House of Eratosthenes

Kids haven’t changed much over the past 150 years; our society has. So while my son still needs movement, still craves real-world learning, physical labor and ways to contribute to his family and his world, he’s expected to spend most of his time in a desk, in a classroom, with 20-some other kids his age. He’s not allowed to go outside at school when it’s too cold or wet; he’s expected to sit quietly in the library or auditorium during recess time. He’s allowed few opportunities for “real” work; today, when you hand an 8-year-old a saw or allow him to start a fire, people look at you askance.

One hundred and fifty years ago, my son would have been considered a model boy. Today, more often than not, he’s considered a troublemaker due to his failure (or inability?) to conform to the expectations of the modern educational system.

I understand that society today is much different than society in the 1800s. Most of that change is good; I applaud antibiotics and equality. I’m a big fan of the internet and indoor plumbing. But at the same time, I think our current approach to education fails to honor the needs of children, especially the needs of our boys.

There is another distinction here that too often goes unnoticed, the one that takes place in the mind, not the body. “Think this thing because I told you to think it” — versus — “Think this thing, because last time you passed this way you thought that other thing, and your foot went through the damn floor.”

Software engineering isn’t at all like forging a tool at a blacksmith’s shop, or mending a fence. But it does have it in common that that particular distinction becomes relevant in the vocation, whether people notice the relevance or not. It starts in the early stages; the correct answer to “Why can’t I get my code to compile?” is, you need to spend some more time with that code, and the language, before you understand how to write code the compiler can process (after which the real fun begins, of course, with run-time scenarios and testing methodologies). But the answer that comes back, all to often, is “You can’t have that there, move your cursor to that character and press the delete key five times.”

Build a software development team put together entirely from people who have been taught this way, and you may discover that team ritualistically failing deadlines even if some of the members are highly accomplished. Even with our “antibiotics and equality,” sooner or later you need to engage in cause-and-effect thinking, think-on-your-feet thinking.

How to grab the fire extinguisher, as opposed to dialing 911.

When I was a young boy I could hardly wait for my grandfather’s once yearly visit. My mom would have a list of handy-man repairs waiting and my “bop” would begin work immediately after arriving. My dad was a salesman and had no manual skills. (Great guy though). I could not get enough of watching/helping my grand dad perform all the different skills, carpentry, tile work, electrical, plumbing – whatever, he could do it all. I absorbed it all. I later chose an academic path but frequently resorted to the skills learned from my grandfather to support my family while pursuing my education. I always made good money with those skills and now that I am retired I again am using those very skills to supplement/exceed my retirement income. I will add that back when I was in public school I took wood shop, metal shop, print shop; courses that are seldom offered in today’s schools. What a shame. I think the time may come when membership in the “Guild” will be worth more than paper degrees.
- Open other end | 03/10/2015 @ 05:41
I think another part of the problem is that the educational apparatus is overstuffed with people who are mechanically retarded. Just as there are lots of STEM people who would rather hit themselves in the face with a hammer than read Shakespeare or write an essay — because it’s that tough for them — there are others who just can’t put tab A into slot B, no matter what. If we’re forced to take those traditional IQ tests where you have to rotate the shapes, guidance counselors want to stick us in the “special needs” classes.

Alas, I’m one of them, and we can smell our own. Most every educrat I know (and I know quite a few) is like this. So we have to hire people to do our stuff for us. And from there it’s easy: I am educated — look at all my fancy degrees!– and I like reading Shakespeare and writing essays. That other guy isn’t, because there’s no such thing as a PhD in woodworking, and he hates writing essays. Therefore he’s uneducated, therefore he’s dumb, therefore “getting an education” means “reading Shakespeare.”

And, of course, because teachers have to test how well hundreds of kids are reading Shakespeare, “reading Shakespeare” effectively means “regurgitating teacher’s opinions on Shakespeare back to her.” So we all think we’re educated because we can parrot stuff back on cue, and the best of us are so good at it that we come up with other little sayings for a new group of students to parrot back.
- Severian | 03/10/2015 @ 06:35

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Schools Are Failing Our BoysSunday, March 8th, 2015

Schools Are Failing Our Boys
Sunday, March 8th, 2015