#Education reform

[alwaysbewoke]

[shayne-the-sage]

Chances are, if you’re reading this, you’re someone with a lot of voting power.

[quasarkisses]

we know the way modern education works is ineffective at best, yet every post discouraging student AI use relies heavily on the defense that doing assignments yourself is "supposed" to be teaching you

students will never stop using AI because their assignments AREN'T teaching them anything! they aren't just lazy or distracted. it's literally useless torment to them, why wouldn't they have AI do it for them?

you have to complete school to get a job. it's a barrier to entry. until the system is changed from relying on torturous independent busywork and rote memorization, humans who learn in any other way will continue to find a means to get through it

[dontmean2bepoliticalbut]

[barefootbaltimore]

Ive been 30 for a bit now and I STILL have stress dreams about school. Usually revolve around forgetting my schedule and having to remember what classes I have that day which I 10000% blame on my muddle school.

In middle school we had 2 schedules that rotated simultaneously: Green/Blue and A/B/C. The colors determined your lunch period and thus the general structure of the day and what core classes you were attending. The letters determined which electives you had for the day. So the rotation was Monday was a Green A day, Tuesday was Blue B, then Green C, Blue A, etc etc. These all meant different things for different students! My Blue days could mean I have the early lunch but for someone else it means they have the late lunch and the electives obviously are self selected.

So I had to keep track of all this everyday (and no they didn't announce this info daily it was pretty common for kids to end up in the wrong place). Then I went to high school and it was a similar rotation with multiple moving parts but also the school i went to had 4 floors and any class could be *anywhere*. There was a general structure like there's a science wing and an area where most language stuff happened etc. but it wasn't unusual to have a class on the 4th floor and then have 5 minutes to get all the way down to the basement and then all the way back up again. No you couldn't use the elevator without a doctors note.

In fact days that i had English last period were the fucking worst because the classroom was so far away from where the school busses parked and our bus driver WOULD leave you if you took longer than 10 minutes from the bell. So you had to hope your last period teacher isn't a "The bell doesn't dismiss you i dismiss you" type and then race to the bus. It was so goddamn stressful every single day.

I have never in my adult life had to juggle so much and I was homeless with 3 jobs once. Anyway we're torturing children so maybe someone should look into that.

[audhdnight]

Anyone else really fucking sick of the whole edgelord “we don’t need school it’s all bullshit when will I even need to know any of this” crowd who will also immediately turn around and violently shame and attack anyone who says something misinformed or asks a question that they deem to be “common knowledge”???

Like yeah, I remember highschool. It sucked, but not because of what I was learning. It sucked because teachers are overworked and underpaid/under supported, and the school system doesn’t give half a shit about disabled kids or kids with different neurological conditions or really any of the kids.

We do need schools. Whatever issues the system as a whole has, it needs to be reformed, not done away with. You cannot sit and gripe about how we don’t need any of these history classes because it’s all stuff you don’t want to know anyway, and then go absolutely batshit insane when someone doesn’t know about Pearl Harbor.

Because those people aren’t stupid. They are being intentionally misled, neglected, misinformed, or all three. They are ignorant, not because they chose it but because someone else chose it to further their own desires.

Ignorance leads to harm. Ignorance leads to manipulation. Ignorance is why we have slews of people in the US who are so scared of autism (which IS NOT SOMETHING TO BE SCARED OF) that they refuse to vaccinate their children, which is a form of medical neglect. They are actively endangering people they care about because they have been lied to by political parties and religious leaders who benefit from uneducated mobs.

Ignorance is how you get cults. Ignorance is how people get taken advantage of. Ignorance is how you get genocide. ONE person decides they want power and they use the lack of education to amass followers who will support them blindly because they don’t know any better.

Everyone is appalled when ex-Mormons get on the internet and talk about all the things they had to learn as adults, who by all accounts should have known those things by the time they were fifteen. People lose their fucking minds when ex-Mormons mention they didn’t know how babies were made until after they got married at like thirty. I saw someone make an entire six minute video about how he’s pretty sure all these deconstructers are lying for clout online, because how could they possibly not know?

They don’t know because they were intentionally kept in the dark. That is how high-control religions and cults operate. That is how you keep people under your thumb.

You ask how Christians could possibly think that evolution isn’t real? As someone who was raised that way, I’ll tell you.

From the moment my education started, I was fed misinformation. In kindergarten I learned about how God made dinosaurs, but they all died in the flood and the earth was too damaged afterward to support such big species even after they came off the ark. In middle school I watched Ken Ham and Kent Hovind videos about how carbon-dating is all bogus and if any scientist tries to use it to debate you, you can say “Aha! I knew you were wrong!” and end the discussion there. In highschool I took apologetics, where we learned how to “defend our faith” by constantly moving the goalposts when we spoke to atheists. We were taught that “What happened to the Missing Link?” is a gotcha that no scientist would ever be able to dispute, and so obviously we were the ones in the right. I was told at every possible opportunity that Bill Nye is literally the antichrist, that he doesn’t have a clue what he’s talking about, and that any Creationist (Christian “scientists”) could debate him into the ground because he’s so stupid.

I didn’t question any of it because that wasn’t an option. It was *literally* all I knew. I had such a fundamental misunderstanding of science as a whole that when I was exposed to true scientific facts and processes and studies for the first time, I could scoff and say “Don’t they know that’s not even a real thing? How ridiculous that they’d think I would believe it!”

I’m doing the work now to re-educate myself. I have learned so much in just two years that I genuinely can’t speak to half of my family because it makes them so angry. And when I hear people talk about anything happening or existing “billions of years ago”, my knee-jerk reaction is still “The earth is nowhere near that old! That’s how I know they’re lying!” I have to intentionally reprogram my thinking every. single. time. that I engage with scientific literature or media.

It’s hard. It’s frustrating. And it all could’ve been avoided if my own parents hadn’t also been misled their whole lives. I’m not going to make excuses for them as adults, because learning and doing better is your own responsibility once you’re not a kid. But I will say that if their parents hadn’t also been misinformed, they wouldn’t have learned the same lies that they later went on to teach me and my siblings. It’s a vicious cycle, one that is designed to keep people ignorant. It is purposely designed not to have an out.

So yeah, I don’t really know how to end this post but please for the love of god, have some empathy for people who don’t know “common knowledge” facts about science or history. Most likely, it’s not their fault. And the way they push back at you with nothing but misinformation and a dream has been programmed into them probably since birth. This is why we need education, why we need schools, and why it is so vitally important that we as a society do the work to reform our education system.

[commonsensecommentary]

This is, obviously, a deeply disturbing injustice and abuse of power. However, I suspect a lot of citizens would end up handcuffs if they started questioning the pay of the many overpaid—and blindly incompetent—administrators in their local public school systems. You’re being scammed, folks.

[eso-studies]

no single task should be worth more than 35% of your grade. I will die on this hill

[amaranthmagazine]

Summary: Adapting Education for the Gig Economy: A Paradigm Shift in Learning for the Future of Work

In Adapting Education for the Gig Economy: A Shift in Paradigm, the article explores how the traditional educational system must evolve to meet the demands of the modern workforce. As the gig economy continues to grow, individuals are increasingly seeking flexible, skill-based education that caters to real-world needs. This shift requires rethinking not just how we approach learning, but also how we integrate emerging technologies, work patterns, and lifelong learning opportunities into educational frameworks.

The gig economy presents an opportunity for education to become more personalized and adaptable. With more people choosing freelance, contract, or part-time work, institutions must rethink curricula to prepare students for an increasingly dynamic labor market. To understand how education systems can better serve these new workforce models, explore the Business Beat section of Amaranth Magazine, which features more articles focused on economic shifts and workforce trends.

This article offers deep insights into how education systems around the world are adapting to the gig economy and why it’s crucial to equip the next generation with practical, adaptable skills. It’s an essential read for educators, policymakers, and learners themselves, aiming to create an ecosystem that aligns education with the realities of today’s gig-driven world.

For more in-depth coverage on the evolving workforce, be sure to explore additional articles within the Business Beat category, where we discuss everything from economic trends to workplace innovations.

Discover More about Amaranth Magazine: To stay informed about the latest shifts in business, education, and the future of work, check out Amaranth Magazine. Here, we explore how industries are evolving, with a particular focus on the intersection of technology, business, and workforce dynamics.

Want to dive deeper into specific topics like wellness or tech trends that impact education? Visit our Wellness Watch and Tech Trends sections for articles that complement the discussion on modern workforce challenges.

Connect and Engage: Our magazine thrives on engaging with a community of thoughtful individuals who want to learn, contribute, and grow. We invite you to subscribe to our Subscription page for regular updates on emerging trends, future-of-work discussions, and business strategies. By subscribing, you will gain access to the latest articles, research, and insights tailored to help you adapt in a rapidly changing world.

If you're interested in contributing your own perspective on education or the gig economy, explore how to get involved by visiting our Contribute Your Content page. Amaranth Magazine welcomes writers who want to share their voices on topics that matter.

More Resources: Amaranth Magazine values transparency and your privacy. For more information on how we handle your data, read our Privacy Policy.

For those interested in advertising opportunities with Amaranth Magazine, please visit our Amaranth Advertising Portal or review our Advertising Policy.

Check out our Archive of Amaranth Magazine to explore past issues and discover more articles related to business, education, and the evolving job market.

Call to Action: The article provides valuable insights into how education systems are evolving to meet the demands of the gig economy. To learn more about these crucial shifts, continue reading the full article and explore additional pieces in the Business Beat section. Stay engaged with the latest trends by following Amaranth Magazine, where we continue to explore the intersection of business, technology, and education.

[sergeant-macho-nacho]

By Ted Rall

La Times Oct. 3, 2013

[ms-macklemore]

If I asked you how old this child is, how old to you think they are and what do you think this word is?

[chilli-talks-a-lot]

School Continues to Make my Blood Boil

When I was a little goody-two-shoes seven-year-old I was friends with a lot of the "bad" kids. Usually, they got in trouble for not being able to focus, or being too loud, or moving too much. Which is dumb (they probably just had adhd). And then, they were scrutinized and excluded, and labeled as "the bad kids" even though they were really nice. This just pushed them to be worse. To give in. I really wished there was something I could do, but I was 7.

I remember I was sent to go pick up one of my "bad" friends from a teacher's classroom because he wasn't allowed to go to recess. I stood in the doorway, trying to get his attention by saying his name, but the teacher (who still works there, years later) yelled at me for interrupting her class. Scared the shit out of little me. I didn't go back after that.

I remember seeing that same "bad" friend stab himself in the forehead with a participation medal he got from karate class.

I never really saw him after that. I would still hear his name get called on the intercom, but we never got to talk again. I wonder how he's doing now.

I've had a lot of friends who've had ADHD, and seeing them struggle makes me so angry. The school system has failed them.

I feel like, school, from a young age, has made us forget that people, even if they deviate from the normal, are still people. Witnessing this, in real time, has made me realize how bad schools are when it comes to reinforcing conformity and perpetuating ableism.

People at my school make jokes saying the r-slur or making fun of sped kids or saying things in a "sped voice" and hitting their chests all the time. Hell, even a teacher did that today. They don't deserve this.

[wollstonecraft-y]

[dontmean2bepoliticalbut]

[opossumanon]

Here's why you shouldn't meet your heroes. Or just people who seem cool, cuz this douchebag I'm about to vent to yall about wasn't even my hero he just seemed like a cool person to talk to and then proved to be an asshole.

So a couple weeks ago I was at this conference being hosted at a good university, and it was a journalism and media thing where teens from all over the US and its territories come and learn about the field of journalism and practice and meet other journalists. It also yapped on and on about diversity and inclusion, but was actually fucking terrible about inclusion, but that's a whole other can of worms cuz today I just wanna vent about one specific bad moment.

So nearing the end of the conference was an event where we'd split up and be lectured by different journalists or professors of our choosing, and then there would be a "mixer" where we got snacks and then had the opportunity to chat with the speakers that we didn't get to see. I wanted to go with this one guy that I'm calling Guy, but all the tickets for his thing ran out so I went to another guy who had a REALLY good presentation but was also a classist dick (again, another can of worms). During the mixer, I struggled to get the opportunity to talk to Guy cuz I was so nervous and wasn't sure how to ask my questions without being boring or weird. Eventually my friends at the conference bullied me into doing it and so I waited in line to speak to him, watching as he was all energetic and charming and nice to a normal-looking girl talking to him and watched as he gave her his card. This detail is important.

Eventually the girl left and it was my turn to talk to Guy, and I explained how I couldn't see him speak even though I wanted to and I asked about what he was talking about, and he gave this really paraphrased answer that felt kinda bland? Like he threw in a very short summary of a story he told but it still felt rushed and like he was detached while telling it. It ended with me realizing that he probably wouldn't spill any tea to me personally so I went "Hey do you have anything else that I could look at to get more information?? A website, video, etc??? Or could I just get your card?" and he deadass said (I'm paraphrasing here)

"No, I don't think that'd help you."

Like wtf???????

(For anybody confused as to why I'm upset: In any sort of professional setting where a person has a card, asking for it is the most basic polite thing you can do to the point where people don't even have to ask cuz the other person will just go "Hey you want my card" and hand it over. Guy refusing to give me his card, when I knew for certain that he had one, was the professional equivalent of me reaching out to give him a handshake and him recoiling in disgust. I'm pretty sure he did this as blatantly as he did because he assumed that I'd be clueless about this sort of thing like most of my peers were.)

Looking back I can't find a single thing I did wrong. I waited in line patiently, introduced myself and shook his hand, made eye contact, etc etc. I wasn't even chatting with him for longer than 2 minutes before I gave up and went "I should go now cuz the guy behind me wants to talk to you too, have a good night" and left so it wasn't like I had him trapped talking with me for an hour. By the time I went back to my dorm, I was genuinely on the verge of tears and I felt useless and like I wouldn't be able to accomplish anything...Yknow, at the conference where they've been going on and on and on about how we're all special and are on track to be good journalists and stuff like that.

After 10 minutes of being blinded by tears and sniffling to my heart's content I switched to being angry and decided that I wanted to start a podcast starring weird people, being about weird people, and having an audience of weird people. I still wanna do this because the power of spite is absolutely a thing, but there's also a part of me that wants to back away from anything journalism/media related at all because I feel so fucking crushed from how Guy treated me. A lot of the self confidence that I spent YEARS trying to build back up from nothing was basically knocked over thanks to him.

I don't have much of a lesson to teach, I'm just still upset about this weeks later and I needed to get it out is all, but what this event taught me specifically was

I'll never be seen as normal or taken seriously, no matter how good my neurotypical cis white guy cosplay is

Professors of massive universities are pieces of shit and I'm probably gonna avoid going to them for advice in the future

Higher education is a good thing that all people should have access to if they wish, but also the people you find in higher education settings tend to be classist/elitist pricks who look down on people who don't walk, talk, act, or look like the "typical intellectual" (White person who's obviously upper middle class or higher who's neurotypical and cishet and able-bodied) and therefore making higher education available for everyone is and will continue to be a useless fucking endeavor until we flush out the intense biases against people who don't fit the "typical intellectual" within the system.

[ghoulpoole]

For those of you just joining us, here are 21 things colleges and universities could do for students, but don't.

Provide FREE TUITION for ALL students.

Cut the salaries of boards of directors, presidents, vice presidents, provosts, vice provosts, and all executive officers. Use the savings for FREE TUITION.

Provide FREE TEXTBOOKS.

Provide FREE HEALTHCARE instead of making uninsured students pay extra.

ALWAYS PAY students for internship work.

PAY FACULTY A FAIR WAGE regardless of rank or status.

Hire faculty and administration that reflects the general population (queer faculty, faculty of color, and femme/female faculty).

Take out and pay loans to cover expenses SO STUDENTS DON'T HAVE TO.

Ground curricula in employable skills.

Let disabled people get accommodations without providing medical documentation.

Provide ANY AND ALL MEDICALLY NECESSARY accommodations, NOT just "reasonable" accommodations.

Always schedule evening and weekend class times to support working students.

Allow work experience to count for college credit.

Provide reimbursement for lost income if the scheduling of a required course makes a student miss work.

Require or incentivize instructors to use trauma-informed teaching techniques.

Require or incentivize instructors to follow accessibility principles in their course materials.

Offer equal numbers of in-person/synchronous and asynchronous sections of courses to support working students.

Make sure instructors of online classes give students appropriate face-time and sufficiently prepare course materials.

Do NOT give students who failed to register in the previous term last pick in registration.

Streamline gen ed requirements / degree prerequisites so students can get degrees faster.

Require all departments publish their course schedules far in advance of registration.