This is something I wonder about from time to time. This seems like such an obvious question but I never seem to run across discussions about this in the general media. My impression is that computers are vastly more prevalent and class sizes are smaller, but other than this I really don’t know.
Anyone?
Cursive writing was paramount. Remember being graded on penmanship?
Flashcards for Math, er, Arithmetic as it was called then.
I could probably recall other things but I choose not to. Skool was a drag…
Apparently you can graduate from kindergarten now. When I went to school, graduation meant you were done. You graduated from high school, you graduated from college. You didn’t graduate from half-day classes where you learned to finger paint and take naps.
Cursive was important. We had classes in it from second to fourth grades.
“New” math was a big thing. I’d never been taught old math, so I’m not quite sure what the big deal was.
My elementary years were the late 70’s and they spent a lot of time trying to beat the metric system into our heads. Didn’t stick.
It’s a lot more competitive. When I was in school, all but the top tier state schools were only marginally competitive if you met the basic entry requirements. Now, those same schools require a lot more, and turn away what used to be solid candidates.
And kids are rising to the occasion. When I was a kid, “community service” might mean a few hours helping out in the library over spring break. Kids these days are doing much cooler work, and are all around more put together, ambitious, and globally minded.
And with the internet, even high school kids have access to an enormous amount of information. I remember being wowed by Encarta on a CD, which was way cooler than the old Encyclopedia Britannica at home. Now and then, we would go to the county library to get sources for our papers, and that was a bug deal. Even Wikipedia, with all it’s faults, trumps anything we had access to just a couple decades ago.
I also love that bullying is now out. The attitude when I grew up was that bullying was good preparation for life. Well, now that I’m older, I’ve realized that learning to dodge rocks and shrug off crude insults actually isn’t something I encounter in the workplace. I’m thrilled to see backlash against bullies.
Honestly, I think there have been huge improvements all around, and I’m very impressed with today’s young folks.
Computers are the big one. I was born in '80 and we had computers of some kind in the classroom since I was in late elementary school, but they never really took off as a thing until I was in late high school or college. In elementary school not only did we study cursive, but the library also had a physical card catalogue.
Computers are a difference not just in educational terms, but I’m sure in social terms as well. The way kids contact each other with computers and cellphones is just a complete difference. When I was in school if you wanted to talk to a classmate in the evening you had to call their home landline phone. Nowadays kids of all ages are in constant touch through cellphones, FaceBook, Twitter…
For high schoolers, I’m sure college pressure has ramped up enormously. I would never say it was easy when I was that age (I swear my senior year of high school was more stressful than my four years of college put together), but it seems to have increased exponentially since then.
I’m not a parent but I’ve noticed that parents are way more involved with their children’s homework nowadays. When I was a kid you had to do the work yourself and parents were encouraged to NOT help you.
Parents also seem to be way more involved with their children’s teachers - I recall my parents only talking to the teacher when there was a problem or issue or on Parent-Teacher Night. If a note got sent home that meant you were in trouble. Now there seems to be constant communication.
There also seems to be way more homework in elementary school. I don’t remember getting homework until after Grade 2 or 3, but when I lived with a single dad around 2000 his son was in kindergarten and had homework. I was like WTF - homework in kindergarten?? All I remember about kindergarten is playing with Tinkertoys and napping.
What others have said, but one thing I’ve noticed with schools build after, say, 1985 or so. They all look like prisons.
I understand that since the school is in loco parentis of a whole bunch of kids and people are hysterical over school shootings, access control is paramount. I know that with schools being built by the lowest builder and budgets always being a concern, we can’t spend money on school architecture the way I think we ought to. I also understand that materials have to be unbelievably durable and resistant to vandalism. I even get that the cost of HVAC means steps have to be taken to cut utility costs. But they still shouldn’t look like you could put some razor wire on top of the fence and swap out the kids for convicts.
Blech, I say.
Blech.
What others have said, but one thing I’ve noticed with schools build after, say, 1985 or so. They all look like prisons.
I understand that since the school is in loco parentis of a whole bunch of kids and people are hysterical over school shootings, access control is paramount. I know that with schools being built by the lowest builder and budgets always being a concern, we can’t spend money on school architecture the way I think we ought to. I also understand that materials have to be unbelievably durable and resistant to vandalism. I even get that the cost of HVAC means steps have to be taken to cut utility costs. But they still shouldn’t look like you could put some razor wire on top of the fence and swap out the kids for convicts.
Blech, I say.
Blech.
Lot’s of changes since I was in school. Kindergarten was play and naps. We learned to read starting in grade 1 and cursive maybe in grade 3. We did arithmetic in elementary school, then went on to percentages, square root and similar stuff in 7 and 8. From 9-12 we did algebra and geometry. No languages were taught till 9th grade and there was no calculus in HS. Most of this has changed.
Homework was my business. I tried to treat my kids the same, but some teachers insisted we sign their homework. We did, under protest, but my wife would sign names like Fidel Castro and Mickey Mouse. One teacher strenuously objected to this. But they all expected homework to be a family affair. I can think of only one instance when a child asked for help with homework. I helped him and he acknowledged my help when he turned it in (this was in college in a linear algebra course).
I graduated in 1984. My son is a freshman in highschool - my daughter in 8th grade.
Class sizes are much bigger. Math is done much earlier - my son will take the math I took as a senior next year in tenth grade - my daughter is on track to take 2 years of calculus in high school. But the ends both seem more extreme - we had pretty much 1 and a half tracks - the remedial special needs track and everyone else. My kids have at least four tracks - advanced placement, college prep, non-college prep, and remedial. They are both much more serious about discipline (I know kids who skipped school more often than they went) and have far more serious disciplinary issues (I know kids who smoked weed, I don’t know anyone who died of a heroin overdose).
Teachers can’t hit students anymore.
I don’t know. After I left I stopped knowing what it was like.
I’m not sure parents know what it is like for their kids either.
There’s more history.
I’m another person who went through school in the pre-computer age. The year I graduated high school, our school got its first computer. And it was used for keeping school records - no students were allowed to use it.
All the time the have off. Elementary schools have Spring Break. And where I live, it’s half day every Wednesday. I know the total amount of school days is about the same, but we only had time off during the school week for actual holidays. No teacher conferences, no ski week or Spring Break or whatever.
No more cursive, and at least around here there is a volunteer hours requirement to graduate which did not exist when I was in high school.
The accelerated math that Dangerosais one thing I’ve noticed, as well as the prevalence of computers and technology.
My son is a high school junior and hasn’t had to take any PE since 9th grade. I had to take it every year. When he did take PE no one was allowed to win. Seriously. In grade school he was telling me about a kickball game or something. I asked if his team had won. He explained that they weren’t allowed to say “we won,” only “I helped my team achieve its goals”
He’s had to memorize far fewer facts and dates than I did, and I was aware of having to memorize less than my parents and uncles did.
Advanced math is definitely earlier. I was a nerd, took calculus and physics in twelfth grade, the most advanced classes available at my pretty good public school. My son is a sophomore at the same school, taking the classes I took as a senior. Algebra wasn’t divided into two years for him, and Euclidean geometry was integrated into earlier math classes, instead of a whole year as it was offered in the mid eighties.
Additionally, his school has moved to block scheduling, so the Boy has four 90-minute classes, with a new set each semester. Probably a good thing. I’d have appreciated being able to do that, since I wouldn’t have had to choose between staying in band and student journalism, and completing academic classes for a college prep diploma. Block scheduling means that my son will have the opportunity to take up to 8 AP classes, while still participating in drama and technology, maybe culinary arts next year. (He’s a regular Renaissance dude - he can sing, soliloquize, build a robot, rewire the utility trailer lights, and whip up an omelet!)
Speaking of technology? I was on the forefront of computing in 1983: learned BASIC on a Commodore C64. Today, the kids seem to do everything from submitting reports and taking tests to arranging their social lives via computer. Kind of handy, really. I get sucked in a bit, with class notifications via SMS, pulling together the fundraising cookbook via Facebook and e-mail, etc. If I wanted to become the uber-involved mom, I would like this more. Years ago, though, I made it clear to my kids that my job was to ensure that they had the right tools and atmosphere for learning. Their job is to keep up with assignments and deadlines and to do the work. I don’t really need a text message every time there’s a test scheduled.
I really see today’s schools and kids in a positive light, but I am concerned about the amount of pressure kids face. Homework seems to be the rule from day 1, and extracurricular activities are de rigeur for college-bound students. My seventh grade daughter is a fantastic student -smart and conscientious - but I worry that she’s already concerned about how her non-academic stuff will look on college applications. (And there’s nothing to worry about: student government, track, and academic teams, plus near-perfect grades. She’s a college recruiter’s dream, for pity’s sake! /stealth brag.) I worry, because I know this will get worse in high school.
The biggest change has been moving from rote learning of facts to building life long learners. In Australia anyway.
Also the whole flip learning style
Can’t hug 'em either.