Friday, June 18, 2010

US Educational System Jumps The Shark And Why (part I)

Is there anything on the face of the earth more detestable or disturbing than to have a heartfelt belief expressed in words so stupid as to drive one to thoughts of rage and violence?

The subject here: What Is Wrong With The Educational System In America.

The thing hated: We need to get back to the three R's, readin', 'ritin' and 'rithmatic.

Egad. Do shut up. The basics are, indeed, Reading, Writing and Arithmetic, but for the love of God, stop calling them 3R because only one word starts with the letter R. (Or maybe that is the point: to show how ignorant and uneducated one is... but no, that would be too self-effacing.)

Now, I understand. Truly, I do. I agree, wholeheartedly. However, I hate stupid people and the only thing I hate worse is when I find I am thought to be among them.

It is like being a true and faithful (fill in the blank with religion or political belief of choice here) and having to be compared with one of The Infinite Legion Of Yahoos that take to the soapbox and begin ranting and raving.

*Like this blog, for example.*

To be more to the point: Teachers are those who teach. Here, you, dear reader, should be responding with something akin to the guttural "DUH!" and perhaps following with "Yuh think?" I refer here, though, more to what Hemingway once said: A writer is one who writes. The profession, thus, is separate but permanently attached to the action itself.

Teachers cannot teach when they are not teaching, but are instead forced by the nature of both the educational system and our social order to take the notion of in loco parentis to the extreme, and the schools are used to fill in the gaps of failed parenting and a total lack of parental responsibility.

More on that later.

The 3Rs (shudder) are the first point, and I will babble here as I see fit.

To begin, then: Reading.

Reading, by the very nature of the verb, implies both identification and comprehension. One can read a map or a musical score as one can read printed words. The identification is tied to comprehension thus: I, personally, can read Latin, French, German, Spanish, Italian... but only in so much as I know enough of the languages as I can identify (for the most part) which language I am looking at, and have had enough exposure to them to pretty much be able to pronounce the words.

I will, of course, have no idea whatsoever what I am reading. I can do the same with certain higher mathematics and music.

Identification, while important then, is meaningless without comprehension. So, the focus of learning to read is: Comprehension.

One R gone...

Writing (or for the semi-literate: 'Ritin')

Writing, again, is a verb. While pen or pencil to paper is swiftly becoming a thing from a bygone era, the concept remains steadfast with fingers on keyboards.

Implied here, then: Expression. First, one must be able to Comprehend, then, one must prove that Comprehension via Expression.

Expression need not be confined to language. Again, music, mathematics, etc.

Last: Arithmetic.

The most basic, most elemental form of arithmetic is the most simple of all equations: 1 + 1 = 2. From this basic root, one will travel along until one reaches a x b = c, and from there, E=mc2.

What is implied here is thing most distressingly missing from the views expressed in the United States: Logic.

If one is given one apple (1) and then one is given (+) another apple (1) then one has (=) two apples. Simple. The Logic progresses along higher lines until one reaches Einstein.

Here, then, is the crux of the matter, the point if you will... Reading, Writing and Arithmetic are not what should be taught in the schools.

Instead, we should be demanding: Comprehension, Expression and Logic... from kindergarten forward.

Allow the Teachers to teach... which is the point of part II.

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