Rich Dad/Poor Dad - Education

[Motokid]

Robert Kyosaki (spelling?) states on many different occasions that he believes the educational system is extremely outdated. His belief is that the system was devised in the industrial age to pump out worker bees with the general process being go to school, study hard, get a job for life with one company, and retire.

We have left the industrial age behind, but the schools have not changed the way they teach.

Kids today seem to be less prepared for entering the "real" world outside of school.

He also believes this is why so many kids are labeled as ADD/ADHD or learning disabled. Because the kids have changed, but the system has not.

Agree/disagree?

 

[bobbyburns]

there is certainly a perceived threat associated with any education system built around the attitudes and qualities of students. why do you think governments put up huge schools with enormous attendances? they're interested in the collective intellect, not individual creativity. the high school I went to had 4,000 students. because they were dealing with such a massive number of people, the administration basically said, "look, you're all here to compete against each other, if any of you don't like it, then we'll kick you out and you can go to the alternative school downtown." of course, everyone that attended the alternative school either wound up pregnant or in a gang, so for the students still fortunate enough to be enrolled in the regular school, there was that fear of winding up a life low that kept them in line. most people just learned to suffer through it. I was threatened with being kicked out a couple times for failing too many classes, but the teachers all thought I was retarded, so they let me stay.

 

[direstraits]

I don't think that the fundamental things that's currently being taught in schools are bad or unnecessary, but there should be other elements that should be thought as well.

I agree with him that student's coming out from school do not know anything about taking advantage of the financial systems in place (i.e. what exactly is the financial markets and how or why of the stock markets, etc). He basically contends that there are other ways to making money than becoming a straight-cut professional (lawyers, doctors, accountants, etc), and that the schools should recognize this as well.


ds

 

[Stewart]

The UK is looking into providing a two track education system - one for trades containing a focus on practical jobs and the other on academia leading to a university education. Although the way the UK is going the kids will be using their lunch money to pay for it.

 

[Motokid]

brains

I like that Rich Dad states that every kid is a genius. The current school system rewards those that can take in information, and regurgitate back on a standardized test.

The school system is incapable of grooming, and growing any other kind of talents kids have, and punishes them with grades and threats of being sent to "special schools" or worse.

 

[novella]

The UK is looking into providing a two track education system - one for trades containing a focus on practical jobs and the other on academia leading to a university education. Although the way the UK is going the kids will be using their lunch money to pay for it.

I agree with this strategy. Where is it written that everyone in the world needs a PhD, and MBA, or even a Bachelor's degree?

The plumbers, golf pros, bulldozer drivers, building contractors, chefs, etc. are earning as good or better money in my part of the world than the engineers, doctors, and college professors. So what is the point of trying to get everyone through a liberal arts or intellectual/professional educational program, particularly if they show no interest?

I don't think it's a question of rich dad/poor dad. If you take the poorer 98% of Americans, for instance, they are all hard pressed to pay the avg of $30K/year tuition for a private university, let alone the 6-12K/year for state university education, with room and board. How rich is rich in this discussion?

 

[Motokid]

not rich

I was asking about the way schools teach kids. The "rich" part was only a reference to the way Robert Kiyosaki presented the point in his "Rich Dad Poor Dad" series of books.

Kiyosaki stresses that the age old standard of thinking about the "only way to succeed" is a standard that needs adjusting. The world has moved on, but the education system has not.

Actually the system needs more than an adjustment, it needs a complete re-built. According to Kiyosaki.

For instance, most companies employ teams of people to work on projects, but when do schools teach and grade based on team work? Do schools provide an atmosphere where kids can learn how to be a part of a team?
Have you ever taken a team test?

 

[dele]

For instance, most companies employ teams of people to work on projects, but when do schools teach and grade based on team work? Do schools provide an atmosphere where kids can learn how to be a part of a team?
Have you ever taken a team test?

I don't really think that the schools are responsible for teaching teamwork. We send kids to school to teach them what their parents can't, or don't have time to teach themselves. I totally disagree with the new mentality that the schools should be the ones to raise our children. If you, as a parent, don't want to take some responsibility for them, what's the point of having a child?

I think schools are for teaching them things like arithmetic, science, literature, languages... things that we forget as adults when we don't use them every day. But why should they have to teach stuff like teamwork? Anyone who's ever had chores at home, helped prepare supper if Mom or Dad is sick, or ever did anything to help someone else out should get the basic idea of teamwork.

Now there still are people who just can't work as a team, and I think that's just part of their personality and no teacher would ever turn them around.

On a similar topic, what exactly is the use of gym class? I understand if they want to take a break to get the excess energy our of the kids, but now we're grading our children on how athletic they are! What a waste of time and money!

 

[Motokid]

???

The theory has nothing to do with schools babysitting kids, or parents that don't parent.

It has everything to do with "labeling" kids as problem children, slow learners, learning dissabled... simply because they are not good at sitting at a desk, listening to a teacher spew forth, and then coughing it back up onto a test paper.

The team thing was just one small example I pulled from the book. There are many more examples.

It is simply about the educational system not keeping pace with the evolution of man and the times we live in.

 

[Motokid]

gym class

gym class is about:
socialization
working as a team
getting the blood flowing
working out classromm frustrations
letting kids other than brainiacks shine for a moment
getting geeks and jocks to work together
getting supervised revenge against a classroom rival
introduces book worms to a whole new world of excitement..dodgeball !!!!

I counter your question with why be forced to learn history?
It should be a voluntary class.
History is stuff that's old, and done.
How does the War of 1812 help an 18 year old find a job?
How does some Spanish dude sailing off the edge of the world
help a 20 year old pay off his credit card bill?

 

[novella]

I was asking about the way schools teach kids.
Kiyosaki stresses that the age old standard of thinking about the "only way to succeed" is a standard that needs adjusting. The world has moved on, but the education system has not.

I think not. Before 1950 or so, it was commonplace to have adolescents begin training in a nonprofessional field if that was their chosen future. It's only in the last 50 years that all kids were expected to sit in a classroom for 12 or 16 years. And that system rubs against the reality that some 16 and 17 year olds are ready and willing to do something else.

There's a theory gaining ground in many secondary schools that there should be an early-college-curriculum option for the academic kids and other kids should have the option of technical training and internships, which matches what's been done throughout history.

The fact is, if you want to be an actuarial, a lawyer, a mathematician, a physicist, you will need to spend long hours working alone on complex problems. Sitting at a desk and learning how to do that well is very useful for some professions.

For instance, most companies employ teams of people to work on projects, but when do schools teach and grade based on team work? Do schools provide an atmosphere where kids can learn how to be a part of a team?
Have you ever taken a team test?

I don't know whether you have kids or how old they are, but my 14 year old does a lot of team learning in his public middle school. They have teams in history/social studies, lab science, do joint Powerpoint presentations in all subjects, conversational French, etc. I worry sometimes when he gets teamed with kids who don't want to work, but I guess that's life.

 

[dele]

I'm not arguing with you, I'm just offering a different view on what could be the problem. When the education system realizes its purpose isn't to parent children (something they've been bemoaning and trying to do at the same time for years), maybe they'll start concentrating on things kids actually need!

 

[dele]

gym class is about:
socialization
working as a team
getting the blood flowing
working out classromm frustrations
letting kids other than brainiacks shine for a moment
getting geeks and jocks to work together
getting supervised revenge against a classroom rival
introduces book worms to a whole new world of excitement..dodgeball !!!!

Sounds a little too perfect to me... Anyone have some gym class stories for us?

Quick question Motokid, when's the last time you asked an average child what they actually think about gym class? There's a reason why people stop taking it as soon as it is no longer mandatory in high school!

 

[Motokid]

define "average"

What exactly is an average kid? Would that be the average boy, or the average girl? What age range? I'd bet well more than 70% of Elementary school age boys live for gym.

Maybe I’ll rephrase the question?

The Rich Dad/Poor Dad series of books suggests that the American
Educational System is flawed beyond repair. That the current system in no way provides the tools kids need to be successful in the world as we know it today. Not to mention providing the tools kids will need for tomorrow.

Do you feel the American Educational System is providing adequate tools
for kids to be successful after they graduate from high school/college?

You supply your own definition of success.

 

[dele]

I agree, maybe for different reasons, but I believe he's right.

 

[novella]

Do you feel the American Educational System is providing adequate tools
for kids to be successful after they graduate from high school/college?

Do you feel America will offer the opportunities for today's kids with "adequate tools" to have financial security and material comfort? Without a positive answer to this question, the other is meaningless.

 

[Billy Oblivion]

I think that the educational system (at least in the UK) has been going downhill since corporal punishment was abolished. When I was a little girl I was regularly thrashed to within an inch of my life and it never did me any harm.

 

[Halo]

The UK is looking into providing a two track education system - one for trades containing a focus on practical jobs and the other on academia leading to a university education.

This makes me laugh so much. Did the government not notice the grammar school/secondary modern schools of the 1960s and 1970's? Obviously not, if they think this is a brand new idea.

 

[Motokid]

America

America is the LAND OF OPPORTUNITY.

What do you mean by: will America offer the tools to the kids?

The opportunities are there. It's the way people are taught that decides if they are successful or not. If you are always told you are a failure as a kid, you will probably be a failure as an adult. I'm not letting parents off the hook on this one. Teaching comes in many different forms.

Are you suggesting the government needs to get more involved?
I hope not.

 

[novella]

America is the LAND OF OPPORTUNITY.

That's a myth that's going to be busted even more over the next decade. We've exported our food production to countries with no minimum wage; the manufacturing sector is and will be dominated by China, particularly steel-based manufacturinig, textiles, and engineered products; customer service, telemarketing, and remote tech functions have been exported to any English-speaking country, especially India; and even the entertainment industries are getting cut into by foreign producers. These are huge sectors of our once-healthy economy.

If the economy craps out any further, where are these correctly educated kids going to work, and do you believe the American standard of living will still be possible in America?

What do you mean by: will America offer the tools to the kids?.

If you read carefully, you would see that "kids with 'adequate tools'" is the grammatical construction.

It's the way people are taught that decides if they are successful or not. .

I don't think this is true at all. If by success you mean financial security and material comfort (as I defined it earlier), those depend on many many factors.

I guess you haven't looked very carefully at the 70s in England, when the job market and economy virtually collapsed and millions of well-educated professionals and blue-collar workers were put out of work. Only when the economy revived, through years of redevelopment, public programs, and trade negotiations, did those people start earning a real living again. Talk with someone who went through that--he/she will probably be very well educated.

Are you suggesting the government needs to get more involved?
I hope not.

I am not making any suggestions, merely posing a question.