Q & A
Earlier this month, InkogNegro commanded asked those of us on his blogroll to ponder and answer a handful of questions. Of the questions listed, I’ve chosen this one:
How do we persuade our children to firmly understand the need for thorough knowledge of English, math and science?
Instead of persuasion, we gift our children with a lifelong love of learning and a thirst for knowledge and understanding by modeling the same, from Day One of their lives. My grandmother had an 8th grade education, but I saw her read the newspaper everyday, so I did too. Children are far more likely to do as we do than do as we say, in terms of the habits and values that will stay with them when they are adults and must live independently.
I’m not sure why the framers of the question stopped with “English, math, and science.” I would add: studies of history–inclusive and undiluted American history, world history–foreign language, fine arts, literature, music, environmental studies… And regardless of the subject matter, critical thinking skills need to be developed–not rote memorization, regurgitation of facts, or just enough to pass a standardized test*–but the ability to consider information, place it in context, and evaluate its relevance, validity, applications, and implications. Kids need to be taught logic and reasoning. Hell, adults need to be taught logic and reasoning.
Kids will learn to value and appreciate that which we present to them as worthy. As Chris Chambers noted on his blog yesterday, “Soulja Boy ain’t Scott Joplin.” Of course, each generation embraces that which is contemporary to them, but this does not have to be exclusive, nor should it happen in a contextual void. Kids may know who Soulja Boy is, but they can also know where he fits amongst and how he measures up (or not) against those who preceded him and his contemporaries across musical genres. We need to teach children to question and challenge the world around them, especially in a consumerist society that all-too-often wants to spoon-feed them a culture that, at best, has the nutritional value of gruel, and at worst, is outright poisonous. Again, good critical thinking skills will enable kids to discern and distinguish crap from the good stuff–whether it’s music, political ideologies, or social policies.
*A word about standardized tests…I believe part of the reason some kids are turned off from learning is because too much of what happens in schools these days is not about learning–it’s about developing test-taking skills. Standardized tests can serve an important function, but these days, in too many school systems, getting kids to pass these tests (thank you, No Child Left Behind!) takes priority over real learning and the development of intellectually curious, critical thinkers–the kind of stuff standardized tests do not measure. What kids are being taught, in essence, is that passing a test is important–not that English, math, and science are important. Not that learning for learning’s sake, is important.
This testing and teaching-to-the-test is happening at younger and younger ages, in preschool in some places, which means that by the time a child is in 5th grade (if not earlier) she’s burnt out on the process–and may have come to associate school and learning with this boring process.
So before we take kids to task for not embracing school or English, math, or science, we really need to look closely at the content of their curriculum, and how their school day is spent. Science, for example, isn’t even taught (or is barely taught) in some schools. Why? Because there are no funds for it, or because–you guessed it–it’s not on The Test.
Which brings me to this…As a parent, I see myself as my child’s primary teacher. If they are not being taught science, I’m going to advocate for change such that they are. In the meantime, we’ll be learning science at home, and in the world around us. I will teach by example.
