Tag: education

Have you ever seen trees bent into unnatural shapes for the sake of art? If you haven’t, go google “tree shaping” to see what I mean. These are trees whose trunks or stems have been bent and shaped while they were growing in order to form something artistic, funny, or even functional when they have fully grown and hardened.

There’s a tree that has been formed into a sort of rocking chair. There are two trees whose trunks are intertwined to form a square knot, and so on. Or just consider the art of pruning bushes, cutting away excess stems and leaves to form different shapes, from simple ones like spheres or cones to more complex animal shapes. 

The beauty of the outcome largely depends on the expertise of the gardener.

We tend to think of education in a similar manner. In fact, think of the words we use to describe education — molding, shaping, guiding — they are quite similar to what the gardener does to these plants while they are young and supple.

Yet, has anyone thought to ask the plants what they want? Would that bush rather be scraggly than clean cut into a nice round shape? Would that tree rather have a straight trunk than be bent into a knot? We don’t know. They are plants after all.

But look what we do with our kids. We send them to school, to be “shaped” and “molded” — into what may I ask? If you look (and really take a long hard look) at the curriculum they are made to go through, you would think we are trying to produce little Googles that can spit out memorized trivia. You would think we are trying to produce the next winner for “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?”

Has anyone ever thought to ask the kids what they want — and to take their answers seriously? They are not plants after all. They are humans, like us adults, with their own desires, their own will, their own choices. Or do we just shush them and tell them to go study their square roots and cube roots because it’s good for them?

The educational system is an adult agenda. We bring in teams of expert teachers much like a master landscaper brings in a team of expert gardeners to shape the garden as he wills.

That is why education has failed, because before we can truly “educate” a child, our agenda has to go, and we have to wholeheartedly support theirs as they strive to educate themselves.

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

The child, so full of natural curiosity and with seemingly boundless energy, is now made to go to school, to be “educated.” It’s funny how we use that word — as if the child was not getting an education before they went to school.

Think about it. Even before going to school, your child has figured out how to crawl, stand, walk, run and climb. They have learned how to form syllables, words and sentences, and have mastered the art of asking “Why?” 

Have you ever known the difficulty of learning another language? When adults learn, they already have a native language to serve as a reference — thus “why?” in English is “pourquoi?” in French — and still it takes us a long time to learn. Yet, children seem to easily pick up a language even without any prior reference, and can even learn 2 or 3 before they are five. 

And we think they have to go to school to be “educated?”

What really happens in school? In plain and simple language, here is what happens: The child’s natural curiosity and interest is curbed in favor of the adult’s agenda. You now have some adults saying, “this is what kids ought to be doing” and if your child happens to be doing something else (like drawing, or skateboarding, or climbing trees), they are told to put those aside because it’s now time to learn their ABC’s or some other things that the adult has decided is “more important.”

In this day and age, much importance is given to academics. Yes, people have made a lot of noise about multiple intelligences, and being well-rounded, and so on but look at the actual weight still placed on academics — on math, science and language — and you’ll understand that all that noise is just what it is — noise.

Just a few decades ago, adults openly coerced or forced children into their agenda. “Sit still or you get put into the corner with a dunce cap on, or get your hand or butt slapped with a stick.“ 

When I was in high school, we had punishments called a “jog” and a “post.” A “jog” was a minor punishment where you had to write a sentence x number of times on a piece of paper while a “post” was a heavier punishment that meant suspension and cleaning the toilets.

I learned much later that in the “good old days” a “jog” literally meant that the student had to run around for x minutes, and that a “post” meant tying the student to a post to bask in the heat of the sun. (I don’t know how accurate this is, maybe someone my senior can verify this).

Today, adults have learned that coercion rarely works in the long term and use methods of enticement and seduction instead. Children are put in a classroom and made to feel like they are in control. Teachers are trained to engage the students in whatever interests them at the moment, but then to slowly steer the conversation towards a more academic context.

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

I used to think that a good educator was someone who had undergone a lot of training, who had a massive arsenal of teaching tools and methods that can be utilized to bring to life the most boring lessons and the most bored students. 

In the many years that I was a teacher, I spent countless hours on self-improvement. I joined Toastmasters to improve my public speaking skills. I attended talks by good speakers to study their techniques. I would even record lectures and practice delivering jokes and amusing anecdotes.

I envied a colleague, at that time, who was a chemistry teacher. On the first day of class, she would mix two chemicals and produce a small explosion, guaranteed to turn the head of even the most disinterested teenager in this startling display of fire and smoke. But I taught English Literature, so instead of fireworks, I had a little comedy routine injected into my orientation of the class rules and objectives. That usually brought chuckles all around.

When we were taught how to make lesson plans, the lecturer wanted us to account for every minute that we were in the classroom. We were not to waste a single minute on “free time” — we had to make sure that there were various activities to fill in even the smallest gaps of time so that the students would “always be learning.”

They, and I, could not have been more wrong.

Our current model of education sees children as empty vessels waiting to be filled with the “knowledge” that educators have, or as aimless little creatures needing an educator to guide them and show them the way.

That is why education today focuses so much on the educator, because the belief is that the educator holds the key for learning. The more that an educator can do — the more techniques, the more lessons, the more strategies — the better he or she is as an educator.

This is why education is failing — our model is wrong.

Children are not empty vessels nor aimless brats. They come into being with boundless energy, unabashed curiosity, and a seemingly limitless amount of persistence all dedicated to one thing — to understand themselves and the world around them. That is why they like to touch everything, to smell things, to put things in their mouths. That is why their eyes grow wide when they see a new creature, a lizard or a frog. That is why their ears perk up when they hear a strange sound, perhaps a doorbell or a trumpet or a piano.

As they grow older, they continue in this quest. They learn how to talk. Some learn how to read. They learn to converse and interact with other people. They play games. They run around. Their bodies get stronger and they have better control over their limbs and fine muscles in their fingers. They ask endless questions and like to try out new things.

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