I totally agree, and in hindsight, think my first post was, perhaps,
a tad panacean. I wish California educational powers at be could
realize the validity of your statement. Here the party line is "All
children can succeed equally as well," hence the maniacal
preoccupation with the testing tail wagging the educational dog. It
truly sucks.
Cheers,
Dean
On May 4, 2007, at 12:06 PM, dhbailey wrote:
I didn't quite word things as I meant to in my first paragraph -- I
do realize that there are many millions of wonderfully warm, well-
rounded human beings in the eastern European countries of the
former Soviet bloc. But there were certainly the antitheses as
well, who probably had the same education. My point being that no
education will guarantee wonderful results for everybody.
David H. Bailey
dhbailey wrote:
Dean M. Estabrook wrote:
Amen, and nothing more needs to be averred about the importance
of training, beginning in the very early years, in solfege,
movement, and playing of instruments as we find in Kodaly and
Orff. That's the sort of background which not only produces
exceptional musicianship on a broad level, but just plain well-
rounded human beings. Trust me, the world would be a far better
place, if only ............
Excuse me, but until fairly recently, Romania and other eastern
European countries where the Kodaly and Orff methods originated
and may be widely taught did not exactly serve as great role
models for well-rounded human beings.
I'm sure that the countries' leaders who abused civil rights and
their countries' economies stood next to all the other 10 year
olds and learned the same musical stuff.
And it's important as well to remember that there are very well-
rounded human beings who have served the interests of world peace
and human kindness who never heard of Kodaly and Orff methods.
Ghandi, the Dalai Lama, Jesus, Baha'ulla, are just a few such
examples.
The two do not necessarily go hand-in-hand (Kodaly/Orff training
and well-rounded human beings who make the world a better place).
And while the Romanian student in the example may have been able
to play in odd meters and been amazed at the other students'
difficulties at first, before being taught, the example doesn't
also explain that while Romanian 10-year olds my be able to handle
such rhythms easily, before they've learned them as folk dances
I'm sure they would have been bewildered also.
The example does nothing more than show us that once someone is
taught a complex rhythm or meter it becomes easy.
But then we all knew that. :-)
--
David H. Bailey
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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Dean M. Estabrook
http://deanestabrook.googlepages.com/home
Of all hoaxes, the one which is my most vexing bête noire on a
quotidian basis, is the cereal box top which informs simply,
"Lift Tab to Open." Then, "To Close, Insert Tab Here ." Yeah,
right! In attempting to accomplish the first direction, not only
the tab but also the slit intended to accept the aforementioned
protuberance have both been irreparably disfigured and rendered
dysfunctional. This debacle is then amplified by the misbehavior
of the recalcitrant inner bag, which can not be unsealed sans
mangling it, and hence, will not disperse its contents without
exiting the box itself. All I wanted was a bowl of cereal.
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