arndt@lymph.DEC (02/19/85)
You poised the question: "How do we teach our children how to think?"
I have several thoughts on the subject which I offer here.
PART I
A subject of interest to every parent, indeed, to every thinking person.
Are our public institutions (secondary and college) doing the job of teaching
our children HOW to think vs. perhaps, WHAT to think?
While there are some worthy public schools still in existence it might be a
good first step to look at just what YOUR public school is offering. The
best alternative MAY be to send your children to private school (although
that involves sacrifices of money and time and there are bum private schools
as well).
I refer especially to the recent reports on the state of public education in
this country. Are these a symptom of things getting better or only reports
on the decay? Since (and to keep this as short as possible) we all are aware
(doesn't everyone watch TV?) of the sorry state of the lower grades I wish to
speak only about the colleges.
o The Association of American Colleges recently issued a report
entitled, "Integrity in the College Curriculum." It is part and parcel of the
'back to basics' movement that is sweeping this country and not only in the
area of education. The report makes statements like:
"As for what passes as a college curriculum, almost anything goes."
"We have reached a point at which we are more confident about the
length of a college education than its content and purpose."
"The curriculum has given way to a marketplace philosophy: it is a
supermarket where students are shoppers and professors are merchants
of learning. Fads and fashions . . . enter where wisdom and experience
should prevail,"
The bachelor's degree has lost its intrinsic value, they claim.
The panel urged colleges to adopt "a minimum required curriculum of nine basic
intellectual, aesthetic and philosophical experiences.":
o The ability to think abstractly and perform critical analysis.
Too often, universities tolerate intellectual sloth.
o Literacy in writing, reading and speaking.
o Understanding numerical data and mathematics.
o An awareness of the developments of history.
o Being 'intellectually at ease with science.'
o Values, or 'the capacity to make informed and responsible
moral choice.'
o Appreciation of the Arts.
o International and multicultrual experiences.
o Study in depth. The senior thesis or a similiar project
gives students 'the joy of mastery' and the knowledge that
they 'cannot know everything.'
Furthermore, this report said that the public is uneasy as to why a large
number of colleges and universities have "turned loose on the elementary
and secondary schools thousands of graduates unqualified to teach." It said
that relaxing college entrance requirements may have been laudable as a
democratic ideal but it has contributed "to the confusions that have beset
the campuses."
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It has long been a scandal that the LOWEST achievers from an academic
standpoint have been the major portion of those going into the teaching
profession. (my comment) It therefore behoves us to look closely at just
what our local public schools (secondary and college) offer.
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Two other reports that are major critiques of college were released last fall.
They are:
- The National Institute of Education's "Involvement in Learning"
Among other things this report called for two years of liberal
arts study, even if it takes an extra year of college.
- The new Sec. of Ed. Wm Bennett's "To Reclaim A Legacy."
Both are against the narrow focus of college study as it now exists in many
college programs today.
I believe that it is MY responsibility to decide and carry out the program
of instruction that my children will be under. That includes my values and
my ideas of what it is important to learn and how to learn it. More to follow
in PART II on this topic.
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Next. You asked about computers and learning I believe.
There is an interesting article in the Feb.2nd issue of SCIENCE NEWS, p.71,
"Computers and Kids: Learning to think."
The jist of it is that smart kids learn anyway. The study, by people from
Kent State, is about 6yr. olds and programming and learning to use Logo.
I am a great fan of Logo. Both my older kids are using it from time to time.
This article puts its use in the proper perspective I think.
There will be followup studies of the same kids as they progress through
school.
"We found that computer programming fostered creativity and the ability to
think about your own thinking. It did not result in any revolutionary
changes in a child's cognitive development."
Their report is also to be found in more detail in the December JOURNAL OF
EDUCATIONAL PSYCHOLOGY (Clements and Gullo).
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PART II is a delicious article by Dorthy L. Sayers on the "Lost Tools of
Learning" and presents a 'radical' idea which should be fun to kick around.
Regards,
Ken Arndt