> Teach students how to learn and research, and inspire them with a vision,
>and you will not be able to stop them.
This type of experience must have its roots in the home to be meaningful
to most students. I think it is the parent's responsibility to help the
child develop a "vision" that will inspire serious commitment. If our
families were learning organizations, then I think that our public schools
would also be learning organizations (as parents would demand they be so).
Unfortunately, public education has, for many in our society, become a
publicly funded child care center.
> Privatization might be a good first step. At the very least it would quickly
>flatten out the suffocating layers of administrative parasites that currently
>weigh down our public education system.
I couldn't agree more. My wife and I put our oldest son in a private
school for kindergarten and part of 1st grade. To our amazement he finds
public school "boring" because it does not challenge his full
capabilities.
I think another important issue that we discount in our society is the
incredible ability our children have to learn. By the time my son was five
years old, he could intelligently discuss "rights." By the age of six he
was aware of various religious concepts such as the difference between a
monotheist and a polytheist; he was also aware of the differences between
an agnostic and an atheist. He could discuss values and morals (why we
should have them, and explain why he valued certain behaviors over other
behaviors). A child's mind is fertile ground, and very open to education
-- at all levels.
My wife and I do not talk down to our children; we talk to them like
adults. Sure, we play with them at their level (cars, cops and robbers,
etc.), but when it comes to family conversation and education, we expect
them to interact at a more mature level. It has certainly benefited our
children.
Subsequently I believe the public school system is designed to teach at
the lowest common denominator. Therefore, exceptionally bright or gifted
children often find their education to be frustrating (despite the gifted
child programs that most schools have).
--Benjamin B. Compton ("Ben") | email: bcompton@novell.com Novell GroupWare Technical Engineer | fax: (801) 222-6991
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>