Millennials aren't ready for the 'reality of life'

[The Conservative]

Perhaps if she hadn't listened to whoever told her a degree in Women's Studies with a minor in Underwater Basket Weaving she'd be doing better.

Not all degrees are worthwhile to take loans out for.

Most aren't

Most people would do better long-term with a trade

Why is something like Journalism not thought of as a trade?

You could also be an artist as a trade. Create and put out art into the marketplace. A lot of these degrees could be taught as trades. There is a craft to these things.

When the opinion page is now on the front page instead of real reporting.

[jediuser598]

Most aren't

Most people would do better long-term with a trade

Why is something like Journalism not thought of as a trade?

You could also be an artist as a trade. Create and put out art into the marketplace. A lot of these degrees could be taught as trades. There is a craft to these things.

When the opinion page is now on the front page instead of real reporting.

Whose fault is that?

[katarn]

Why is something like Journalism not thought of as a trade?

You could also be an artist as a trade. Create and put out art into the marketplace. A lot of these degrees could be taught as trades. There is a craft to these things.

When the opinion page is now on the front page instead of real reporting.

Whose fault is that?

Everyone's. The media do it to make money, because the people will buy it. The problem is when they pretend the opinion page is the facts page.

[katarn]

To do those things (which are decent examples of assignments but those activities will not lead to success in an of themselves) you have to have a basic solid foundational level of the subject to begin with. Students need to be able to read, write, and research. They cannot. They cannot b/c they do not want to and/or they do not have the discipline or the desire to. These things come from the parents. There are multiple reasons for the failure of American education. One of the primary ones being outlined above.

Well, that depends on your parameter for success. In the field of history, knowing how to read, analyze and compare primary and secondary sources IS the foundational level of history as a professional field.

Of course, I didn't learn about source criticism and historical method in elementary school. That was mostly the old rote memorization thing. But in what roughly corresponds to American high school, we'd be introduced to the concepts. Today, with the internet age, all schools in Denmark have put source criticism (in the general sense, not just historical) on the curriculum.

I'm not American, so I can't really speak to the current level of quality of education in the US, at least not on any particularly informed level. Practically all of my impressions come from what people here on the MHF, and earlier on the DCF, would sometimes write abut the subject. General impression hasn't been very positive. I just remembered this study from a book I read years back.

High Schools tend to have a divide between the “Advanced Placement” kids and the rest. Analyzing primary sources in AP History courses is a requirement to ever score well considering all exams typically have a document-based question where you look at around 11 documents and use them to create a thesis.

You do a similar thing in AP English where you analyze the rhetorical devices and structure of famous excerpts of books or speeches in order to identify why they were effective. One of my favorite speeches we analysed was the call for a Crusade made by Pope Urban II.

The classes that aren’t AP tend to be a lot less intensive and critical thinking based. They follow the formula of memorizing dates in history classes and focus on knowing history rather than interpreting history. Part of the problem might be that there is no real national deadline to meet for other classes like in AP courses. Teachers have to finish a curriculum in time for the AP exams in May unless they want pissed off students upset at wasting $80 to take an exam they were never prepared for.

This is a good summary. The AP courses though, as with all courses, vary with your teacher. The AP curriculums are usually pretty great at teaching skills and critical thinking, but teachers' use of the curriculum is sometimes suspect. Some of them just teach a normal history class at a faster pace, while others teach too much to the test and don't focus enough on the history. For English, your milage can really vary. They can use any course curriculum they want as long as they run it by the college board (or some branch thereof). This makes sense on a general level, but again, some teachers will put you through three books a month and others three a year.

[TheReal_ND]

[The Conservative]

Why is something like Journalism not thought of as a trade?

You could also be an artist as a trade. Create and put out art into the marketplace. A lot of these degrees could be taught as trades. There is a craft to these things.

When the opinion page is now on the front page instead of real reporting.

Whose fault is that?

You tell me, I’ve seen how it changed over the last 30 years...and right now it’s the fault of the readers by not putting the fire to the paper when it publishes opinion as fact.

[Hanarchy Montanarchy]

Who here actually pays for journalism?

[jediuser598]

When the opinion page is now on the front page instead of real reporting.

Whose fault is that?

You tell me, I’ve seen how it changed over the last 30 years...and right now it’s the fault of the readers by not putting the fire to the paper when it publishes opinion as fact.

We are the readers.

The problem is us.

I mean these days I get most of my news from a news aggregate. Either from googling keywords or just from reddit. We both know most of it is heavily biased.

Would objectively true and rational news even sell these days? If it doesn't have that strong bias for your relevant side, even survive? Real journalism is something you do for the sake of the country, not for any real profit motive. So what is it, up to citizen journalists who have a day job, to report the real news? Maybe on forums like this?

[The Conservative]

Whose fault is that?

You tell me, I’ve seen how it changed over the last 30 years...and right now it’s the fault of the readers by not putting the fire to the paper when it publishes opinion as fact.

We are the readers.

The problem is us.

I mean these days I get most of my news from a news aggregate. Either from googling keywords or just from reddit. We both know most of it is heavily biased.

Would objectively true and rational news even sell these days? If it doesn't have that strong bias for your relevant side, even survive? Real journalism is something you do for the sake of the country, not for any real profit motive. So what is it, up to citizen journalists who have a day job, to report the real news? Maybe on forums like this?

People on this forum are not the average readers. Those readers are your Facebook and Twitter people. Those are the problem people, and if you look at the age group there. The majority are millennials.

[BjornP]

Who here actually pays for journalism?

I prefer my journalism like I prefer my higher education and universal health care: Free.