quote:
Originally posted by funkmasterfreaky:
Funky,
Do you think you and your good wife are capable of giving your kids a good all round unbiased education?
Would I take this stance if I didn't think it was feasible? What do you care what I teach my children so long as they grow up to work hard and can think? I may not be able to do a perfect job but no teacher can. One thing I can guarantee is that I could do a much better job than the system I see provided. Much better job.
Funky,
You OWE it to your kids to allow them to have a good all round education. I dont know how the eductaion system works in the USA but in Scotland high school kids get taught 14 different subjects in a weekly time table. Now funky, no one, not even you, could provide a better education than 14 teachers, if you think you can then why not become a teacher and do something about the poor education system that America must have if your argument is true.
Also, I DO care what you and everyone else teaches their kids, I also care deeply about EVERY child I teach, contrary to your earlier claim that teachers dont care about all their student. I work very hard in and out of school to make sure that my students get the best from me, I feel it is my duty to do that, it is part of the job.
You also claim that schools 'Force feed you knowledge screaming at you the whole time that your life depends on this.'
Funky you cannot force feed knowledge into anyone, if they aren't interested then you are wasting your time, if the child's brain goes 'reptilian' then it doesnt matter what you do.
One thing I always remember from teacher training is that students normally take what teachers say as being the truth, so I am always very careful in everything that I say. True I am an atheist that teaches religious studies but I do not say any one faith is superior to any other, I emphasise that these are belief systems that cannot be proven or disproven.
Now teachers have to be impartial in what they teach, so funky if you were teaching your kids a lesson on Religious Studies would you be able to be impartial, would you teach your kids that Jesus might NOT be God and that Allah might be.
How many creation myths would you teach?
Would you be able to tell them that there's no non biblical evidence for any of the Patriarchs, there's no evidence that the enslavement in Egypt happened, there's no evidence of an Exodus or a conquest.
The problem I have with people educating kids at home is that they will not teach them from an objective stance, we then have the danger of indoctrination, the child is not given all the options. We then have the problem of the child not having a choice in their belief system, christians will promote christianity in their home lessons and the child will come to think that christianity is the only true choice, because students think that everything their teacher says is true.
You also say that 3 years at Uni doesnt qualify you to teach. Again I do not know the USA system but in Scotland you need a degree that takes 3 years (4 if its an honours) and an extra year to do a post grad certificate in Education. I studied education alongside my honours degree and have a diploma in ed, which is between a certificate and a degree.
Now anyone that has these qualfications IS qualified to teach, whether they are an effective teacher is a different thing, maybe thats what you meant?
Anyway, I do care about what you teach your kids, if you were teaching them at home you MAY be depriving them (im not saying you would)of a better education, of a better chance in life, and you may be depriving them the chance to sample the beautiful philosophies of other faiths.
Best wishes.
Brian.
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Remembering events that never happened is a dangerous thing!
™ Version 4.2
Again though like any system in history no matter how wonderful it looks in theory and on paper will be corrupted by the same thing GREED