Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Schoolface

Now that school is coming to a close for me, I am realising a lot within the system of school (or at least my school) that is rather stupid, and I hadn't realised before. Maybe I had realised these things earlier, but that is not important.
Firstly, why does everybody in school write with blue pens? How ridonculous. Why don't they publish novels with blue ink? Because blue is a stupid colour to have text in, which makes blue pens seem all the more a waste of pigment. Black pens, on the other hand, or white pens, they are smart. Use them. Now.
Why do we have to wear school uniforms, like blazers and what not, which are quite formal, while teachers can wear jeans? Unfair unfair unfair. And if we are meant to be learning, in school, how to live and survive in the outside world, why are we not learning about how to dress in the outside world? Are they really teaching us to dress in blazers and shorts with mismatched colours sprinkled all over them?
Why do some teachers only want to talk about maths, or English or physics, I am sure there are much mroe interesting things they would rather talk about, like how their day has been, and why they are wearing jeans instead of short shorts and knee-high socks.
When analysing written material in English, why do we always assume the writer put meaning into every single word they churn out? I'm sure, just once in a blue moon, they put a word into their writing because it fits in a sentance, or because it is just there. Let's analyse what I just said. I used the word: "Single" before, meaning I am subliminally telling the reader that the words used by writers (which are rather professional words) are single, and not married, which means I am addressing the global issue of professionalism vs. happiness in life. How stupid. I did not mean that, I said single because it means "single". Stupidhead.
Why does our entire school life get summed up by the exams at the end of year 12? Because people are lazy, and cannot be bothered looking back on how we went in previous years, that's why. And also because year 12 is the year before university, and the ENTER score gets you into university. This means they should have scores to transfer to the next level, like a STAY score in year 9, where if you get really high, you can go to a better school for year 10, or if you get low, they send you to Poowong West Primary School for the rest of your life.
Schools are also all about promoting individuality, and bringing out the best of each individual person, and meeting their individual needs. They are so much into individuality and the difference of each student, that they call me by my new, and very individual name: 85344413T.
School is ridiculous, in many ways. But I love it. I may die next year, without school. But we will see.

3 comments:

some girl said...

Ahh, the system... so screwed.

Why do we have to analyse books in English anyway? When are we ever going to use that?

Unless we want to be an English teacher so that we can teach other people how to analyse books.

What a stupid loop.

Lauren Pinches said...

I am going to answer all your questions...
Blue Pens: can only be used when doing maths exercises, where you contrast with a red pen to do corrections. Never can you do maths questions in black and correntions in red - that is wrong. Black can be used in diaries and formal things, that is its only purpose. Novels with blue ink would be weird, novels are formal, therefore black is appropriate.
Uniforms: they are an image for the school. They represent you as a whole, make you look 'uniform'. Uniforms are to make sure that no one stands out or that judgement is past by what you are wearing. You learn through school by wearing a uniform that you have to be dignified and smart with events and occasions that are formal. It teaches you how to present yourself well. In wearing a uniform you are learning how to dress in the outside world. When you go to a job interview, you are not going to be wearing just jocks, you will dress up and want to give a good impression through what you are wearing. As sad as it is, everyone judges a book by its cover, likewise, an employer is going to judge you on what you are wearing to that interview.
Teaching: Everyone in their life needs to learn, that is what teaches are there for, they are not going to waste your parents money and talk to you about their lives, instead they are going to give you a solid education and help you to understand the world around you. No matter what the subjest is, it can teach you about the world you are living in, which is important to your understanding of life.
Analysing: I believe this to be very important. It not only helps in being able to dive into the writings of people, but you can come to undertsand people and the ways in which they word things, the particular words they have chosen to use when talking to you. Analysing and reading people is a good skill to have.
ENTER Score: Your schooling life is not just summed up by the exams at the end of the year or through the little SACs throughout the year. You have been working your way up to this. Everything you have learnt from the time you could read and write has all been for this and it won't stop there. You will then move into Uni and grow on your knowledge. Your exams are not the only thing. If you couldn't read from when you were 5 years old, you would not be able to do your exams, as you have a 15 minute reading time. The ENTER Score may be the deciding figure for your next step, yet everything else in your schooling has led you to them.
Individuality: The teachers, believe it or not, know your strengths and weaknesses, they do see you as an individual. If you are not an individual, then no one is. Every student in a school is unique and brings a new thing to a school. If this isn't apparent at your school, then that is something I am striving for at the school I eventually teach at.

You do love school, school is fantastic. However now is the time that you have to lift and start sprinting to the end, as you are so close. You may not like studying, but it is all you have to do right now. You don't have to worry about anything else, but studying. That may sound terrible, but it is only a few weeks and you won't die.
Stick with it, you are nearly there.

Jono said...

Wow, that was a serious response, Lauren! I do know all of this stuff, and I wasn't trying to say what I talked about was stupid, but that certain aspects of things were ironically funny. I'm sorry if I sounded like I was bagging out the school system. I love school.