Education Articles
I hold a unique place in the Parthenon of writers of this topic; I have taught, unintentionally, at more schools than any other person - over 125 for elementary and high school students.
As I ponder the uniqueness of educational systems, and their fallibility, I try to focus on symptoms that make our grammar schools horrible and our universities great. Makes no sense - does it? Let's investigate this closer.
Why American elementary schools put out such poor over-all grade carrying students:
Maybe it's because American kids are socially immature - In all the world, America has the greatest proportion of its kids in jail!
Also, many American kids are "rich", thus, they develop empathy slowly.
American elementary and high schools are operated by an odd mixture of despotic administrators.
American kids are "more" focused on sports, entertainment and "drugs and rock and roll" than their other-world counterparts.
Some times getting a shy student to participate is very difficult. You can beg or demand, but to those students it will not be a fun experience and they may start to not like you for making them do it. School programs should be fun and memorable experiences for those that participate. They should be a time to shine and display talents. For a shy student it is even more important that they participate and feel like they are part of the program.