From: Vanessa Novaeris (novaeris@hotmail.com)
Date: Wed Aug 28 2002 - 16:39:57 MDT
Posted by: dehede011@aol.com Posted on: In a message dated 8/27/2002 11:26:56
PM Central Standard Time,
<<Isn't that the whole point of John Gatto's books. The teachers we
have are raised entirely inside a different paradigm? Maybe some of the
turned off teachers would welcome the chance to educate their students. >>
Its really great to see this topic here. But looking to the teachers
themselves to help the situation is IMHO much to short-sighted. I agree that
many teachers are not qualified for their jobs, but even here we must turn
to the modest requirements needed to obtain a teaching certificate. Back to
my point, the root of the problem really is the curriculum. No matter how
much a teacher may want to enlighten his/her class, they are restricted,
sometimes almost completely, to the guidelines set forth in the school's
curriculum. On this problem alone, I could write pages (core curriculum
varies in sophistication with respect to demographics, local vs. state vs.
nationalized systemization, inter-disciplinary education on the whole rather
than 8 different classes, personalized education based on interest vs. IQ,
etc. etc.)
I first started thinking about this when I was at university in DC. Appalled
at the state of public education there & reflecting on the catastrophe
that was my own high school education, I began to draft some ideas for a
different kind of public education. Not just curriculum, but more focus on an
inter-disciplinary approach to all education.
One simple example (off the cuff) would be the figure of Albert Einstein. A
student could easily be assigned literature about Einstein for an English
class, learn about relativity in a science class, discuss some of his essays
in a philosophy class, examine the historical setting of this period (which
might be another way to objectify history - introducing it as a background for
other events & explaining its *global* significance rather than scrutinizing
the details, which seems to be where things get sticky - just a thought) and
ALSO examine Einstein's position in the history of scientific progress. The
last piece is missing from both science & history classes - so I guess the
development of the H bomb wasn't that important after all :P
The possibilities are endless - this was just a quick example but I think
it illustrates the point. When a student see the connection between all
the different things he/she is learning, it starts to form a bigger
picture. Education can then connect what seemed like useless tidbits of facts
& figures to create an objective presentation of the world & its history.
Part of the problem with American education is that "grown-ups" severely
underestimate the potential & capacity of young children. I'm reading Black
Holes & Time Warps right now, which seems clear enough for any *interested*
high school student or even junior high student to absorb. Its a good
example of a simple text that reaches into different disciplines to foster
a multi-dimensional approach to learning (not so objective in parts, but
still...) A better example would be Lives of a Cell by Lewis Thomas.
But the student needs to be interested if they are to excel. Children will go
to astonishing lengths to satiate their curiosities - their motivation could
indeed serve as a model for some burnt-out grown-ups out there! And a student
may be more inclined to learn about something they wouldn't otherwise care
for (using the example above, the history of Nazi Germany ) when they see
its related to something they are really interested in (the figure of Albert
Einstein).
Okay, I still went on waaaay further than I meant to, but I hope this gives
some insight to the depth of this problem. There is sooooo much more I didn't
dare try to touch on here - but all this kind of makes me want to review
some of my old notes on the subject :) It may sound cheesy, but Education is
humanity's greatest tool in its quest for perpetual progress.
vanessa novaeris
"I didn't drop out of school - its just a really really extended Leave of
Absence!!!" :P ahhaha
---- This message was posted by Vanessa Novaeris to the Extropians 2002 board on ExI BBS. <http://www.extropy.org/bbs/index.php?board=61;action=display;threadid=52894>
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