tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post2067947427883913484..comments2023-10-15T10:29:12.991+01:00Comments on Karyn's erratic learning journey: McDonalds, FlyBe and Network Rail to offer A-levelsThe upsychohttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06345558899662051670noreply@blogger.comBlogger2125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post-86572086012656342008-01-28T13:19:00.000+00:002008-01-28T13:19:00.000+00:00When I was in high school (in South Africa, and I ...When I was in high school (in South Africa, and I don't know if they still have this system), there were several different types of schools at high school level. There was the academic option: teaching the traditional subjects such as languages, maths, the sciences, accounting, typing and the humanities. Some schools also offered various arts (mine did not).<BR/>Many of these academic models had what was called a "practical" stream, which was more hands-on, and tended to focus on needlework, home economics, practical science etc. and ended two years earlier than the "main" stream. This stream was done away with, as it attracted very few students and was costly to sustain as a consequence.<BR/>There were also "technical" schools, teaching subjects such as metalwork, woodwork, signwriting, technical drawing etc.<BR/>Another type was the "commercial" high school, where the subjects on offer included mercantile law, accounting, industrial psychology, etc.<BR/><BR/>However, the academic snobbery I mentioned was all too apparent and, to my shame, I susbcribed to it. The traditional, academic model far outnumbered all the other options put together and was, therefore, the standard. The girls who followed the practical stream in my school were considered by the rest of us to be those unable to amount to anything much. <BR/><BR/>Many of the trade schools doubled as low security juvenile correction facilities and placements for boys from troubled homes, so those boys (and they were only open to boys in those days) who went there by choice were often tarred with the same brush in the eyes of the general populace.<BR/><BR/>The commercial schools, too, were looked down upon, although slightly less so than the others. Nevertheless, when one of the clever, popular girls from our school switched to a commercial school in another city, we were appalled. Why would she do such a thing? She was capable of so much more!<BR/><BR/>Oh my goodness, I have much to repent of! Particularly since many members of my extended family would have been better served by a different model, had they not felt compelled by snobbery to follow the academic route. <BR/><BR/>Mea culpa.<BR/><BR/>I have since come to appreciate that, for all its other flaws, the system was doing its level best to ensure that everyone got the high school education for which they were best suited and which would best prepare them for a fulfilling career (should they want one, of course!).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14184878.post-36015727222621445172008-01-28T12:46:00.000+00:002008-01-28T12:46:00.000+00:00I would say this is a good thing, as it provides m...I would say this is a good thing, as it provides more options. One system (vocational-cooperative, employment-centred) is not better than another (academic, discipline-focused, classroom-centred) and we need both and then even more options. In Canada, we focused too much on the latter and now have many debt-laden, well-educated unemployed young people.Harold Jarchehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11462304722726586155noreply@blogger.com