In a message dated 7/24/2001 7:57:09 PM Central Daylight Time,
phillip.capper@webresearch.co.nz writes:
> if I am asked to name the practical, concrete, skill (beyond basic literacy
> and numeracy) I learned in my youth which has contributed most to my
> working life, my answer is that it is the disciplne of writing a formal
>
Respectfully, I disagree with the written word being concrete. It is merely
a representation of an individual's abstract thought. I agree with Phillip
and Bill that your response to my criticism is well spoken and articulate.
What troubles me about the premise that system-did leads to system-do is that
if we continue along this path we continue with seat-of-the-pants decision
making disguised as scientific inquiry. As it stands right now the only
checks and balances to academic institutions is the academic institutions
themselves. The way for many to get a masters and phd is to retell that
which has been told in a format that is so blessed boring no one bothers to
read what has been written. I would not have a problem with academic
institutions requiring this of people interested in upholding the rigors of
academia. Where I struggle with the requirement of further learning in these
contrived environments is when the method does not conicide with the reality
of applying the content learned. For example, the current method of
instructing teachers is ridiculous. Take 18 year olds who have just been
institutionaized for 13 years and subject them to more abstract ideas and
theories. Have them represent their abstract thoughts in numerous ways, all
the while discussing these ideas with each other in their contrived groups.
Then, as their final course they are required to practice these theories
under the watchful eye of a classroom teacher. Now, having been
institutionalized for another 4 or 5 years these 22-23 year-olds will mold
the minds of the future, as a classroom teacher. I don't see much room for
error in this equation. The new teacher will either be successful at
institutionalizing the next generation, or they will quit. 33% of newly
trained teachers in the U.S. never enter the profession.
Therefore, the public domain of education either continues on as a lumbering
dinosaur; or it is scrapped and rebuilt. It appears that charter schools and
home schooling are two movements that may fortunately one day replace the
'old school'.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Wed Aug 01 2001 - 01:01:20 PDT