Hi, Ken. I have many comments. First I really liked the article and your thinking. My second career was teaching. I taught Chemistry/Physics/Astronomy most of time, but I have also taught biology, agricultural science, math, and even history. My education is a BA with double major in Biology Chemistry and MA in Physiology. I taught 8th grade for 15 years, University part time, 2 years, and 3 years as a substitute. And I totally agree, our educational system sucks. First is attention span, numerous studies have agreed the attention span of a normally intelligent adult is ~20 minutes, Yet we expect children from the age of 6 to 18, to sit quietly AND LEARN from 50 minute lectures. Any teacher who has attempted this will tell you, it's a losing proposition. Second: I believe most people will agree that while it is perfectly reasonable to offer equal protection under the law, all people are not born equal. We do not have equal intelligence, while I was above average and got good grades in college I am certainly not even close to the intellectual ability of Albert Einstein. Yet we expect a class of 20 to 48 children (my classes usual classes usually averaged 32 to 36, but I had one of 10 students and another of 48) to all learn exactly the same information at exactly the same pace. What really occurs is most teachers dumb down the lesson to what he/she believes is the mean average ability. So nobody learns. Those students with 'learning disabilities' are so confused they just turn off and satisfy themselves with other thoughts and activities (to the distraction of the class). While the brightest student grasp the concept in the first 5 minutes and also tune out. My answer is individualized education. I have written 3 posts, Thoughts From a Retired Teacher October 2022, Learning April 2023, and Teaching May 2023, where I describe this process.
For your other ideas, I agree play - or at least relaxation - are essential to our being. For me work has to be challenging and inspiring, and then I totally love it. In fact in those jobs I'd rather be at work than not. But that may be just me, I am sort of weird.
I don't know if you have read my preceding 3 posts on this subject, but I do cover much. I was raised in a teacher family and I grew up with teachers outside of the classroom and I mention in an earlier article that almost all of the teachers I converse with have said the same thing you do.
I didn't propose alternatives, but many are out there, and I think those who are actually involved in the field (teachers, as opposed to administrators) do understand that. I agree, I think (not knowing your exact definition) with individualized teaching. But not necessarily if you mean one teacher for all subjects. I think children need a variety of mentors. While granting that we are all not equal in intelligence or size (and I also wrote about sport earlier as well). We all are capable of learning and if we are allowed to develop the curiosities then I feel we are all (unless there is such severe retardation that it is impossible) capable of learning. The problem I find is trying to direct the interests, or define what a child is supposed to be interested in and at what age level.
I married for the first time in my mid-20's and she became pregnant the next month. Our marriage didn't quite last a year, and shortly after our daughter's birth we broke up. The problem was I was a laborer, I came home "dirty". She had come from a very wealthy family, her grandfather invented the "cheetos" machine and made a fortune selling the patent, her father invented among other things, the sensor for traffic lights. She grew up in a mansion---they just absolutely didn't think I was smart enough because a smart person would not do physical labor, and I was "dirty". My car was not brand new, I lived in an old (but nice) apartment bldg., etc. Well I finally bought a brand new car after the baby was born, and then a month later I told her I couldn't stay with her, the situation was just too intolerable, I can remember nothing but the constant arguing and haranguing about how low-class, inferior, smelly person I was. In vain can I remember any good times between us, even in the stages when apparently we were in love and she asked me to marry her. Where I am going with this, I got in our new Datsun and drove back to Indiana, and returned to a really dirty job, working in the foundry again and was tentatively accepted as a part-time student to see if I was able to meet their standards.And a month later my wife called. She was in dire straits. Her family wouldn't take her back in with my child, she had to give it up and she asked if I wanted the child. She said I would give her the car she would give me the child otherwise she was going into an orphanage.
Of course, then her parents wanted her to have the child and three years later they finally succeeded and I never saw our daughter again until she was grown. But during those three years I was able to observe the child and how she learned and developed. It is my only direct experience because I didn't marry again until I was 59 to a much younger woman who had two children 12 & 15, we ended up taking in 5 more and all 7 are very important to me, but they were all beyond the infant stage. So admitting my limited scope of observation, I watched her grow, I wrote everything she did, when she developed any new skill, and when she developed an interest in things, and when she began to speak I wrote down every word and the every conversation. I worked 3rd shift, and except for a couple of hours in the evening when I would attend class, and the occasional nap, I was with her for most of her day. I let her wander as she wished and while I had bought a few toys I was told girls would like, as she began to crawl and then walk her first interests was whatever she found. An empty paper towel roll.She would touch it, taste it, smell it, rub it on her, then she wanted to know what it was. I would show her the roll with towels and remove the towels, now she wanted to know what the towels were for, I showed her how I used them by pouring water on the floor and wiped it up, then she wanted to it and so repeated the exercise and she wiped it up--not very well-- and I didn't say, oh you missed a spot , I just let her find a new interest and wiped up the rest. The next time she saw me wiping off the counters after a meal, I suppose, she asked if she could help. I lifted her up and held her and gave her the towel and without guiding her motions she did a much better job, looking for any spots she saw that might need to be wiped up. There was an apple tree in the garden where we rented the upper floor and they were too old to get the apples, so she sat beneath the tree while I climbed into the tree and picked the apples and when I climbed down from the tree and she saw the apples she asked why they were in the tree and In explained that they were the seeds that grew new apple trees, they were the babies of the apple tree . Then she wanted to know why we eat baby trees and I explained that all of life eats the food that is other life, if no life ever ate any other life, then life could not exist, but that was a good thing because if no life ever ate any life then all life would go hungry because all life needs food, but we must be very grateful for the food and not take so much that there are no more apple trees. She asked if people are eaten. I said not generally, but there are very small animals (technically untrue) called germs and when we catch a cold the germs are trying to eat us but we have little blood armies that try to kill the germs. And she asked why do our bodies do that. And I said for the same reason we don't eat all the apples because if the germs eat us all then they couldn't live because they would have no more, but sometimes the germs do eat our bodies inside and we die because if none of us ever died there would be too many people and not enough food.
Well that is how I see, or define, the natural curiosity, and how a child is supposed to learn. When they have the interest, you help them develop the interest which will lead to new interest.
Unfortunately or fortunately, however you wish to define it, she remembers none of it. I suppose I want her to, but it is not to be expected she will. My own memories begin about the time she was taken away. It's just one child, but it was similar to how I was allowed to develop by my own mother and so it guided me in my approach. Many tell me she was too young to be talking about life and death and maybe I'm dead wrong, but it appears to me how children can learn by responding to their interests and that leads to more interests. We might not have the same abilities to grasp concepts at the same rate, we might also be stymied when our interests don't match a timeframe in which we are supposed to learn a particular knowledge. I was bigger, faster, and had greater balance than most of my peers (not necessarily stronger) so I was considered a better athlete but it doesn't mean the less endowed should be ridiculed and lessened and made to feel that can't compete. So of course there are differences in intellect, and environment affects what we are supposed to be learning a great deal. I don't think anyone would disagree that our education system can stymie the advanced as well as those considered to be slow--the very system has to be geared toward mediocrity.
I don't feel really qualified to espouse a better system---those who have experience teaching are however. But I think my observations on how I learned and how I observed learning in others do have a relevance and I guess my voice is more for those who felt stymied and labeled less intelligent because I was myself. I don't think I'm the brightest kid on the block, but I think I'm capable of learning a lot more than I was told I was capable of.
Hi, Ken. I have many comments. First I really liked the article and your thinking. My second career was teaching. I taught Chemistry/Physics/Astronomy most of time, but I have also taught biology, agricultural science, math, and even history. My education is a BA with double major in Biology Chemistry and MA in Physiology. I taught 8th grade for 15 years, University part time, 2 years, and 3 years as a substitute. And I totally agree, our educational system sucks. First is attention span, numerous studies have agreed the attention span of a normally intelligent adult is ~20 minutes, Yet we expect children from the age of 6 to 18, to sit quietly AND LEARN from 50 minute lectures. Any teacher who has attempted this will tell you, it's a losing proposition. Second: I believe most people will agree that while it is perfectly reasonable to offer equal protection under the law, all people are not born equal. We do not have equal intelligence, while I was above average and got good grades in college I am certainly not even close to the intellectual ability of Albert Einstein. Yet we expect a class of 20 to 48 children (my classes usual classes usually averaged 32 to 36, but I had one of 10 students and another of 48) to all learn exactly the same information at exactly the same pace. What really occurs is most teachers dumb down the lesson to what he/she believes is the mean average ability. So nobody learns. Those students with 'learning disabilities' are so confused they just turn off and satisfy themselves with other thoughts and activities (to the distraction of the class). While the brightest student grasp the concept in the first 5 minutes and also tune out. My answer is individualized education. I have written 3 posts, Thoughts From a Retired Teacher October 2022, Learning April 2023, and Teaching May 2023, where I describe this process.
For your other ideas, I agree play - or at least relaxation - are essential to our being. For me work has to be challenging and inspiring, and then I totally love it. In fact in those jobs I'd rather be at work than not. But that may be just me, I am sort of weird.
I don't know if you have read my preceding 3 posts on this subject, but I do cover much. I was raised in a teacher family and I grew up with teachers outside of the classroom and I mention in an earlier article that almost all of the teachers I converse with have said the same thing you do.
I didn't propose alternatives, but many are out there, and I think those who are actually involved in the field (teachers, as opposed to administrators) do understand that. I agree, I think (not knowing your exact definition) with individualized teaching. But not necessarily if you mean one teacher for all subjects. I think children need a variety of mentors. While granting that we are all not equal in intelligence or size (and I also wrote about sport earlier as well). We all are capable of learning and if we are allowed to develop the curiosities then I feel we are all (unless there is such severe retardation that it is impossible) capable of learning. The problem I find is trying to direct the interests, or define what a child is supposed to be interested in and at what age level.
I married for the first time in my mid-20's and she became pregnant the next month. Our marriage didn't quite last a year, and shortly after our daughter's birth we broke up. The problem was I was a laborer, I came home "dirty". She had come from a very wealthy family, her grandfather invented the "cheetos" machine and made a fortune selling the patent, her father invented among other things, the sensor for traffic lights. She grew up in a mansion---they just absolutely didn't think I was smart enough because a smart person would not do physical labor, and I was "dirty". My car was not brand new, I lived in an old (but nice) apartment bldg., etc. Well I finally bought a brand new car after the baby was born, and then a month later I told her I couldn't stay with her, the situation was just too intolerable, I can remember nothing but the constant arguing and haranguing about how low-class, inferior, smelly person I was. In vain can I remember any good times between us, even in the stages when apparently we were in love and she asked me to marry her. Where I am going with this, I got in our new Datsun and drove back to Indiana, and returned to a really dirty job, working in the foundry again and was tentatively accepted as a part-time student to see if I was able to meet their standards.And a month later my wife called. She was in dire straits. Her family wouldn't take her back in with my child, she had to give it up and she asked if I wanted the child. She said I would give her the car she would give me the child otherwise she was going into an orphanage.
Of course, then her parents wanted her to have the child and three years later they finally succeeded and I never saw our daughter again until she was grown. But during those three years I was able to observe the child and how she learned and developed. It is my only direct experience because I didn't marry again until I was 59 to a much younger woman who had two children 12 & 15, we ended up taking in 5 more and all 7 are very important to me, but they were all beyond the infant stage. So admitting my limited scope of observation, I watched her grow, I wrote everything she did, when she developed any new skill, and when she developed an interest in things, and when she began to speak I wrote down every word and the every conversation. I worked 3rd shift, and except for a couple of hours in the evening when I would attend class, and the occasional nap, I was with her for most of her day. I let her wander as she wished and while I had bought a few toys I was told girls would like, as she began to crawl and then walk her first interests was whatever she found. An empty paper towel roll.She would touch it, taste it, smell it, rub it on her, then she wanted to know what it was. I would show her the roll with towels and remove the towels, now she wanted to know what the towels were for, I showed her how I used them by pouring water on the floor and wiped it up, then she wanted to it and so repeated the exercise and she wiped it up--not very well-- and I didn't say, oh you missed a spot , I just let her find a new interest and wiped up the rest. The next time she saw me wiping off the counters after a meal, I suppose, she asked if she could help. I lifted her up and held her and gave her the towel and without guiding her motions she did a much better job, looking for any spots she saw that might need to be wiped up. There was an apple tree in the garden where we rented the upper floor and they were too old to get the apples, so she sat beneath the tree while I climbed into the tree and picked the apples and when I climbed down from the tree and she saw the apples she asked why they were in the tree and In explained that they were the seeds that grew new apple trees, they were the babies of the apple tree . Then she wanted to know why we eat baby trees and I explained that all of life eats the food that is other life, if no life ever ate any other life, then life could not exist, but that was a good thing because if no life ever ate any life then all life would go hungry because all life needs food, but we must be very grateful for the food and not take so much that there are no more apple trees. She asked if people are eaten. I said not generally, but there are very small animals (technically untrue) called germs and when we catch a cold the germs are trying to eat us but we have little blood armies that try to kill the germs. And she asked why do our bodies do that. And I said for the same reason we don't eat all the apples because if the germs eat us all then they couldn't live because they would have no more, but sometimes the germs do eat our bodies inside and we die because if none of us ever died there would be too many people and not enough food.
Well that is how I see, or define, the natural curiosity, and how a child is supposed to learn. When they have the interest, you help them develop the interest which will lead to new interest.
Unfortunately or fortunately, however you wish to define it, she remembers none of it. I suppose I want her to, but it is not to be expected she will. My own memories begin about the time she was taken away. It's just one child, but it was similar to how I was allowed to develop by my own mother and so it guided me in my approach. Many tell me she was too young to be talking about life and death and maybe I'm dead wrong, but it appears to me how children can learn by responding to their interests and that leads to more interests. We might not have the same abilities to grasp concepts at the same rate, we might also be stymied when our interests don't match a timeframe in which we are supposed to learn a particular knowledge. I was bigger, faster, and had greater balance than most of my peers (not necessarily stronger) so I was considered a better athlete but it doesn't mean the less endowed should be ridiculed and lessened and made to feel that can't compete. So of course there are differences in intellect, and environment affects what we are supposed to be learning a great deal. I don't think anyone would disagree that our education system can stymie the advanced as well as those considered to be slow--the very system has to be geared toward mediocrity.
I don't feel really qualified to espouse a better system---those who have experience teaching are however. But I think my observations on how I learned and how I observed learning in others do have a relevance and I guess my voice is more for those who felt stymied and labeled less intelligent because I was myself. I don't think I'm the brightest kid on the block, but I think I'm capable of learning a lot more than I was told I was capable of.