Day 22: Curriculum Vitae

I find this one redundant after Like, Totally, Dude, but in keeping with the challenge, I have a twist in mind. What do you mean you are surprised?

RedIf you read the foregoing post, you know I have plenty of formal education and an inordinate amount of non-traditional education. Both have influenced how I feel about academics in the present forum. I think there are better ways of accomplishing higher learning.

How many times have you heard Those who cannot, teach.? I have seen plenty of examples which perpetuate this adage. Were I in charge (no snickering in the back) education would be very different. Those with the most aptitude would be the ones teaching the new generations.

An inbred hatred of learning would disappear. Get your knickers out of a knot. Hatred of learning is a learned response, which makes the irony palpable. We are riddled with children who are afraid of learning.

Math

3 - 1 = 2

One of the most disturbing exchanges I have ever had was with a kindergarten teacher. She was thrilled to show me the DoE mandated “math board” in her room. More than 40% of its components were inappropriate for the learning level of her pupils. I asked her what was wrong with the board. Her answer?

I hate math. I just have to have the board. They will learn from it.”

No. If you hate it, you will not have it on the right level or explain it to your pupils in a way which they will understand. The frustration leads to a hatred of math the teacher just passed to a classroom full of pupils.

Reading

The Internet has poisoned many children against reading anything with more than three sentences in a paragraph. They are conditioned to expect white space. When they open novels of the classical and renaissance periods, they are bored at the lack of zombies and vampires.

Books

Adults argue they will not partake in recreational reading unless it is merely in their comfort zone, and then they will only attempt it if there is not a movie available to release the cognition via visuals. Looking in the classroom is the reason.

Long gone are the days of summer reading lists. Once school is out for summer, learning screeches to a halt. No more novels are required to test the imagination, problem-solving skills and recall of students. The fill in the bubble testing of the reading comprehension gives the chance to those who have learned to play the odds even when they have not understood the material.

Science

Recently, I have interviewed an half dozen young adults from 17 to 24 years old. Despite having children of their own, the six had less than rudimentary understanding of the human reproductive system and were filled with myths about STD.

Distracted driving

Only one had any idea of the science behind propulsion, even though they could all drive. While all were iPhone versed, none understood the technology of the wired telephone, calculator, computer or smoke detectors.

Most knew the water cycle, but only one had a vague notion of how potable water was made. None could name more than three recyclable materials each. There was debate about the weather patterns of their hometowns and current locations.

Space was a mystery. They could all identify a Klingon Bird of Prey and an X-wing fighter. They were 0 of 6 for air and spacecraft of the last 50 years. Less than half of them knew Pluto was no longer classed a planet. Fewer understood how there was a difference.

The group as a whole scored less than 30% on contagions, immunology, disease prevention, parasites and the level of care necessary for prescribed injuries. They argued over the proper way to perform the Heimlich and CPR on both adults and children.

So what?

This generation houses the future leaders of the world. These “adults” were not all the bottom of the class. The cross section included a salutatorian and two college graduates, which makes this study far scarier than Freddy Krueger. Equally frightening is the knowledge this is not the end of the knowledge dearth.

MoneyWith a median income of $46,000 per year, these “adults” were in mostly second level or higher jobs with higher than average performance reviews. (The youngest was in an entry level position.) All of them were carrying consumer debt and considered a credit card a necessity and a rite of passage.

None of them felt the need to be saving for college for their children (present or future). For that matter, they did not see much reason to be saving for anything else. The going logic was since they had a mortgage, they just needed to pay the bill.

Although body image was important and more than half visited a gym regularly, none were concerned with the long term effects of their diets, habits or sleep patterns. The majority believed they were statistically low risk for catastrophic illness and were unlikely to die in an MVA.

Hmm…

I realize this question should have focused on my academics. Frankly, I find my academics academic in the absence of academics for the generation who will choose and man my nursing home.


What can we do to educate those who are already out of school? Is there a way to instill better learning habits in children? Do you think giving a child/teenager a classic book can make a difference in the way they view the world?

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29 Comments

  1. It is a real shame that weaker students often fall further behind in their studies due to a lack of commitment of teachers but it is the teachers job to help these pupils, after all if a teacher cannot communicate with all of his or her students then what is the point in education?

    I remember when I was at school the very same thing happened, while some of the children thrived on learning, others were neglected in the sense that if they could not keep up or grasp the rudimentary aspects of the given subject then teachers were seemingly uninterested in them, and instead concentrated their efforts on the more learned pupils in the class, which certainly defeats the object of education at its core 🙁

    Every pupil deserves to be taught equally but sadly the reality is much different than what we would prefer and thus some children lose out, which is totally unacceptable 🙁

    Andro xxxx

    Reply
    • Those who need the most are the ones who are neglected the most. Sadly, that goes much further than merely schools. I have to wonder if we really are as evolved as we claim. Le sigh.

      Reply
      • I agree, it is a case of out of sight, out of mind with some parents, which is rather sad I think 🙁

        Thank you for replying to my comments, I know that you always do but I know you have been away for all of May and getting back to adding your more favoured postings and keeping up to speed on replying is not as easy as it looks 🙁

        Have a lovely evening Red 🙂

        Andro xxxx

        Reply
        • Oh, I only had 700 comments to answer 😛 I am looking forward to quite a bit I have on the schedule.

          Reply
  2. benzeknees

     /  May 29, 2013

    Most of the stories of today are just re-worked versions of classics. For instance, the big movie series so popular right now with Kristen Stewart is just a re-worked version of Romeo & Juliet. If teachers were inspired enough to take some of the current books/movies/graphic novels & show the learners how they compared to the classics, perhaps the learners would be more inclined to appreciate the classiscs?

    Reply
    • Ah, but the contemporary are touted as wholly original despite it being a farce. Only when they endure long enough for another generation to study them without the pop cult following are they recognized for their mimicry of the classics. I had a number of professors who did this, even with the dearth of creativity theatrically in the ’80s.

      Reply

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