The National Forum   Donate   Your Account   On Line Opinion   Forum   Blogs   Polling   About   
The Forum - On Line Opinion's article discussion area



Syndicate
RSS/XML


RSS 2.0

Main Articles General

Sign In      Register

The Forum > Article Comments > Killing curiosity > Comments

Killing curiosity : Comments

By Brian Holden, published 15/5/2008

It is sometimes forgotten that the supposed objective of education is to open the door to a more fulfilling life.

  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. All
*cue applause*

I have on occasion disagreed vehemently with some of the author's material, but, with his Deweyesque turns of phrase, generousity of spirit and openness to the possible, the author makes a rousing and humane appeal for educators to fulfill the promise of their profession.
Posted by Mercurius, Thursday, 15 May 2008 11:15:33 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Sorry to be so realistic, Brian, but encouraging children to think can put them at risk of harm.

For example, children who are destined to work in the Queensland public service do not need to learn to think.

They need to develop skills in -

- making untruthful but politically correct statements that are vague enough to prompt multiple interpretations,
- avoiding asking any intelligent question,
- avoiding being held responsible for "knowing" or "understanding" anything,
- and, most importantly, losing all emails, letters and documents.

These are the skills needed to survive and thrive in the modern workplace.
Posted by Dealing With The Mob, Thursday, 15 May 2008 12:24:46 PM
Find out more about this user Visit this user's webpage Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
I am not so sure Brian that kids in the top 1% are not impacted by the 'system'. Maybe the students who are getting their education outside of school and only attend school to compete in academic competition in order to win scholarships or selective places in schools and/or universities are happy as they do not have expectations of learning at school but bright and in particular gifted children with inquisitive minds who believe that they go to school to learn are stifled by the system and find it a complete waste of their time.

They also learn very early on that if they speak out - they will suffer.

Education - Keeping them Honest
http://jolandachallita.typepad.com/education/
Our Children deserve better
Posted by Jolanda, Thursday, 15 May 2008 2:02:47 PM
Find out more about this user Visit this user's webpage Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
A good read, Brian – agree with most of what you say and some of your solutions.

BUT – I am not sure you attribute blame where it belongs. Don’t blame the keepers of the system, including the state education departments – for clogging up the system with mind-numbing compulsory subjects. The blame goes much further than the hapless bureaucrats.

Curriculum is designed by cross-sectoral and representative curriculum boards in each state. They jump to the dictates of governments which in turn both create and respond to popular demand. This means that those who contribute to curriculum can vary from those like Bob Carr (who contributed compulsory Oz history and geography) to anyone who has a bright idea which finds its way onto the school curriculum.

For examples of the latter you need go no further than the 2020 Summit which suggested (amongst other things) more financial literacy and more compulsory visual and creative arts.

So your throw-away line about “state education departments’ gross failure of our young people” is misdirected. Really if we, as a community, want to look for people to blame we should look into a mirror: we are all part of the sillyness of more tests, more accountability, screwing the schools down with mandatory bits. We all add up the worth of kids in one index number and comparing schools according to the height of these numbers.

Hey, it doesn’t have much to do with engaged learning but, as I say, don’t blame those working in the system/s.
Posted by bunyip, Thursday, 15 May 2008 3:26:08 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Hi all,
Brian you said it all in your opening paragraph.

I was listening to Julia Gillard lament the lack of creativity during the 2020 summit and thought - the cause is a woeful education system greared to the job market right the way from primary school to University.

On the flip side though imagine a society of free thinkers!!

How will Governments or any authority -secular or otherwise, control such a society?
Posted by Ninja, Friday, 16 May 2008 5:23:39 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
I would like to see classes in values, philosophy and comparitive religion.
It would be nice to meet more young people questioning the accepted dogma that life is about having the biggest house a mortgage can buy, with the best curtains the credit card can stretch around, and all surplus cash directed into a personal loan for the biggest, shiniest four wheel drive -which will never, ever get dirty.
Come to think of it, one of the young couples I know who fall squarely into this category are both school teachers.
Where is the -Australian- peace corps?
Posted by Grim, Friday, 16 May 2008 5:54:12 AM
Find out more about this user Visit this user's webpage Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
Great article Brian.

Imagination and creativity seem to be overlooked in mainstream education. I feel that in attempting to remove bias in education (ie personal opinions from essays etc) that learning has become detached at times. I love this quote by Rudolf Steiner (whose ideas form the basis of Steiner schools), below, on learning.

We shouldn't ask: 'What does a person need to know or be able to do in order to fit into the existing social order? 'Instead we should ask: 'What lives in each human being and what can be developed in him or her? 'Only then will it be possible to direct the new qualities of each emerging generation into society. Society will then become, what young people, as whole human beings, make out of the existing social conditions. The new generation should not just be made to be what present society wants it to become".
Posted by xanadu, Friday, 16 May 2008 9:44:37 AM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
I think you're wrong. I'm a current university student and I'll have a guess that I'm the only one here which has experienced the modern education system. I can tell you now that ideas like yours are already being put into practice and I can also tell you that they are not having the desired effect. Education has lost its rigour, we've lost that solid grounding of knowledge and with that the ability to form opinions of value. For instance students with little experience with the fundamentals of English grammar are asked to take a marxist perspective on Hamlet for instance, which would be fine in they were in university and they knew what marxism was!

In highschool I clung to subjects with any remaining substance such as mathematics or chemistry and spurned the rest which is a shame because I've now discovered a real love for literature as opposed to the mush they taught us in school. Many have noticed the decline in this generations knowledge / interest in history, english, etc... but have failed to lay the blame where it belongs - I'd rather be taught a complete anglo-centric view of history than no history at all
Posted by Ace, Saturday, 24 May 2008 6:40:03 PM
Find out more about this user Recommend this comment for deletion Return to top of page Return to Forum Main Page Copy comment URL to clipboard
  1. Pages:
  2. 1
  3. 2
  4. All

About Us :: Search :: Discuss :: Feedback :: Legals :: Privacy