The day old question of modern education, does our school system test for intelligence or obedience. I touched on this subject a little in my first blog but I’d like to elaborate a little more because I think it’s an interesting topic. Regarding standardized testing, the credit system, and all the time put into making a schedule to fill requirements. Schools don’t give us a ton of freedom to learn what we want.
The reason this is relevant is because in my opinion, getting the best grades in the class and scoring the highest on the SAT doesn’t make someone the smartest person in the room. For me, all that scoring high on the SAT proves is that you’re capable of studying for long hours and relearning material that means nothing to you.
That’s the obedience element. I’m not saying that doing well in school doesn’t make you an intelligent person. Being able to absorb new information and then express it later is a sign of high intelligence. Although I think classroom learning is only half of what people are capable of. There is an anonymous quote saying “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole like believing it is stupid.”
In my opinion, 
if a student who absolutely despises math or science shouldn’t be forced to take 4 years of it. I think a basic understanding is necessary, but after two years of a high school subject I think you’ve learned all the basics and then some. Maybe a kid loves to write, or is fascinated with art, why can’t he or she pursue that more in high school? Why instead is he or she spending hours slaving over a textbook and not caring about the content. I mean, is it really necessary? (Badum-tss)
Image Creds: http://www.Flickr.com
dannysogblog 
Hi Danny
I really like your take on this topic. This is a very common sentiment among high school age kids mostly because we all have that one class that we hate with a burning passion. However most of the subjects we take in high school are required in college. Taking a calculus class in college will be a whole lot more difficult with only two years of high school math under our belts. While I agree with you on the premise it is not the high school’s fault but rather colleges we feel obligated to go to. If you could eliminate one unnecessary class that is currently required what would it be?
LikeLike
Hey Luke, yeah I agree that a hated class is enough to fuel the thought of hating high school all together. And if I had to eliminate one class it would probably be history, I know that it’s important to know about history and your country and all but, I just hate that subject so much.
LikeLike
Hi Danny,
I definitely understand where you’re coming from with this topic. I never really took time to think about the obedience part of school. If we only had to do two years of a certain subject and that would be amazing. Because I’ve taken choir and spanish all my years of high school, I’ve never had an elective. With the two year rule, I could get the chance to take anatomy or psychology. Kids not having to take a class they hate, could also motivate more kids to stay invested in school and their classes. This makes me wonder if the high school dropout rate would decrease with this improvement. Many kids drop out because they aren’t interested with their studies, but if they were interested, taking more art classes or music classes, they might stay in school. If I had the chance, I could argue about the pointlessness of the SAT all day. I find that the standardize test actually tests you on how well you can take a test, and like you said, how well you can study for long periods time and memorize random information. So the answer to your question, is it really necessary? No it is not.
-Maggie B
LikeLike
Haha, I really enjoyed your response. That’s the idea I was going for mostly is that to get through high school and get to college shouldn’t require a student to do a bunch of crap they don’t like to do. But the modern schooling system is practically written in stone. Although there have been talks of doing away with standardized testing, I don’t see it happen for a bit of time.
LikeLike