Ray, You'll recall my division of knowledge into two - the knowledge of truths and the knowledge of things.
"Things" have to be taught, but it's better if kids are taught how to teach themselves. They should learn how to learn. The knowledge of truths is really an appreciation and understanding of relationships - a knowledge that something is so. Perhaps a knowledge of truths sends a journeyman violinist toward soloist stature. The problem public schools have is tied to their need to "prove" that students are learning something. So, they learn that Paris is the Capital of France. This can be tested and used to show how educated the student is. If they don't happen to "do" Paris, they may never know it's the capital of France. Why Paris is the capital, why it is situated where it is, should be easy for them to answer because of their knowledge of truths - which understanding should work for London, Berlin, Madrid, Rome, and so on. And if their knowledge of truths doesn't fit with (say) Berlin, they should be able to figure out why - again from their knowledge of truths. Truths allow the student to approach a situation unmet before and get a handle on it. Probably, the best way to test truths is by essay - an endangered species in the modern US public school. What teacher wants to spend his weekend perusing, correcting, and marking, 170 essays? So, it's multiple choice to the rescue - enabling the teacher to prove how much is known by the student. And it is all cleaned of by quitting time. I'm sure all FWs know that a multiple choice test can be chosen, printed, marked, and graded - without being touched by the teacher's hand. Harry ------------------------------------------------------------------------ Cuz wrote: >Good post Karen. I think what is missing with rote education is the place >that it fits in the development of critical thought and memory. Good >pedagogy uses all of the tools, not just one or the other. The man who >taught over your heads was a poor pedagogist but terrific on content. His >problem is a well known one in the performing arts where great artists >retire to teaching and teach the first year of instruction that they >remember over and over again until they retire. It takes a great student >to really open up these hard nuts which is a pity. It would be better if >they had met and enjoyed some of the great pedagogists that I have known who >understood the order of growth, the tools of teaching and the excitement of >success. > >Cousin REH ****************************** Harry Pollard Henry George School of LA Box 655 Tujunga CA 91042 [EMAIL PROTECTED] Tel: (818) 352-4141 Fax: (818) 353-2242 *******************************
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