This might come across as a very strange question but is it uncommon to find engineers who did not enjoy school or think highly of the schools that they attended? I have encountered numerous computing and IT types over the years who did not enjoy school or had bad experiences at school but very few electrical or mechanical engineers.
The vast majority of engineering is about teamwork, and all engineering is to deliver a product or service to a customer (even if they are another engineer!).
Schools are organised around individual learning rather than teamwork. To cite an extreme, but possibly half-true example, was that at a school attended by Roald Dahl, students had to do their prep individually in complete silence. Talking to another student was strictly prohibited and deemed by the prep supervisor as cheating – even if it was just asking for a spare pen nib - with the penalty of being caned by the headmaster. This contrasts very sharply with the American culture where kids tend to do their homework in groups. I read something at one time that the US is good when it comes to software development because of this childhood cultural phenomenon but no real efforts have been made at institutional level to encourage it on this side of the Atlantic. Schools run homework clubs but these exist more for students who won’t do their homework at home, have too many distractions at home, or need extra help and support, rather than to work in groups.
Even during the (golden?!) age of GCSE coursework in the 1990s and early 2000s exam boards implemented rules that all work must be a student’s own and not a result of a collaborative effort.
I argue myself that the school curriculum is mediocre when it comes to teamwork and it isn’t something high on the agendas of governments or academics when it comes to educational reform.
The vast majority of engineering is about teamwork, and all engineering is to deliver a product or service to a customer (even if they are another engineer!).
Schools are organised around individual learning rather than teamwork. To cite an extreme, but possibly half-true example, was that at a school attended by Roald Dahl, students had to do their prep individually in complete silence. Talking to another student was strictly prohibited and deemed by the prep supervisor as cheating – even if it was just asking for a spare pen nib - with the penalty of being caned by the headmaster. This contrasts very sharply with the American culture where kids tend to do their homework in groups. I read something at one time that the US is good when it comes to software development because of this childhood cultural phenomenon but no real efforts have been made at institutional level to encourage it on this side of the Atlantic. Schools run homework clubs but these exist more for students who won’t do their homework at home, have too many distractions at home, or need extra help and support, rather than to work in groups.
Even during the (golden?!) age of GCSE coursework in the 1990s and early 2000s exam boards implemented rules that all work must be a student’s own and not a result of a collaborative effort.
I argue myself that the school curriculum is mediocre when it comes to teamwork and it isn’t something high on the agendas of governments or academics when it comes to educational reform.
