Schools need to take a much more significant
Discussion
Whoops.
Schools need to take a much more foremost approach to understanding the potential malbehaviors that can surface from herd mentality. In short: too large a herd can possibly lead to --> too much attention --> too much validation --> "I can never be wrong" --> "I am likely smarter than most" --> lack of understanding or indifference regarding others' perspectives and experience
Speaking about the American public school system, that was brought to the US by Horace Mann from Prussia. The Prussian education model was essentially an NPC factory. The goal was to produce graduates who were optimally suited for government clerkships, military service, or factory work, and all graduates would be of the same general opinion on all matters of import from that day and age.
Schools teach people what to think, not how to think and that's why the internet is a shitshow of the blind leading the blind.
And here we are, still convinced, that a nearly two century-old "education" system is the best way to create a happy life. No wonder so few lack effective critical thinking calabilities. I am VERY happy to see homeschooling becoming a more prominent approach, though.
I used to teach critical thinking and math to students of all ages at a supplemental learning center for years.
My students won awards at national math and critical thinking test competitions every year in increasing quantities.
Other than the students who earned medals, all of my students, as a whole, outperformed both national and international averages every year in increasingly larger margins each year.
Our learning center was the exact opposite of the Prussian model. We didn't treat our students in a one-size-fits-all way. We neurologically profiled each of our students to inform our efforts to lovingly tailor the curriculum and our interactions to each unique individual in ways best suited for their development and success.
Do you still keep in contact with the center? I'm only asking because I'm curious if the educational quality has stayed the same, degraded, or has perhaps improved. Sometimes it degrades when a larger number students begin attending. Not always, of course.
My kids attend a co-op that uses a unit study-based curricula system. In the usage of neurological profiling per individual student, it's very similar to what you described.
That center no longer exists. The director shut it down over a decade ago.
There was a non-compete agreement.
After the non-compete agreement's period had elapsed, a new center was opened.
I've helped out there a few times but that was years ago.
As far as I know, the director is still excellent at diagnosing, profiling, and teaching when it comes to students but the director has other issues (emotional, political, social, and financial issues to name a few) that compel me to avoid the new center.
You're right that scaling was a major issue with which we had to contend. The scaling requires high quality teachers who are well trained, observant, and insightful. Obviously people like that are not typically interested in working for $15/hour with no benefits. That meant we were stuck trying to develop talented high schoolers to serve as classroom instructors which worked but, understandably, led to significant rates of employee turnover which means new trainees and more time sunk into training them every few years.
I wonder how many or if any of those students became teachers at similar centers.
Lol i hope he can comprehend this.