Now one hundred days of protest is some serious field trip out of classroom mental work– and this exercise in the freedom to speak one’s mind with one’s feet apparently will not end with the conclusion of the course term. in Quebec. Apparently Canadian students enjoy their affordable education so much they’re willing to fight for it with zeal and determination. Bill 78 is an effort to shut down the student strike protests against the 75 % hikes in tuition. Bill 78 in effect demands that people submit to the dictates of the state and refrain from protesting en mass or face serious fines (1,000 to 25,000 dollars) and arrest. Wearing a mask could get you 10 years in prison. OOOOO what do the elected official fear from the mask wearers? Damn that film V for Vendetta for its mask wearing protestors for popularizing those masks which scares the hell out of totalitarians. Every effort to ban and il-legalize the masks serves as a red flag marker as to who is who on the battlefield for mind control. Some Canadians I’ve chatted with recently declare Bill 78 is the death knoll for Premier Jean Charest and his ’liberal’ party. Take note–these days the world ‘liberal’ has vastly different meanings depending on where, who, when–it’s all about context.
If you’re wondering what’s with the red square — little red felt squares are worn by the students and their supporters in Quebec. Yes, I am in solidarity with anyone who believes quality education should be available to everyone. I would like ALL education to be ‘free of charge’ because the mind is the most vital frontier and no one should be denied the opportunity to learn–ever. Can you imagine a world in which our monetary and other ‘resources’ are focused on education that enables humans to actualize their imaginative creative intellectual potential –instead of focused on making war, engaging in genocide and destruction of anyone some folks consider a threat to their bastions of power and control? I suspect if we’d been enabling the flourishing of the mind we might not have sown the seeds of our destruction via the pollution of our own habitat. Or at least I hope we would not have done so. One never knows what course intellectual freedom might embark upon. Hell, some of the great scientific minds created the atom bomb–and enabled it to be ‘used.’ So, yes, I admit there are such dilemmas. Yet, if there’d not been a military industrial complex running rampant then the course of human history would be —-???? We don’t quite know do we? Plenty of Science Fiction authors have explored alternative realities. I suspect this is one reason the genre threatens mainstream fiction writers — because it explores more than the status quo of possibilities and pushes the imagination into uncharted waters.
A few fundamental basics regarding quality education to consider. Oh yes, all of this comes from experiencing what ‘works’ in a teaching environment. This is NOT speculation:
Optimum student class size–14 students. This is not a secret number. It’s been shown that a student teacher ratio of 14 to 1 produces major benefits.
No standardized tests. They’re just money makers for the corporate testing business and serve no other purpose than to generate profits. They’re useless for gauging real mastery of material. Ability to properly employ and discuss material in useful and creative ways reveals having learned a subject.
No corporate produced textbooks. The textbook industry is another huge money-maker that enables mass indoctrination and manipulation of information. Guess why Americans don’t know much about HISTORY beyond what someone decided they ought to know to stay malleable.
No useless grades. Grades do little more than serve as carrots on sticks. Children have been paid to get good grades in research studies. The little student research rats behave just as one might expect–they produce only as long as they’re PAID. No more funding and they cease putting forth effort for grades. That reveals nothing good about carrots or the educational system that fails to incline children to be invested in their own learning.
As for uniforms–who gives a damn what you’re wearing if you’re not engaged in the act of discovery. Uniforms might ease some social issues in some contexts but they cannot improve a child’s learning experience. Some parents like uniforms because of how easy they make “clothing issues”. Well, if clothing issues are the main concern something is seriously skewed at the core. Uniforms are just another money-maker for those businesses that produce them.
Discovered a common thread here regarding the involvement of ‘Business’ in education? Business has NO place in education. It does not foster engagement in the act of discovery. Businesses exist for profit margins and selling products–NOT for fostering the critical thinking skills of human beings.
As for “teachers” in education. It’s a tough job these days to be a teacher anywhere. The pedagogy for classrooms has clearly failed under the current system of operations in the public sector. Education is not a ‘service’ industry where just punching a time clock is enough. People’s minds are not like car parts on conveyor belts waiting for assembly. Lecturing to the ’drones’ does nothing but leave all children behind–far far behind. To teach is to lay aside ego and engage people – not all of whom one ‘likes’– in order to educate their imaginations so that they are active participants in the world rather than factory robots. This is not easy nor for the faint of heart. “Houston, we’ve got a problem.” No shit.
The Educated Imagination website dedicated to Northrop Frye http://fryeblog.blog.lib.mcmaster.ca/ O my, Frye was a Canadian?? Hehehe, see this post is ‘connected’ …..
How is your imagination today? Please do share your thoughts if you’re so inclined. No rulers for knuckle bashing nor ink pens held at the ready for grammar put downs in this blogcasa comment section. Anyone have a positive educational experience to share? Hmm? Horror stories also are ‘welcome’. Is your school under siege? Are you a teacher wondering what the hell has gone so horribly wrong? Are you a lucky teacher in a great supportive environment with eager students?
Lately there has been much more talk of privatizing education in the USA. Every time I hear about ‘more charter schools’ I laugh very very cynically. We’ve had charter schools in the Kansas City Metro. I’m not a fan. They’ve haven’t improved anything. They have cost a lot though. As for running schools like businesses—REALITY CHECK—these are children we’re talking about not PROFIT agendas. Plus, look where big business has taken the economy. More cynical laughter is in order. So here are my thoughts based on experience with the end products of the public school system. Perhaps a fundamental problem is that it is a ‘system’ and learning and teaching are more than any ‘system’.
So–here’s an old rant with an update.
I’ve had it up to ‘here’ and way beyond with folks bewailing the quality of public education in the States. No one seems to know what to do to improve this mess except to demand more tests. More tests will not improve education on any level. It cannot work. It does not work. Never has and never will. Test taking has nothing to do with real learning. I say toss the whole test taking industry into the trash bin immediately. If I had my way grades would also zoom into the trash bin. Why? Because they’re just ‘grades’ and they do not accurately measure learning either. Either someone ‘learns’ or they do not. Learning cannot be forced. IF something has been really ‘learned’ then it can be applied/used/put into motion by the ‘student’.
Based on experience, I know of a few things that DO work when it comes to improving the petri dish that is classroom education. Consider this my ‘gift’ of the season:
~~Optimal student to teacher ration is 1 teacher for every 14 students. This is NOT a newsflash–it’s well-known and been documented plenty.
~~Oh yeah, an invested teacher can do a lot with 14 students. And 14 students can get a lot from a teacher who wants to teach. A teacher who wants to teach might be described as someone who wants to engage students–not keep them at an intellectual taser’s length distance. With 14 students’ in a class, a teacher has not just the time but the mental wherewithal to address each as individuals.
~~Textbooks need to ‘go’ away. Why employ a textbook when there are so many BETTER books to use for teaching? Yes, this means a teacher would have to search out tomes that would best serve their teaching goals–rather than have some textbook dictate what’s on the mental menu every single day of the school experience. Yes, this is ‘work’ –but it is work that pays off for both the teacher and their students. Everyone’s ‘mind’ can be engaged in material that is appealing and fresh.
~~Speaking of ‘fresh’–what the hell is with teachers who use the same material, the same lesson plans, the same approaches year after year after year? They’ve got to be bored to death mentally. I’ve heard many say they are bored to death by doing the same material the same way time and time again. Guess what–a teacher’s BOREDOM is conveyed to their students who are in turn bored and then see no reason to actively engage with the teacher or subject. IF a teacher doesn’t like teaching, doesn’t like their subject, doesn’t like students then they ought to NOT be teachers. If they’re bored they need to get ‘un-bored’ or depart the classroom.
~~Teaching ought to be an engagement in the act of discovery. This involves embarking on a quest to explore, question, and think independently. Often this throws out the bath water of absolute right answers. (No–this does NOT mean that one plus one no longer equals two in math. Although in an alternate reality it might…) In the words of Northrup Frye, one strives to “educate the imagination” so that it can creatively address all sorts of ‘questions’ until suitable responses are discovered.
~~More than a daily ‘lecture’ ought to go on in any classroom. Dialogue is very useful for exploring thoughts and new concepts. Arrangement of students desks/chairs so that they have eye contact with each other and the teacher encourages dialogue.
~~Oh yes, there is a useful ‘rule’ to employ in regard to ‘dialogue’/communication/communication –distinguish between what a person ‘says’ and the person themself when debate/arguing/disputes arise. It is one thing to say, “That is a silly answer.” It is another to say, “You’re a silly idiot.” Mutual respect goes a long way to developing positive communication. People can’t all like each other– but they can all respect each other.
~~Yes, schools are stuffed full of students with terrible home lives. Social issues abound. What are the causes of these social issues? My take is that our culture is bankrupt–it has nothing to offer but the goal of consuming as much as possible. Nothing is valued except money.
Oh and I really like the way this blogger wrote about Bolivia achieving FULL Literacy in three years. Yes folks, the poorest country in South America apparently has more interest in full literacy for its entire population than the richest country in the world. lhttp://nuestrosricos.blogspot.com/2008/12/bolivia-achieves-full-literacy.html
Gee, wouldn’t want our young ones reading and comprehending “1984″ by George Orwell, now would we? Things could get very uncomfortable if they did.
Click on the book cover to visit Trespass Magazine’s piece on Political Novels.
Oh let’s have a little Mose for some musical release….
Violating copyright births bad karma---imagine a mad hacker you'll never see coming--nor catch going. Respect = my work is my work and your work is your work.
Everything posted here is my work, copyrighted, unless otherwise noted. Comments aside. Om
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