Monday, September 19, 2005

What my teachers never taught me

When I was a kid, like everyone else, I went to school. I spent a lot of time there. Sometimes, I even learned something. I remember some of those days fondly, and others, were a nightmare. But that is not the topic of today's ruminations. I am a novice at this, and this is my first post.
Today, my schooling (formal at least) is long gone. But I re-live it with my son on a nightly basis. What strikes me, is that he is learning what the books say, but no effort to think is being asked of him. I went through the same thing, and suffer the effects to this day. We were taught "this is what is says, this is what it means, and this is how you do it." Why were the questions "what do you think about that" or "what does that mean to you" never asked?

He knows the story, and can even translate some of the Hebrew, but does he know what the relevance of the story is to his daily life?
It is sad indeed that teachers can't, or won't make children think. It handicaps them forever. I know.

2 comments:

MacDuff said...
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MacDuff said...

I am inclined to think, so far as education generally is concerned, that there is far too much time wasted on seeking the opinions of those being taught.
It also bad in that the 'teacher' is not really interested in the opinion of the student unless it conforms to the politically correct theory of the day. Teachers will nudge or bully the pupil in the direction the teacher wants to go

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