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Wednesday, August 18, 2021

Education

 

From 1972 at Montezuma's Castle, Arizona. What do you know about it?

Because I dream a lot, I try to remember them for possible interest later. Sometimes that works and often it doesn’t. Either way, I enjoy dreaming vivid stories and images.

Last week, I dreamed my husband and I were at a convention of some sort. It was held in an interesting area, but I was staying with the trailer and the cats (typical of my life).

The part that seemed important was he and I were driving around and I began to think I needed to share with him some ideas I had about education. Although I was an education major in college, I didn’t complete my degree (one term shy). I had though gotten all the major courses-- missing only student teaching for one quarter (babies and life got in the way—my choice).

So, in the dream, I found a piece of paper to write what I thought was important in education.What is its greatest purpose?

First to give students the tools to continue educating themselves when they leave traditional school. Back then, among other things, that meant learning to use libraries, card catalogs, how to write a thesis and stick to the subject. Today, it might mean the internet. It’s about knowing how to learn after the school is behind us.

Second is to provide inspiration for why do you want to learn more. And not just about things that you can use to make money. For things that fascinate and intrigue you. When schools inspire, education does not end with graduation.

Third was to provide a reason to learn more. That means for jobs, careers, hobbies, relationships, really all the things that we use to improve our life situation.

 ~~~~~~~~

I was left with more thinking about a school system and what it teaches. Of course, there are facts, dates, events, rules, etc.; but in the end, do they matter after graduation? They matter if they can be used in some way and then inspire the student to keep learning. It might seem when we memorized (something I did with cards back in grade school) that 8 x 8 = 64 that it doesn’t matter; but it’s brain development and someday we might need it. Even if it’s to fall asleep at night.

 I am concerned, as an old lady, how the schools have come at odds with the parents over schools wanting to teach attitudes, reconfigure society and rewrite what had been taught in the past with things like CRT, 1619 Project, intersectionality, woke, and on it goes, where many of us elders don't even know what the words mean (even after looking them up). What actually is being taught???

You know, when I was in school (eons ago), I didn't have any idea what political party my teachers belonged to or if they did nor what religion. If a school wants to teach attitudes that suit the teacher, and a student graduates, maybe with no basic skills, as apparently Oregon now wants to decree, where do they go next especially if they never got a love of learning. Learning is not a means to an end but rather a beginning… or so said my dream.

What do you think the purpose of education is?

 

4 comments:

Joared said...

Hopefully, it's critical education instills in children a desire to learn since school is just a beginning of a life long education filled with learning. What you've described sounds pretty good. If teachers present biased information on politics and social concepts then it might be important to know what they believe, but ideally they should give balanced perspectives and keep their own beliefs to themselves.

There are many topics, particularly social matters, that have been politicized in such a way as to complicate teaching. Also, some of these topics used to be considered as needing to be taught in the home but all too often in too many homes that teaching was not occurring or was presented with a warped unbalanced view. Educators found themselves drawn into having to address some of these issues with students by default.

How much to teach needs to be age appropriate which is no simple matter given the varying maturation levels of children even through high school. Certainly by the time students attend college open discussion of all topics should be possible, importantly so, but a balance of views is very important there.

Rain Trueax said...

From what I've read on the balanced views is the big Ivy League Universities don't want it there or their students don't. I've observed at FB that people are more comfortable in bubbles and woe onto the one who enters with a contrasting view lol

Rain Trueax said...

You wrote a very cogent piece, Joared. A lot to think about as times change.

Darrell Michaels said...

"When schools inspire, education does not end with graduation."

Amen! Nor should it. I read as much as possible about history, current events, biographies of interesting people and such. More importantly I explore places like you did at the John Day fossil beds. That is where knowledge and inspiration occur for me.

Also, my wife teaches at the local community college here. Her perspective is (and I agree) is that if a student knows your political views, then you have failed them. She routinely plays devil's advocate and brings up the opposite side's perspective regardless of the topic. It gets the students to think and perhaps reconsider or strengthen their own views.