On Education – Attitudes and Effects

This week, if not before, children are returning to school, so it seems an appropriate time to talk about education.  Not just superficially or about such things as curriculum, testing, etc., but about the role and the effect that education has on society and its success or failure in that regard.  This, I suggest, all begins with the attitude that we display towards education, for that attitude has an effect on the respect and value that we accord to education.

Coincidentally, while we were celebrating Labor Day on Sept. 2 this year, all the children all across Russia were returning to school on what is there called “The Day of Knowledge.”  The children all show up in what we once would have referred to as their “Sunday best.”  Elementary children are wearing “party dresses” and little suits.  The girls have their hair in pigtails or similar, tied with ribbons and decorated with flowers.  And every child has a bouquet of flowers for the teacher

 

After the opening ceremonies the children sit at their desks, focused on the teacher and ready to learn.

 День знаний [Day of Knowledge], Russia

Now, I don’t want to get into a discussion of what these children might or might not be learning at their Russian schools.  What I do want to suggest is that this making the first day of school a national event and a celebration reflects a respect, appreciation, and a valuing of education. 

Is this all superficial?  Yes, perhaps, but superficialities often reflect what is also below the surface.  

In his column on parenting today, John Rosemond states that “the most important thing parents should teach [during children’s preschool years] is proper manners" which he notes are “the sorts of fundamental courtesies that form the backbone of civilized social behavior.” (CITE)

Why is this important?  Because if our children don’t understand how to respect their teachers and their fellow students, if they don’t know how to listen without interrupting, if they don’t value the fact that their teacher and their school experience is providing them with valuable lessons in both academics and life, then they are not going to learn.

Here is a picture of American students arriving for the first day of school in Minneapolis last year (photo credit: Elisabeth Flores – Minneapolis Star Tribune).   It is typical of first days of school across America.  These students also look eager, but one wonders how actually prepared they are to learn.  Greeted by the superintendent, beyond that indication that this is a very special and exciting day, a day that begins an exciting journey of learning, what other signals do these children get that learning is important and worthy of respect?

Rosemond, in his column, also notes that since the 1960s, parenting has become all about having a good relationship with one’s children.  That is, in essence, parents and parent figures want to be the kid’s friend.  Rosemond notes that “as a result, parental leadership…has gone by the wayside.”  I would add that respect, too, has gone.  Children come to school with no sense of respecting authority figures, of taking and carrying out reasonable orders from those figures, even if they are not something that the child wants to do or finds entertaining or fun. 

How does that happen?  After all, don’t we repeatedly tell children “school is important”?  Perhaps.  But it is much more likely that children see how important it really is based upon our actions.  And many of those actions are reflected in the superficial as well as in the more general approach that we may have to the structures of society.

Because many parents are more concerned with being their child’s friend and in agreeing with the child that he or she is never wrong,  they do not support their children’s teachers but instead will argue whenever the teacher tells the student he or she is wrong or demands work which the child is not inclined to do.  Moreover, some parents have a way of demonstrating that school is something that gets in the way of their lives; their trip to the beach or to Disney Land may be more important so that they pull their children from school for the vacation.  Such action must certainly signal that school is not really that important.

Dress is indeed superficial, but it is also a statement.  When teachers show up dressed in T-shirts or similar ultra-casual dress, it does not reflect a respect for learning.  Perhaps they feel that allows them to "relate" with their students, but a truly good teacher will teach the students and be respected by them whether or not he or she “relates” or is their good friend.  And, while I don’t expect students to come to school in their “Sunday best” I do think that they can dress in a professionally casual way that reflects some respect for school and learning, a way that reflects that they recognize school and the learning therein as something special.

When I was in (public school) ninth grade my Latin teacher repeatedly reminded us that we, as human beings, had a “thirst for knowledge” that was unquenchable. .  It is that thirst for knowledge in and of itself that gives us a true joy in learning.  I believe that to be true, but I also believe that young students must be shown that thirst and encouraged to experience it and its resultant joy in pure learning; as students grow that thirst must not be extinguished or replaced with some sort of quest for prestige or power or financial gain.

While those goals can also be a part of someone’s life, if the quest for knowledge is extinguished, one will lose the joy of learning simply for the sake of learning.  And, if that interest in simply learning is extinguished, then how will students ever be able to openly, objectively, and fully listen to not only their teachers but their peers.  And if we cannot listen to one another then how can we ever solve the many problems that every society, culture, and generation faces.

The simple passion for learning used to be found by many in the liberal arts.  Reading, discussing, and simply enjoying ideas for their own sake.  But, now, political correctness has told us that many of the reading material that used to be among the foundations of a liberal education are no longer appropriate for one reason or another.   And, rather than ideas being exciting in and of themselves, many students are led one way or another to see education as simply some pathway to some sort of material gain. 

We tell students they should go to college, not because they can enter an academy of learning that will satisfy that thirst for knowledge for its own sake, but because it will get them a job.  A job with which they will be able to purchase a vast array of material goods.  And so, “The liberal arts university is becoming the corporate university, its center of gravity shifting to technical fields where scholarly expertise can be parlayed into lucrative business opportunities.”( William Deresiewicz CITE )

Education is a crucial part of our lives.  It teaches us about our society, its history and its rules and how we are expected to behave within it.  It teaches us about the arts, their history and how we can create our own art.   It teaches us to understand ourselves and others, especially those who are not like us.   It teaches us about the many STEM subjects with which we can create new innovations and it teaches us philosophy and critical thinking so that we can evaluate those innovations and their potential effects upon us and our society and the world.  It teaches us to write so that we can effectively communicate our thoughts and, most importantly, it teaches us to think.  Simply to think, deeply and creatively, and with joy.

Education and educators should never forget this.  But, for students to accept this teaching, they must come to that education with an open mind and with respect for learning and for knowledge itself.  And if those around them do not care, show little respect for education, then why would we expect the children to sense that education is something to be respected or to value?

I watch school districts throw money at their schools because “the children are not learning or not succeeding.”  But money will not change a basic attitude, the attitude of respect for and valuing of education, that is a key ingredient necessary for schools to successfully perform their necessary functions.  Attitude begins at home and with the little things that we do that demonstrate how we feel about education and schools and teachers and learning itself.  Perhaps we could begin by simply celebrating knowledge.

Critical Thinking - A Lost Art

There are plenty of topics for a blog in today’s news:  the bias of the top people in Mueller’s investigation; their special treatment of Hillary and their being instrumental in the initial allegations of Trump’s collusion with Russia; the use of the FBI by a sitting administration to conduct opposition research against political opponents;  whether the Mueller investigation has overreached; whether it has any legitimacy at all given the revelations of the past few days; Time’s choice of the hysteria-driven and victim-creating #MeToo as its person of the year;  recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel; the hypocrisy of the Democrats outcry against Trump moving the embassy to Jerusalem when they supported it in the past; Conyer’s retirement and who will take his place; what SCOTUS will decide about whether a cake artist can be compelled to create a cake that violates his religious beliefs and whether his refusal to do so is unlawful discrimination against members of the LGBT community; the Tax bill; immigration; the actions of the deep state; and on and on and on.

But, today, this being my 100^th blog posting, I will talk about something else.  Something more important than even the most hysterical hysteria of the day.  Something the lack of which underlies much of the hysteria and news-as-entertainment we see today.   Today I will talk about thinking:   deep thinking, CRITICAL THINKING.  This is something that seems to have been lost in our country, and without it I don’t see how we can ever stop the daily hysteria and the havoc it causes to our country and our lives.

Critical thinking is simply the ability to objectively analyze facts or evidence in order to reach a conclusion or form a judgment.  The key here is the word “objective” meaning unbiased, unprejudiced, impartial, detached, dispassionate, and fair.  Critical thinking is performed by the one reaching the judgment or conclusion.  It requires clear and rational thinking.  And, it is sadly lacking today.

Critical thinking means that one questions everything, even their own beliefs.  One does not accept something just because someone else said it was true, even if that is a someone whom one respects or with whom one always agrees.   And, it means that one is able to distinguish between people themselves and the positions that they hold.   (That is, one may find an individual repulsive, but that does not mean that the individual’s agenda is also repulsive). 

In the last few days I have heard from individuals who support Democrat policies that anyone who does not support those polices is not only wrong, but an idiot as well.  I have heard parents ask how to tell their children that their teacher is “wrong” when the teacher has expressed or explained a viewpoint that runs counter to the viewpoint of the parents.  I have heard people say they will not even consider reading new or opinion pieces from sources labeled as holding political views to the right or left of their own.  I have heard people explain that it is too time consuming to read even a full synopsis of an issue or controversy, so they simply read the highlights as selected by their favorite news source, even if things such as quotes are distorted or otherwise misleading and taken out of context.  And, I regularly hear people adopt the conclusions and judgments presented to them by their favored source without any further inquiry or research.

These are all examples of the pervasive lack of critical thinking in our society.  Let’s look at these in more detail, beginning with the parent who thinks that he must tell his child that he is right and the teacher is wrong.  Not only is the parent not exercising critical thinking (not asking for details and context of what the teacher said), but the parent is not teaching or allowing his child to become a critical thinker.  Placing a child in an environment where one authority figure is always right does not teach a child to exercise her own mind and reach her own judgments.  A parent who expects a child to adopt all the parent’s beliefs unquestioned does not teach the child how to make her own judgments and decisions once the parent is no longer there.  In the instance where a parent finds a teacher or other pushing a viewpoint contrary to that of the parent, the better approach is to discuss, at an appropriate level for the child, the different ways of looking at the question. explain why the parents hold the belief they do, while accepting that others may hold other beliefs.  That allows the child to understand that there is more than one way of looking at something, that there may be a need to understand context or find further facts or evidence.  Even if the child is expected to accept and follow the parent’s view at that point in her life, it teaches the child about thinking, about the possibility of other views, and about tolerance of other views. 

Those are some notes for the parent, but I also have notes about the teachers and our education system.  From what I see, very little time is spent on teaching critical thinking skills.  Teachers seem to have no problem presenting their views and judgments as fact that the student either must accept, or will accept in order to please the teacher.   Emotional arguments and conclusions are accepted by teachers with no demand for logic or rational support.  Students are encouraged to express their feelings with little demand that their articulation be clear, organized, or well thought out.  Of course, logic, developing support, indeed, learning and thinking itself, are hard work.  There seems to be an aversion to the idea of work in school these days.  Rather, teachers want kids to have fun; they seem to seek friendship rather than respect from their students. And, we have placed upon teachers the burdens of parenting, social work, and other requirements that are not part of a teacher’s traditional duties or trained skills.

If we do not teach our children how to be critical thinkers, then we cannot expect to see critical thinking in our adult population.  If we train our children to simply accept the judgment of one or another authority figure then we cannot expect them to do otherwise as adults.  Thus, we have people who simply accept whatever superficial judgment sounds good to them without even seeing a need to do their own inquiry into the rationality and legitimacy of that position.   Looking more specifically at politics, we have people who support each and every position of their preferred party, without any thought or investigation.  We have people who support or oppose views simply because they like or do not like the individual who professes those views.  This is especially senseless in that it confuses an individual with an institution of which that individual is a part.   Every leader as an individual will have a variety of qualities that will generally be liked or disliked, but that individual’s administration and its policies should and will eventually be judged by different standards in the context of history (this assumes of course that those whose goal it is to erase history will not in the end succeed). 

Of course, the problem with all this is that we end up with two warring camps:  those who blindly accept the view of one side on an issue and those who blindly accept the opposing view.  Arguments about the issue devolve into calling the other side stupid, idiotic, or similar names because without critical thinking and its use to arrive at and thus understand the views one has adopted, one cannot really debate the issues themselves.  So, it becomes simply cults of personality and ad hominem attacks on those holding opposing views.

Sure, it would be easier to have clear cut right and wrong answers to every one of life’s issues.  But, life is far more complex.  And, in order to make sound judgments about the issues that face us as individuals and as society as a whole, we must be able to critically think about them.  We must take the time to fully learn the relevant facts and to fully educate ourselves about various and competing viewpoints.  We must each of us examine this body of evidence that relates to each issue upon with we have or would like to take a stand.  We must each arrive at our own understanding and our own conclusions, based on our own examination; we must not be content to simply accept that which we are told. 

When it comes to politics, our education must begin with a clear and objective understanding of the history and core principles of this country.  We must read and understand our Constitution as well as how it has been interpreted and applied throughout our history.  Before taking a position on a law or regulation we must fully understand if not entirely read the operative provisions of the rule and must understand the basis of differing views about the rule.  We must consider not simply the immediate effect or gratification but also the long-term consequences of what is done or not done.  And we must listen to full words and context when a politician speaks, not be content to have only the particular sound bite chosen by the nightly news or our preferred Twitter feed. 

Yes, this all asks a lot.  Making informed decisions takes time and effort.  But no one said that being a responsible citizen and a responsible adult is an easy task.  It is, however, a serious and a critical task.  Without critical thinking we are governed by emotion alone and our world becomes less rational and more angry.  Teachers and parents together must insure that children learn the skill and the joy of deep and critical thinking, and then as adults we must demand of ourselves and of others that we use those skills in making the important decisions and judgments that affect all of our lives.