Education
Good Morning,
I was in discussions with a dear friend the other day about education and what has become in todays institutions. In the course of our talk I mentioned that what I felt was more useful knowledge for life and success (however you define that) is not taught and I was not sure it good be. Can we teach people to see opportunity instead of strictly problem solving? How many things in life truly have a "right" answer? Now I was not saying that the fundamentals and foundations of formal education are to be ignored or glossed over, I simply felt there are some subjects in dealing with life that should have a place in our classrooms. Skills are very important in life but as Napoleon once said "Ability is of little account without opportunity." Maybe my points are mute. It has been some years since my last venture back to school. I may not have a well based experience to comment from, but it was many years and time spent outside the classroom that I learned continuous effort, not strength or intelligence is the key to unlocking our potential.
Have a wonderful weekend!
Peace and Love, Jim
posted by The Daily Buddha at 5:41 AM
2 Comments:
Funny you mention that - Anna and I have been thinking about how education today has such advantages over our generation; and how we had a huge advantage over my parents generation. Things like the internet, with it vast amount of resources today, can provide kids with every tool they need to perform their core curicular activities. I just think back to when I was in Elementary and Middle School; when there really was no internet - and think how we got by on the old method of library checkouts, photocopies, and interviews with my grandparents who lived through a period in history. Kids today seem to always say, "there's too much homework!" or "this is too hard, I don't know how to figure this stuff out!" (same as every generation of kids). However, they have the greatest advantage of all of us thus far - and with each generation it will grow greater, and greater.
This seems to go hand-in-hand with their lack of "street smarts" compared to what I knew at their age. Like you said, knowledge learned by experience in life through trial and error, curiosity, and communication with otheres. All the things that a book cannot teach (well, minus communication).
So, does this mean that along with technology advancements comes greater challenges? Or are the kids today becoming lazy with all the ease of their "difficult" lives by having the conviences of portable games, cell phones, computers, wireless internet, and (in some respects) items that were once way to expensive to own as a kid - but are now a daily commodity?
I am sure that to some extent, with greater technology, comes the need for greater restriction to prevent kids from easing their way out of a problem (such as using a website that can generate answers for very complex geomotry equations). However, I do think that in some respects kids are far more mature in some areas that we were as kids - but in a bad way that leads to a greater stress during the teen years. And due to their lack of experience in "street smarts" (life experience) they tend to seem naive of the reality of some things. Which, don't get me wrong! A kid should be naive, but todays kids know too many of the things they should be naive to until much later in life.
But then again, who am I to say what should and should not be learned? :D
Excellent points! Knowledge these days has been reduced to knowing where to look for the answer vs learning and understanding the answer. The bigger problem is that most people only possess or memorize the knowledge for short periods of time such as befor a test or evaluation, after that it's almost as though it was never learned. Technology although wonderful, simply compounds the problem. It has been shown that if you read it, look at it, or learn it via a computer your ability to retain that information is almost cut in half!
I see it day after day with people who grew up with a computer. they can not recall and apply the information without going and looking it up again! So have they really learned anything?
Much of what we need to know is locked inside of us and no school instituion has made that part of their curriculum. When I do not "get it" is it the websites fault? The teachers? Or do i look deep inside myself and ask why am I not getting this? What am I missing? and then proceed to work on the problem from that perspective.
I never got math, but in college i decided i needed to get it. So I sat down every night and came to understand I simply did not speak the language of math and it's answers seemed trival to me. With that i began to rewrite the problems into something I could understand with answers that had a purpose and guess what? I got it.
Good teachers do the same, but they are few and far between so theses days i think it is important to teach how to do the same for yourself...teach yourself how to learn. If we do not then how can we even step into a classroom (at any age)?
As Our favorite teacher once told us: How can i teach you anything if you do not know what you seek? (Dr. Day)
Great comments!
Peace and Love, Jim
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