The educational system - all of it - simply baffles me. I'm in an extreme minority, though, since I perform much better when not encumbered with other humans. In study groups, I typically had to do the explaining (math and physics, primarily). So it makes me wonder whether everyone is cut out for school or not. My classmates weren't stupid - they just didn't care about the material.
It would make sense to create a dichotomy in the educational system. People like myself should have been weeded out and dumped into pure studies. I learn simply because it's fun. Most people derive no pleasure from studying, so they should be dumped into some sort of practical schooling, where everything is given a cursory glance. Such people do not need to really understand anything, since they don't actually care. I'm completely uninterested in whether or not what I learn can ever have any practical application.
I went to a public school, though. The focus seemed to be on discipline. There was tight control over what we could do, which I would hardly call a learning environment. I never once observed any disciplinary punishment being meted out. Rather, students were given this thing called detention or suspension. Considering the fact that those things did not reduce the behavioral problems, that would indicate they were not working. But the administration steadfastly keep those ineffective methods in place.
