Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Path: utzoo!mnetor!yetti!geac!david From: david@geac.UUCP (David Haynes) Newsgroups: can.politics Subject: Re: education Message-ID: <563@geac.UUCP> Date: Wed, 4-Mar-87 08:24:15 EST Article-I.D.: geac.563 Posted: Wed Mar 4 08:24:15 1987 Date-Received: Wed, 4-Mar-87 19:32:03 EST References: <213@fornax.uucp> <876@ubc-cs.UUCP> Reply-To: david@geac.UUCP (David Haynes) Distribution: can Organization: Geac Computers Intl. Toronto, CANADA Lines: 74 In article <876@ubc-cs.UUCP> manis@ubc-cs.UUCP (Vincent Manis) writes: >John Chapman asks what turns bright, inquisitive kindergarten students >into dull adults. Here are some reasons which I've encountered in my >experience as a teacher, both at the secondary and post-secondary levels: > >1) Society in general prizes passivity. Advertising, television, videos, >and movies, all of which children are exposed to for longer and with more >immediacy than school, encourage a ``consumer'' philosophy which is alien >to creativity and curiosity. (Mavor Moore in last Saturday's Globe & Mail >had an interesting column on ``media education''). > In fact, the school system is (was?) designed to enforce the average. How many times have you seen an entire class' progress slowed down because one or two members were not understanding a concept? How many times have the slower ones been left in the dark because the majority of the class has reached a certain learning point? Soap box time: I think the problem with the current school system is that the fundamental method is *wrong*! It encourages the art of knowledge regurgitation rather than stressing problem solving and creative thinking. How many people watched at least one episode of "The Paper Chase"? In that program the teaching method was an indication of the alternative to the current teaching methods. "You teach yourself the law --- I teach you how to *think* like a lawyer." >2) Schools are often places where a child's creativity is not really >encouraged. Teachers who keep their kids in line generally rate higher with >administrations, and a teacher who does make the effort generally faces >extremely limited resources for field trips, books, etc. As well, many >teachers don't really understand how to enhance their students' creativity >(while still teaching the basics of the subject). > Not encouraged is an understatement! I can still remember being told that there was no such thing as a negative number ("you can't take three from two") because we (the class) hadn't reached that point in our lessons yet. And yet, there is a *vast* quantity of high quality audio-visual resources just waiting to be used! Do teachers use them? Usually, audio-visual aids are viewed as "pacifiers" when the teacher does not particularly feel like teaching that day. Many teachers have *never* used a film or video-tape in their classes in their life! > >3) Parents often don't care about their children's learning. Parents often >don't do anything when a child is doing poorly in school, or tell their >kids, "never mind, I was never any good at math either". I once encountered >a grade 11 academic student who had never learned how to do fractions! Tell >me that her parents were taking responsibility for her education. > Sad, but true. Even more sad is being a parent watching your creative child being squashed by the school system and turned from a bright, inquisitive individual to an "average" person. >----- >Vincent Manis {ihnp4!alberta,uw-beaver}!ubc-vision!ubc-cs!manis Fortunately, for those who can afford it, and who happen to live in the right area, there are some alternatives such as Montessori schools and other private learning institutions. Unfortunately, we have to go to such lengths in order to educate our young. -david- -- ========================================================================== David Haynes (utzoo!yetti!geac!david) Geac Computers International Inc. +1 416 475 0525 x 3420 350 Steelcase Road,Markham, Ontario, CANADA, L3R 1B3