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Keith, I knew that I was taking a real risk in
posting what I did. I knew you were waiting out there somewhere waiting to
nail me on it. But I was brave, willing to accept the risk!
I agree that the human brain is not like a
computer, waiting to be programmed. Kids vary greatly not only in their
overall ability to be programmed, but in what they can be programmed for.
Some have a great deal of diffiuculty in learning anything. Others, the
most fortunate have the ability to learn just about anything equally well.
But then there is something else at play, and for want of a better way of
putting it, I'd call it skewed intelligence. Some kids are very good at
sequential logic, like mathematics, but not at all good with things that
requires imaginative thinking, like literature. My younger daughter, who
was a very early speaker and reader, had a great deal of trouble with math
because, as she put it "I can't imagine it in my head - I just don't see a
picture of it". She's now at university, carefully avoiding things she
can't see a picture of. My eldest son, having dropped out of high
school in his early teens, even though tests showed he had an exceptional bent
for mathematics, went to university on a mature matriculant program, took a
calculus course, aced it, and continued on to get undergrad and graduate degrees
in the sciences. My other two kids were, thank God, bright and normal -
something a little disconcerting for my family.
The problem with schools, public or private, is
that they are expected to teach everybody approximately the same kind of thing -
the bright ones and the dull ones, those that have a special logic or math bent
or those who think by seeing pictures in the heads. They are expected to
turn out a standardized product that meets the requirements of the working
world. I suppose that's the way it is. It makes the role of parents
and teachers who, like those who dragged my younger daughter through math by the
scruff of her neck, difficult. But I guess we have to face up to it and
carry on.
Ed
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Friday, May 20, 2005 2:56 PM
Subject: Re: [Futurework] Fw:
[ow-watch-l] Spelling it out -- Reportsays 42% of Canadians arefunctionally
illiterate
Ed,
Join the club! Well .... about
half-a-dozen times over the past few years you reassured me that there was
nothing basically wrong with Canadian education. But the article you've sent
paints quite a different picture. I never could quite understand how Canada
could have retained a good education system when America, UK, Australia ,
German, France and several others were all dumbing down.
I don't quite
know what 42% "functionally illiterate" means. I guess it means much the same
as 25% of the adult population can't find "plumber" in the Yellow Pages. I
imagine all the largish developed countries are much the same.
I've
been going on for years now on FW list about the lamentable state of education
but I've begun to change my concerns on the subject. I'm now moving towards
the idea that, generally, we get the type of education that the economy needs.
I remember when I worked in industry and when I was in the army I knew a lot
of men who couldn't read and write but, by and large, it was no great
hindrance. I'm beginnng to think that the nature of jobs in the economy shapes
the education system by and large.
When an economy changes, then the
education system will change also -- at least in an attempt to suit. The big
propblem, however, is that the human brain is not like a computer that can be
reprogrammed. It's a process that takes at least 20 years, and that in turn
depends on the home environment and the values of the parents which takes
another 20-30 years to change and that depends on the standards of their
education, etc. We're actually talking of a multi-generational adjustment --
at least two or three even in the case of parents and children of nominally
average abilities.
So I'm beginning to think now that my constant call
for education vouchers is not the answer. Yes, it will greatly help a
proportion of the parents who are committed to finding the best education for
their children but cannot afford private education at present, but I rather
think now that it won't help, let us say, 50% of the parents (in this country,
for example) because they cannot fully appreciate the value of a good
education. Or if they do they can only imagine it in a notional sense -- with
the idea that education is somehow poured into children at school and the
children really don't need to be motivated. They can only begin to pay serious
attnetion when the economy and job structure actually forces their attention
quite forcibly on it.
And yet, in some undeveloped countries, the
enthusiasm of both parents and children is so immense! Because circumstances
are showing them the necessity. Look at China and India where, in some of the
cities, fee-paying private schools and colleges are springing up even in the
poorest districts.
Keith
At 13:34 20/05/2005 -0400, you
wrote:
Bad news from a list I'm
on.
Ed
Spelling it out
by
Viewpoint: The Red Deer Advocate
The Hamilton Spectator
(May 19, 2005)
In a country as developed as Canada, we take literacy for granted.
We assume
everyone can read a newspaper, pull some meaning from a chart
and fill out a
basic form, like an application for a driver's
licence.
Year after year, we are told that Canadian students
graduating from our
public schools rank among the world's best -- that
we're in that top group
where there are only slight differences left to
rank our students on
reading, science and mathematics.
So it's
kind of a shocker to see another report telling us that no less than
42
per cent of Canadians are functionally illiterate. Worse, they tell
us
this number has not changed in 20 years.
The first reaction has
to be disbelief. Who are these people saying this
about us? Well, they're
Statistics Canada and the Organization for Economic
Co-operation and
Development. Not exactly groups prone to exaggeration.
Next, most people
would ask for their definition of being literate. The test
was given in
2003 to 20,000 Canadians, and their results were compared with
similar
samples of six other industrialized countries, including the U.S.
and in
Europe.
The next obvious question is: Where did we rank? Canada came
out in the
middle of the pack, and just ahead of the United States.
Norway came out on
top. The testers define literacy as something more
than basic reading and
being able to sign your name. Most people would
agree that's no longer good
enough to function in our society.
If
this study is to be believed, many people in Canada cannot find
the
meaning of a story, compare values of different sets of numbers,
or
understand what's being asked when filling out a government
form.
The result so contradicts our sense of Canadian society that
it's hard to
speculate on what we should do with this information.
Meanwhile Canadians
are graduating from high schools not educated enough
to exercise their full
rights as citizens. And you wonder why people
think they can get away with
siphoning tax money into their own
pockets.
Some findings:
1. People with low literacy levels
have a 26 per cent unemployment rate in a
society where almost half of
new jobs require at least 16 years of
education. But less than 10 per
cent of this group takes advantage of
upgrading opportunities.
2.
Children in poor families are most likely to lack literacy,
dooming
another generation to poverty.
3. >From a base salary
of $30,000, income rises just under $2,500 a year for
each additional
year of education you take.
4. Almost three-quarters of 626 Canadian
companies surveyed feel that they
have a significant problem with
functional literacy in some part of their
organization. But only about 10
per cent of Canadians view literacy as a
problem.
It seems obvious
that until someone comes up with a better alternative,
responsibility
lands on parents who must stay on their children's case to
ensure that
education stays valued within the family. Don't let your kids
grow up in
the 42 per cent group of this study. We say we are an
advanced,
technological society. Well we're not, if 42 per cent of us
aren't included.
____________________________________
Barbara
Anello
Acting Chair
DAWN Ontario
975 McKeown Ave. Unit 5A, Suite
162
North Bay, ON P1B 9P2
705.494.9078 [Voice]
Email:
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
URL: http://dawn.thot.net
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Keith
Hudson, Bath, England, <www.evolutionary-economics.org>
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