Neonjade

I promised awhile back that I would post my views on teaching the basics in US education. The promise originated from a conversation where multiple participants said that they believed the current teaching of facts and figures was a waste of our children’s time. They said that all the information we need is available at the touch of a finger, so all we need to teach is how to creatively apply that information to solve problems.

That viewpoint blew a fuse in my brain.

There were a few aspects of their arguments that I agreed with and I’ll admit to that later, but my initial reaction was extremely negative… and emotional. I’ve taken some time to become more objective about the subject before posting but, the more people that I see spouting internet trending opinion as fact, quoting today’s news as fact without remembering that last week they were saying the opposite, and searching out their calculators to multiply 2×36, the more I must protest.

Living Blindly without the Basics

If you know nothing about the events and times that lead up to the American Revolution, how do you recognize trends leading to another one? How do you even know to look for them? Do you just trust the guy in the television to tell you? Do you have any idea what that guy’s agenda is and what he’s willing to pass off as fact?

If you don’t keep your skills sharp on basic math, measurement divisions and currency divisions, how do you keep scams and other people that can’t count from draining your wealth? How do you even realize that they are? How do you recognize when a measurement device is malfunctioning?

If you don’t have English grammar and vocabulary skills, how do you communicate with any grace? Do people understand you? How do you know if their skills aren’t any better than yours? Can you share a thought or feeling that you don’t have a word for with any accuracy?

Value in Mental Discipline

Remember in Orwell’s novel, Nineteen Eighty-Four, when the Party released a statement that they were increasing the people’s chocolate ration to 25 grams per week? The people were currently getting 30 grams per week and they still rejoiced over their “improved” circumstance.

Remember the roller coaster gas prices of 2008 and how happy people were to pay over $2.50 per gallon at the pumps after paying over $3 to $4 for several weeks? Remember how they believed when the media told them that the reason why prices were so high was the refinery problems from hurricane damage and OPEC manipulation? Remember the record shattering profits of US oil companies for 2008? 2+2=5…

Don’t Drop the Basics, Pick Up Critical Thinking

Oh, and besides not dropping them, how about we actually teach them? There’s a lot of focus on testing now, with mixed results. Still, we’re also talking a lot about compensation based on performance in those tests that we aren’t getting good results from. Does anyone know what the students are really learning? I ask this in honest befuddlement because I don’t get warm fuzzies from my personal experience.

I’ve waited in too many lines where a cash register or gas pump failure required a manager to count change or understand the error. I’ve had too many debates with people claiming expertise on a topic only to discover they had little to no personal knowledge of the subject being argued. As a senior technical writer, I have read way too many resumes from college graduates with English degrees applying for writing positions that were full of grammatical and spelling errors.

Do we really want our youth to be more ignorant and gullible than our adults already are? I agree with my opponents that the goal of our current education system is building sheep to man factories that we no longer have. I agree with my opponents that we need to teach our youth to tap into the information flowing freely around them. I don’t believe that our youth will be able to think for themselves and navigate that information with any proficiency without a good basic knowledge and skill foundation that includes critical thinking.

There’s a lot more to be argued out and improved upon in our educational system than can be discussed in an entire blog dedicated to educational issues, much less this one post. I do hope I have made a decent argument, as promised, as to the value of not abandoning the basics in our educational system.

Disclaimer

If you can’t tell, this is an opinion piece. I’m not an educator or expert in education. That does not mean I should not have an opinion, but you shouldn’t quote me as fact.

You should have an opinion, too. Education is the building of the next generation. Everyone should have an interest in making the next one better. Our future will be in their hands.

What Do You Think?

Did I make my case for not abandoning the basics in education? Where did I go wrong? What did I skip? What did I get right? What articles and studies should we be paying attention to in regards to this issue? Please share your knowledge and opinion with a comment!