Random thoughts: the state of science education and why I dropped out of school

I'm a great MythBusters fan (for whatever much of the show I can see amidst the endless reruns shown on Discovery Channel Canada – seriously, I think the States are like six months in advance or something, it's ridiculous), and a while ago I found myself Googling the cast, just for the fun of it (yes, when I'm bored, that counts as "fun" to me). I came across some of Adam Savage's quotes, and at once I was somewhat surprised, and very pleased, to find him vehemently criticizing the nonexistent "debate" between Evolution and Creationism in America.

I listened to the podcast available on the site, which was an expanded and detailed version of the summary written out on the page. Podcast available below:

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I listened to Adam's crappy phone-quality voice over the podcast, decrying the lack of funding, of equipment, of proper "hands-on" motivation, of adequate teachers ... and it got me thinking. About how shitty science education indeed has become ... But certainly not just in the US.

No. Indeed, Canadian classrooms are scarcely better – just take a look at these international test scores, and you'll find that however low American grades get, Canada is never too far behind (or above, for that matter).

I know very well what it's like to be in public schools here. I would know – been there for most of a decade, and I left only a few months ago, so the experience is still very fresh in my memory. I remember what my science classes were like.

Let's see – for starters, we'll take my Second Grade (of Secondary School, or High School for you Yanks out there) Physics class. Quite possibly, the single worst class I've ever suffered through (not counting those abominable P.E. classes, but that's just 'cause I view P.E. in itself as being only slightly more pleasurable than dunking my balls into a vat of sulfuric acid): the classroom was bare minimum, too small with way too many students, the students themselves were little nightmares packed into stupid youth bodies, and perhaps most discouraging of all was the teacher himself. He man had the spine of a slug.

Just one example (and I have to translate from French here): he once was told "Shut the fuck up, you son-of-a-bitch!", word-for-word. His response to such an outburst (which truly wasn't all that out-of-the-ordinary)? "Hey! Don't insult dogs!". I'm serious as shit. I'm not making this up.

And this is the man who was in charge of a classroom, in charge of educating us and teaching us about the wonders of physics, the marvels of the natural world, how it all worked together to form the whole, and etc.

Gee, wonder why I failed that class.

And what makes it even sadder? I liked the guy. I often stayed after class to speak to him, to ask questions I'd never dare for half-a-second to ask during the class lest I be mocked and otherwise irritated by the little shits in the classroom. Questions from "what exactly is plasma?" to "How can we differentiate, just with microscopes, between atoms and quarks and neutrons and all those things, if they're so small?". And so forth. The man did have those answers, and without the stress of a horde of little trolls to try and shepherd, he explained quite well. But alas, I only got to spend so much time with him before that damned bell whisked me away.

I have absolutely no doubt that if he'd had more control over his class, and more importantly, if the class (and classroom) itself had anything of actual interest to offer past reading from old secondhand books and transcribing what was written on cheap half-visible slideshows, that the kids would've been far more interested – and far less disruptive. And God knows, I likely would've passed that year.

Trust me, I do know what it's like to have an interesting teacher. To have someone who truly makes you want to go to class, to actually be eager to sit down at your desk and await the new things you were gonna learn that day. This happened – once. And only once. During my Second Grade (again, of Secondary School) History class. The teacher was a young feller, Martin Bérubé. With him at the helm of the class, even the subject universally agreed to be the single most boring thing taught in schools (other than perhaps philosophy), freakin' history, became fascinating. I wouldn't use that old cliché of history "coming alive", but it certainly did resonate far more than I imagined were possible.

That year we covered everything from the primitive forms of humans (Australopithecus, the various Homos^[1] (Habilis, Erectus and Sapiens), Neanderthals, etc.), to the Bronze Age, the Medieval era, the Renaissance, the Industrial Revolution, right up to the Modern ages. And it was all fascinating.

Yes, we still copied down relatively boring notes and dates and such from the chalkboard; yes, we pored over history books (which, trust me, fully lived up to their reputation); and yes, the class did have its fair share of trolls and assorted imbeciles who liked nothing better than a cheap laugh. But what made it so very different? The teacher.

With this guy, he had a knack for explaining things in such a way as to rivet everyone's attention to the front of the class and keep them hooked. Not because he had exceptional prose or anything, but what he was saying. It was really quite interesting to hear him describe history and so forth.

I distinctly remember passing that year with the highest grades in my class, frizzing the high 90s (or 80s? Can't remember) in my end-of-the-year exams. Something that was becoming altogether rare – if not to say inexistent. And 90s and 100s are all I used to have as a young kid in Texas schools. But I'm just rambling here.

That is the principal asset at play here. For once, the lack of standards and quality education in public schools is truly one of the rare problems where throwing money at them actually IS the best thing to do. We NEED more money! More funding leads to higher salaries for those overworked and underpaid teachers and professors. More cash leads to better equipment (and maintenance of preexisting equipment), more material, and so forth. And what does more material (and therefore, increased interactivity) lead to? Higher interest amongst the students. For fuck's sake, it's practically a mathematical equation that's been proven throughout history: more money = better quality. Better quality = higher interest from students. Higher interest = higher results.

If more money was being thrown at the sake of science education in schools (and the rest of education in general), Québec wouldn't have the single highest drop-out rate in the entire world (last I heard). Students wouldn't be rebelling against a school system that chooses tyranny to keep them in line over actually stimulating them. Teachers wouldn't be leaving every few years to deal with horrid depressions and burn-outs from said unruly students and overall lack of support^[2]. The government wouldn't be dealing with a crisis (and the shame) of lack of public interest in public schools, where half the families in Québec are choosing to send their kids to private schools and to forgo the "indignation" that is public schooling. Scientific industries in the country, and the world by correlation, wouldn't be suffering so horribly.

And I would very, very likely still be in school. I would likely be passing my finals with honors and some of the highest grades in my year (as used to be my standard). I would be heading for a major (or more) that interested me. I would go into higher learning for years, and come out a true brainiac, with a diploma to get me into places I wanna be in.

In this respect, perhaps the biggest reason for my distaste and resentment towards public schools, so I just realized, doesn't stem from the horrid youths one shares their classes with. Perhaps its because the schools veritably forced me out, by my very nature, when I would've loved to go on.

Perhaps that's why I hate school now.

Damn ... I'm so conflicted and confused ... >_< Okay, time to end this mammoth rambling of a post. I would love any comments anyone has to leave, about their own experiences within schooling systems, be it for better or for worse, or just general feedback. Would let me know I'm not alone here ...

[1] If anyone makes a joke about gay apes, I will smite you.
[2] This makes me remember one of my favorite teachers, Magalie Blain, who was driven to such exasperation and desperation by the little fucks that pass for students as to take her own life. Learning that definitely ruined my evening some years ago.