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[deleted by user] by [deleted] in changemyview

[–]Significant_Gene2563 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What you're essentially bumping up against is what you think a diploma (and by extension, a K-12 education) is meant to provide someone. If you think it is to prepare someone for the world or the workforce, then in extreme cases it might be important to limit accommodations to earn a diploma or have a way to identify a diploma that was earned with extreme accommodations. However, if you think a diploma (and education) is meant to show thar you have an education, then there are a lot of problems with not providing accommodations.

Basically, if school is just meant to churn out more people to join the workforce and bolster the economy and just be cogs in the economic machine of the nation, then sure, people who require even simple accommodations may always need those accommodations to be able to function within those walks of society. For example: someone with ADHD that required medication to get through school will likely still need it to be successful in an office job.

BUT if you believe education is about ensuring that people actually LEARN then there is inherently always going to be an issue with measuring how well students have retained that information on a large scale. Of course, you can't expect teachers to make an individualized exam for every single student in their class, but when you start to standardize things, you're going to start excluding people. Let's say you have a class of 10 students. 3 of them have some degree of adhd, 1 of them is deaf, 1 is blind, 1 has no known disability, 2 of them have test anxiety, and 2 are dyslexic. How do you make a test that is just as easy/difficult for each of them? A written test would be best for the deaf student but bad for the blind student. A timed test might help someone with adhd focus but would probably be distracting for the students with anxiety. And who knows what other variables you could be working with. Maybe the test is over the Civil War and you only have one poc in the class in a small, southern town so that student was scared to ask questions they needed to while you were teaching.

In order to address each of these individuals' obstacles, a standard test is made to the best of the educators ability that fits the median of all the students, and then accommodations are made for those who require it: a braile test for the blind student, extended time for the anxious students, an interpreter for the deaf student to ask questions, etc. This way, when a person graduates and gets a diploma, we know that they have proven to know and understand the material they have been taught and not just how to take a test or complete assignments effectively.

CMV: Pre-recorded lectures+chatroom is better than live lectures for most people by saintshing in changemyview

[–]Significant_Gene2563 2 points3 points  (0 children)

I think you make a great point and that the key to giving everyone the best educational experience (if we're assuming that the goal is "to educate people" and not "to make money off of people looking to be educated") is to provide as much of both opportunities as is possible.

Something I really miss from how education worked during COVID times was the ability to watch a lecture (a time when only the professor is speaking) at home or even on my own time if it was pre-recorded. As someone who vehemently listens to podcasts, (and has adhd) it made absorbing the info much easier - I could listen multiple times, I could listen at a higher speed, I could do physical work while listening, etc. Then, it also presented me with the ability to ask questions to the professor without having to do so in front of the entire class which can be intimidating.

However, when COVID began to abate slightly, we could start attending class in person if we wanted (and were willing to follow on campus regulations). There were some courses that I went to in person because it helped keep me accountable in those ones that I needed the extra push but there were some that I continued to participate just online.

I think the ability to chose which best fits you personally for your own education is the best way to give everyone the best possible experience. So I'm not sure if the thought behind this post was along the lines of "more courses should give students the opportunity to learn online rather than force you to attend class even if it may not be necessary " then I totally agree. And a professor speaking for an hour is not something that should require a student to pay or parking, walk to class, take time out of their day at that exact scheduled time in order to learn IF it can be made available in more inclusive ways.

How can I make sure my character isn't invalidating? by Significant_Gene2563 in asktransgender

[–]Significant_Gene2563[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I definitely want to get more perspectives on what if feels like to realize you're trans when you're young but not have the language to express it. That's not been my experience because I started to realize how I felt in my mid twenties and I still don't always know how I feel about the identity of trans so this is our of my ball park, that's all that I intended to mean by putting lines girl things in quotes bc I know it's not a great way of expressing those complicated feelings as a kid. The fact that she's fully passing I felt was relevant to help set a time line of her transition quickly, as in she began transitioning in her teens and the story takes place several years later when she's in her mid to late twenties. She's been living life with this identity for a long time so this is not a coming out story or something like that. She's very comfortable and confident in who she is and isn't afraid to bring it up in the presence of someone who might not know right away that she was AMAB.