the school may try and show it off with fancy words and things on their newspage, it's not "elite" education, it's a level of education for the students who can make it work. It's not an exclusive club - anyone can get in if you prove yourself mature enough to work with. I havn't noticed Honors students going around touting themselves as such - that's just the course they chose to take. Not a fancy title, but an exercise for the brain. A personal decision, not a poo-poo on the rest of the world.

We don't pay extra money to get into those classes, we don't fill out applications and beg and pray to get in, we are there simply because we choose to be there, not for the title, or the prestige, and only a mild few do it especially for the college apps; we are in those classes because we enjoy learning at OUR pace - not the slowest kid in the classes.

So don't bash 'em, ok? Leave the honors classes be.

It is better to ask for forgiveness than for permission. - Neal Vitale
I'd rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints. The sinners are much more fun.
Everyone can back up their opinions. Some people just do it a whole lot better than others. - Rebelnerd
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03-04-2009 11:57 AM
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Trar Away
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Post: #6
Elite education.

My mistake. An old one, perhaps (feel free to assassinate me for my supreme gravedigging), but still.
04-19-2013 11:23 PM
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brainiac3397 Offline
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Post: #7
Elite education.

Zombuhs.

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(06-14-2013 08:02 AM)Potato Wrote:  watch the fuq out, we've got an "intellectual" over here.

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04-19-2013 11:52 PM
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timf Offline
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Post: #8
RE: Elite education.

An "elite" education is like selling a car in one respect. The more you can convince the customer that there is value in exclusivity, the more money you can make.

Making students work harder and longer is not the same as actually teaching them something. These schools are selective so that higher test scores can be claimed as the result of the teaching instead of the fact that they exclude students who wouldn't get good scores.

In a way it is like opening a store that claims to make people taller. You accept only tall clients. When you hang a picture up of your clients, people naturally assume you made them tall.

When you follow the path of truth, it first makes you angry, then it makes you sad.
04-20-2013 12:42 AM
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GamerGurl Away
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Post: #9
RE: Elite education.

I honestly think "honors" and "advanced" are irrelevant. If you don't mind reading every day and writing a ton, then taking a quiz at the end of the week or two, then be my guest but I won't overload myself with those classes.

It's just so pointless to join those classes. All it does is add a little flair to your educational "résumé" and gives you a little bit more room to talk because you were in a more challenging course.

I would think that whether it's a core or advanced/honors or AP class, if you do really well in school you can still end up with a good career ahead of you.

Seven crappy hours of our lives.
04-20-2013 12:57 AM
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Trar Away
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Post: #10
Elite education.

I remember way back when I originally replied to this thread that I probably qualified for AP classes (or just one, now that I remember) at the school I was attending. I didn't bother; I didn't want to deal with the extra homework (read: busywork). This was because I was reading ahead of my classmates and teacher during Language Arts, and when he found out about it I got chewed out for being rude. Maybe I was, but I'm quite sure myself that he was one of the rudest teachers I've come across.
04-20-2013 04:47 AM
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brainiac3397 Offline
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Post: #11
Elite education.

I took some AP courses, and usually we weren't given excess work(oddly enough those were the only classes that actually gave work). But this year, being my last year, I decided that since I won't be taking the test, I wouldn't really concentrate on doing anything.

But I find such distinguishments meaningless. I also disagree with "qualifying" for any class. If a student wishes to apply to an AP course, he/she should be given that opportunity. If they are incapable of continuing, they will be removed, if they are capable, they remain. I also dislike said Honors/Advanced simply because they aren't what they are supposed to be in practice. More worksheets and tests do not mean Honors/Advanced.

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(06-14-2013 08:02 AM)Potato Wrote:  watch the fuq out, we've got an "intellectual" over here.

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04-20-2013 12:55 PM
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