To think the school system is ridiculous

[Suflan]

This post is talking about the school system in the republic of Ireland, but I know that the school system in the UK has some similiatites, so this is also relevant to people in the UK.

I went to school in Ireland a long time ago, 20 years ago.

My younger cousins are just sitting their school leaving certificate (irish equivalent to a levels) this year and they and their friends have been posting about the exams, after it happened, on social media.

I was just thinking what they learn and do exams on is such a load of shite. Like how is it relevant or necessary in todays world at all.

They posted about their maths paper, all the quadratic equations, prove that point 5,1 is on the line etc etc, extremely complicated equations, and algebra.

Like what do you need that for in life? Its so totally pointless. And maths is mandatory to do, so they need points from maths to get into University.

Like what is the point of learning these things. Surely they should be learning something useful. My cousins have said to me that they think that a lot of what they learn is totally pointless too

I use algebra occasionally. I'm an engineer.

I have used algebra in every day life many times.
Also it us not a functional skills exam, it is a maths exam and as such contains basic concepts in the main areas of mathematics ie arithmetic, geometry and algebra.

I literally wrote my exact job title.

Its crazy how some people don't even read the thread.

@Suflan Foodietoo didn't call you ignorant, they highlighted your 'ignorance' about the usefulness of maths. "Ignorant" describes a person, while "ignorance" describes the condition or state of being unaware.

I actually have a life, and I'm a real teacher, so I wasn't scrolling through 19 pages. I read enough that you were initially avoiding the question.

Ah, a Student Welfare Officer. So, someone who needs no qualifications in education, has nothing to do with teaching, and usually hasn't the faintest clue about pedagogy. Cool.

Well, I’m an Accountant (Chartered for over 20 years now) and I do use algebra in some circumstances to work out a variety of problems.
go figure.

Ok, a question then that was given to our residents and staff in a care home today (Ave age of residents is currently 92; average age of staff of duty was 31).
a person tells you that they would be 30 years old if you didn’t count the Saturdays & Sundays - how old are they really?
what do you think? And what % of each category was correct?

How is it any less relevant than learning Latin, English Literature, History or any other subject? You might well need algebra to work out how much paint to buy given the dimensions of your walls and the amount of paint per tin and how many coats are needed. Will you ever need to have read Macbeth?!

What would you replace Shakespeare with?

I’ve never used algebra to buy paint!

Well, if you know the area of the walls of your room, Let’s say for argument sake that the walls are 60ft² and then you were in the shop and you were looking at the tins of paint, you need to look at the paint tin because it tells you it’s coverage rate( as in the area that the paint in that tin covers) and each paint tin tells you it cover 30ft²…how many tins do you need?! That is very simple algebra!!

Have you ever bought paint? How did you know how much you needed? Did it tell you on the tin? If so, someone calculated that using algebra.

I just buy a 5L for a room! If we need more we just go and get a bit more.

@ArseInTheCoOpWindow , but for me, that would involve time and a car journey (busy A-roads). Easier to look at what it says on the pot, and do a rough calculation before I buy.

Yes this! Also sometimes they have offers on you can get two tins and the second one is half price, etc etc. I’m not gonna do myself a disservice service and buy more than I need or less than I need to then have to not be able to avail of an offer. And then I have to get back in the car, go back to the shop, waste my time and my petrol. Honestly it’s not hard to work it out.

Honestly it’s not hard to work it out.

Because it's more basic arithmetic than the kind of algebra taught in schools. It's more primary/11+ level. It's hardly solving quadratic equations etc! In fact with a basic grasp of basic arithmetic, it's little more than common sense.

So rude and utterly ignorant.

Do you even know what the student welfare team do? And how highly educated student welfare officers are?

The student welfare manager in my school, who is also our designated safeguarding lead, has three different education related degrees and she has a Masters degree in child protection.

The other student welfare officer that i work with in my school, has a Bachelor's degree, a master's degree, and she also has a PHD . Her Bacehlor's degree is in English. Her masters and PHD are in education related subjects.

I also have a Bachelor's degree, and a Master's degree. I currently work in student welfare, but I have worked as an ESL teacher before in other schools.

Your posts doesn't surprise me though. From working in schools, i have experienced many teachers thinking that they are better than everyone else.

The most highly educated member of staff in my school is actually my colleague that works in student welfare. She is the only one that has a PHD.

Hahaha why did they take the laughing emoji away. This is what I do.

The more that I read this, I'm shocked.

How can you be so ignorant?

"No qualifications in education".

I have to do constant courses in different aspects Education, through TES, as part of my job in student welfare.

I will tell my collegue, the other woman who is a student welfare officer in my school, the one that has a Master's and pHd in an Education field, that you think that she knows nothing about Education.

How can you be that ignorant and nasty?

But you are just you. Maybe you can live perfectly happily without algebra in your life, like I happily live without using the periodic table or calculating forces, or reciting Macbeth, but some other people do use these skills. But then what would be the point of going to school?! I mean, I’d be all for the teaching or more practical skills like replacing car tyres, or how to clean a gutter, but there are also plenty of people who never use those skills and would be campaigning on mumsnet to get them removed from the curriculum in favour of more useful skills (to them) like algebra.
Algebra is actually really useful in many jobs, though especially mine as I work with data and work with various programming languages.

How is it ignorant and nasty? You don't need any qualifications to work in that role. Whether someone you know has a Master's or not has no relevance to my comment.

Everything you've said on here shows that you don't know much, if anything, about teaching and learning. That's fine, because you don't teach, but perhaps you should try it, before making comments about the curriculum.

Again showing how absolutely little you know.

You DO need qualifications to work in the role of student welfare.

Everyone that works in welfare in my school has a Bachelor's degree in a related area. I have seen the criteria for hiring welfare staff, it says "you must have a Degree in a related area".

The other man that works on the Welfare team in my school, has a Social work degree.

I've just come across your attitude in some teachers before. They think that everyone else that works in a school is less than them, and they treat people like shit. You are definitely one of those types.

I thought this is what everyone did!

Dh has a degree in maths. We still just go and get another one.

No, you don't. Certainly not in the counties I've worked in, anyway.

Gosh, you just get worse and worse, don't you? You know absolutely nothing about me, or what I'm like as a teacher. You know nothing about my attitude, nor what I think about other school staff. It's embarrassing that you think you know someone, just through a few sentences on an anonymous forum.

Anyway, you're boring me. Having a first degree, a Master's and a Doctorate isn't special. I have them. Big whoop.

I’m an English teacher but the maths teachers in work with say that it is. Forgive my ignorance!