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posted by janrinok on Wednesday May 27 2015, @10:02AM   Printer-friendly
from the lucky-fourteen dept.

Jessica Hannan writes at I4U that Elon Musk pulled his children out of an established school after discovering they weren't receiving the quality of education that catered to their abilities and built his own school with only 14 students whose parents are primarily SpaceX employees. Musk wants to eliminate grades so there's no distinction between students in 1st grade and 3rd and students focus on the important elements of each subject. By integrating the thinking process to include a progressive step-by-step approach, children will be challenged and able to understand result through a systemic pattern. "Let's say you're trying to teach people about how engines work. A more traditional approach would be saying, 'we're going to teach all about screwdrivers and wrenches.' This is a very difficult way to do it." Instead, Musk says it makes more sense to give students an engine and then work to disassemble it. "How are we going to take it apart? You need a screwdriver." When you show "what the screwdriver is for," Musk explains "a very important thing happens" because students then witness the relevancy of task, tool, and solution in a long term application."

According to Hannan, Musk's approach to delete grade level numbers and focus on aptitude may take the pressure off non-linear students and creates a more balanced assessment of ingenuity. Admitting books were "comforting" to him as a child and to reading everything from science fiction to the encyclopedia and philosophers from "morning to night," Musk points out that not everyone will be strong in every subject, or be able to retain regurgitated standardized aptitude facts beyond the test. "It makes more sense to cater the education to match their aptitudes and abilities." So far, Ad Astra "seems to be going pretty well," according to Musk. "The kids really love going to school."


[Editor's Comment: Original Submission]

 
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  • (Score: 2) by That_Dude on Wednesday May 27 2015, @01:21PM

    by That_Dude (2503) on Wednesday May 27 2015, @01:21PM (#188578)

    I understand the benefit of grappling with abstract concepts through a physical medium. It builds confidence, exposes the application of insight and hones analytical skill. Once that foothold is established, one starts to see that wrapping your mind around new things becomes only a question of the slope of the learning curve. It is usually against my nature to condone activities where there exists a very real possibility of exploitation, but I have to agree with the principle. As far as the removal of grades is concerned, I've observed plenty of instances where a person's age has nearly nothing to do with aptitude or motivation. On the other hand I've seen many "adults" who are hardly worthy of the title. If one tends to think about another's ability in terms of grade, (or degree even), it obfuscates their capability because it only claims completion of whatever set of expectations. Well, that's not entirely true with kids getting passed on nowadays regardless of whatever they've been able to achieve. I'd rather have people who can demonstrate something useful by showing showing solutions they're able to conjure up from facing obstacles rather than people demonstrating that they're lost and bewildered with no idea of even where to start and ending up living a compromised existence.

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