Category: Education

One of the fundamental problems of education is that we teach too much.

Too much? The powers-that-be don’t seem to think so. They constantly think of ways to heap more and more material on students. We used to have 10 years of “basic” education. Now we have 12. We have more subjects, more things to memorize, more seatwork, more homework, more projects, and more problems.

Look at today’s teenagers. A lot of them are tired, stressed and bored out of their wits with school — even those who do well at school. Look at today’s college graduates. A lot of them do not know what to do with their lives. This is the time when they’re finally out and ready to go “apply” what they have learned and work and be “productive” citizens. But what is it they really want to do?

A friend of mine recently asked her niece, “Ok, you just graduated, now what do you want to do?”

“Sleep,” was the girl’s tired reply.

It is not an uncommon answer, as most of you who have talked to young graduates would probably know. Other similar answers are, “I want to take a break,” or “I want to find myself.”

Do you know why?

Because, as I’ve said, we bombard these kids with too much. We force so much material upon them hoping some will stick and be useful for them but the reality is that they will not use probably 90% of whatever it is they “learned” in school.

Think about it, you who have finished school, who are in your 20’s, 30’s, 40’s, 50’s and so on. Have you ever had any use of knowing the difference between monocotyledon and dicotyledon plants? If you have not gone to medical school, have you ever had to dissect frogs and name each of its organs? Have you ever had to solve a real-life problem using logarithmic functions? Have you ever had to balance chemical equations? Did you lose your job because you didn’t know the difference between pandiwa and pang-abay (which I confess I have long kicked out of my memory) or who that damned crazy woman in Noli Me Tangere was? Do you still remember what prepositional phrases are and how they differ from gerund phrases? Do you know where Portugal is on the map, and what is its capital?

Yet, these are just some of the “basics” that the so-called educational experts have deemed are important, essential and crucial for us to learn in order to succeed in life. I would wager that you could bring any “expert” here and ask them 100 random questions from the entire K-12 curriculum and even they won’t be able to correctly answer half of those.

Here is the heart of the problem. We teach our children too much trivialities. We teach them too little about finding themselves and forging their own paths.

Email me at andy@freethinking.me. View previous articles at www.freethinking.me.

There is a scene from the 1936 Charlie Chaplin film, Modern Times, called The Eating Machine.

In this 4-minute scene, Chaplin, who plays a factory worker, is chosen to demonstrate a contraption designed to automate eating. He is made to stand before the machine, then is strapped so that he can’t move his hands, and before him is a turntable with food.

At first, the machine works well. A small platform underneath the bowl of soup moves it up to his mouth level, then tilts automatically for him to sip the soup. Then the turntable moves around and a plate with bits of food is again raised to his mouth. Then a lever pushes the food into his mouth. Next comes a machine with corn on the cob that automatically moves from left to right, and turns the corn as he eats it.

Chaplin seems to be enjoying this very much as he pretty much doesn’t have to do anything except open his mouth to receive and chew the food. Then things begin to go wrong with the machine. The corn feeder doesn’t stop moving and turning and keeps rolling over his mouth even when he is done eating. The mechanics scramble to fix and reset the machine. They try again and this time, the soup gets spilled down Chaplin’s chest or gets thrown in his face. Another plate smacks pie on his face and another device bangs onto his lips.

Those who enjoy slapstick will probably laugh at this short clip, but I was actually sad as I watched it because it shows a lot that is wrong with our educational system. Kids sit helpless as adults decide what subjects they ought to learn. They force feed the material and keep heaping it on them even if they can no longer take it. The system itself is broken as there are many teachers who are incompetent, who abuse their authority, or pass arbitrary judgements on their students.

I just had a conversation with a friend, John, who talked about an incident he had with his chemistry teacher. He got into a heated argument with the teacher about a statement that she had made until the teacher finally told him to shut up because he was wrong. Later in the term, the teacher corrected that statement. One of John’s classmates then blurted out, “So ma’am, John was right after all.” As a result of that, John got the lowest grade possible for that class.

Talk about throwing a bowl of soup in one’s face…

Children have boundless energy, persistence and creativity. But we force them through the Eating Machine we call the educational system. That system tells them what is “important” for them to learn and tells them to “prioritize” those things first over other things that might interest them more, like maybe drawing, or fishing, or playing computer games. After around 20 years of their lives in this system, only the toughest ones will emerge with that energy and creativity still intact, but most will have been eaten by the Eating Machine.

Is it any wonder then, why we have so many “graduates” today who lack initiative, creativity and direction? You only have to look at the system that produces them and wonder no more.

Originally published in Sunstar Davao.

Email me at andy@freethinking.me. View previous articles at www.freethinking.me.