Learning Stuff vs. The Education System
Okay, I have a question for all of you, with a longish intro:
I have to start with my story, because it explains the question.
School was hell for me, and didn't teach me anything except to shut up when people harass you, or when you know something somebody else doesn't. Most of the stuff I learned, I learned on my own (the stuff that stuck, anyway). Nobody could figure out why, if I was so smart (not better than anybody else, as brains are definitely only one tool, and not the most important one at that - just way, way smart), I hated school with a passion. They sent me to shrinks, who didn't understand. I told them repeatedly, in all honesty, exactly what was bothering me, and why it bothered me so much. How would you feel if your life was a living hell all the time? Duh. Apparantly, you're not allowed to feel things they didn't learn about in shrink school, and the things you do feel must be reduced to a term made up by some neurotic guy from a very weird culture. I didn't know that at the time. So I spent years trying to figure out what they thought was "really" wrong with me, since I figured there must be something. It was not a good time for me.
Fortunately, I eventually figured out that my biggest problem was with people like that not listening to me, or to anybody else for that matter.
As I grew up, I started to wonder, if I'm super smart , and I had trouble learning things at school, how the hell does anybody else learn anything? No wonder kids can't see the point in what they're learning, or how to apply it to real life. No wonder they get frustrated, or bored. No wonder some of them act like assholes. It's a miserable fucking system, and in my experience, even at its best, it does more damage than good. There are good teachers, but even they can't do their job the way they want to. They don't have the time to teach kids the way they need to be taught. They are so tied to the stuff they are required to teach, that they can't alter the curriculum to take into account the kids who learn differently, and need to spend more time on some areas so that they can understand the core concepts before moving on to the next stage of learning. They are expected to assign everyone a number value of the amount they have learned, rather than ensure that every child learns as much as possible. The point of learning has turned into some bizarre contest, or an inexplicable relay race, instead of a way to grow, learn about how the world works, and make things happen. Children are being left behind, and it's hurting us all.
In my life, I have gotten to know a wide variety of people. I've known some who were mentally disabled, insane, schizophrenic, and/or badly damaged by abuse. I've met people whose greatest ambition is to watch "Temptation Island" on tv and have some beer on the weekend, and people who just learn differently. There are people who need to touch things to understand them, make 3D models of cubes with their hands, rather than read about cubes in a book, and who would understand tetrahedrons - and more - instantly if they actually saw one in real life, but who are considered stupid because they can't learn very well when the information is flat and dead on a page like a squashed squirrel. Some people need to have lots of colours, and some get distracted when there is more than one thing in front of them at a time. There are those whose primary sense is smell. Try talking about your experiences when you have to translate it from that kind of language. Then there are the kids who are sent to special ed because their writing is messy, or because some of the letters turn around when they look at them, or because they are just normal kids who can't sit down for more than half an hour, and who get the horribly erroneous message that they are not smart and therefore shouldn't bother. I have also met a lot of people whose brains really ought to glow with throbbing, pulsating neon light. More than one of those has been the type who can't talk to strangers, and many have very few verbal or writing skills.
What about the kids who are too hungry to think, or who can't sit down because they hurt from being beaten so badly the night before that they passed out? What about the ones who don't have time to learn because they have to fight for survival, or make dinner for their family because their mother is on pills? What about the kids whose only real interaction with other people is watching them dance around and spout nonsense on the television, and who have been shooed away every time they asked, "how does this work?" and have given up asking? How can they learn if their basic needs are not being met? How can we ever know what we're missing?
I have come to the conclusion that EVERYONE is capable of learning, they're just trained by their parents, society, etc. to turn their brains off, stop questioning, be quiet, sit down, and memorise a list of things to spew forth on an exam. Someone who has Down's syndrome may not be able to learn as much as someone who doesn't, but it's not what grade of learning you achieve, it's what you do with what you've learned. We can even learn from people with learning disabilities and funny brain wiring. What a concept! (Pardon my touch of sarcasm, it just frustrates me that people don't get this, so they don't just miss out on things that can help them grow, but they also miss out on chances to show love and respect to people who are different from them.)
We also miss out on the depth that comes from "artistic" subjects. Think how many brilliant people were also into art: There's Pythagoreas' extensive studies of music, which were, to him, just as, or more important than, his explorations of right angled triangles (and you can bet you've noticed more examples of his musical discoveries than his geometric ones). Then there are DaVinci's inventions, which were as important to him as his study of form and proportion. Think how many people are prevented from playing with both sides, and thus never have the inspiration to figure something out which could change the world for the better. The great discoverers have always been mystics. You can't look at the way math turns into people, music, and stars, and not get all mystical. You can't look at everything you know and not think, "wow, the more I know, the more I know how much there is I don't understand, and probably never will." That is, unless you are seriously and painfully one dimensional. Those people rarely discover anything, and their names are not seen anywhere except in genealogy charts (or lists of political figures...).
MY QUESTION:
What are your thoughts? What was your experience in school? Did you have good teachers? What was good about them? Were you taught to turn off parts of your brain, ways of using it? Which parts? Why? How did this affect you, what did you do about it? Is there anything you missed that you have always wanted to explore? Anything you always thought was stupid, but have discovered has some cool applications?
I really want to know.
I have to start with my story, because it explains the question.
School was hell for me, and didn't teach me anything except to shut up when people harass you, or when you know something somebody else doesn't. Most of the stuff I learned, I learned on my own (the stuff that stuck, anyway). Nobody could figure out why, if I was so smart (not better than anybody else, as brains are definitely only one tool, and not the most important one at that - just way, way smart), I hated school with a passion. They sent me to shrinks, who didn't understand. I told them repeatedly, in all honesty, exactly what was bothering me, and why it bothered me so much. How would you feel if your life was a living hell all the time? Duh. Apparantly, you're not allowed to feel things they didn't learn about in shrink school, and the things you do feel must be reduced to a term made up by some neurotic guy from a very weird culture. I didn't know that at the time. So I spent years trying to figure out what they thought was "really" wrong with me, since I figured there must be something. It was not a good time for me.
Fortunately, I eventually figured out that my biggest problem was with people like that not listening to me, or to anybody else for that matter.
As I grew up, I started to wonder, if I'm super smart , and I had trouble learning things at school, how the hell does anybody else learn anything? No wonder kids can't see the point in what they're learning, or how to apply it to real life. No wonder they get frustrated, or bored. No wonder some of them act like assholes. It's a miserable fucking system, and in my experience, even at its best, it does more damage than good. There are good teachers, but even they can't do their job the way they want to. They don't have the time to teach kids the way they need to be taught. They are so tied to the stuff they are required to teach, that they can't alter the curriculum to take into account the kids who learn differently, and need to spend more time on some areas so that they can understand the core concepts before moving on to the next stage of learning. They are expected to assign everyone a number value of the amount they have learned, rather than ensure that every child learns as much as possible. The point of learning has turned into some bizarre contest, or an inexplicable relay race, instead of a way to grow, learn about how the world works, and make things happen. Children are being left behind, and it's hurting us all.
In my life, I have gotten to know a wide variety of people. I've known some who were mentally disabled, insane, schizophrenic, and/or badly damaged by abuse. I've met people whose greatest ambition is to watch "Temptation Island" on tv and have some beer on the weekend, and people who just learn differently. There are people who need to touch things to understand them, make 3D models of cubes with their hands, rather than read about cubes in a book, and who would understand tetrahedrons - and more - instantly if they actually saw one in real life, but who are considered stupid because they can't learn very well when the information is flat and dead on a page like a squashed squirrel. Some people need to have lots of colours, and some get distracted when there is more than one thing in front of them at a time. There are those whose primary sense is smell. Try talking about your experiences when you have to translate it from that kind of language. Then there are the kids who are sent to special ed because their writing is messy, or because some of the letters turn around when they look at them, or because they are just normal kids who can't sit down for more than half an hour, and who get the horribly erroneous message that they are not smart and therefore shouldn't bother. I have also met a lot of people whose brains really ought to glow with throbbing, pulsating neon light. More than one of those has been the type who can't talk to strangers, and many have very few verbal or writing skills.
What about the kids who are too hungry to think, or who can't sit down because they hurt from being beaten so badly the night before that they passed out? What about the ones who don't have time to learn because they have to fight for survival, or make dinner for their family because their mother is on pills? What about the kids whose only real interaction with other people is watching them dance around and spout nonsense on the television, and who have been shooed away every time they asked, "how does this work?" and have given up asking? How can they learn if their basic needs are not being met? How can we ever know what we're missing?
I have come to the conclusion that EVERYONE is capable of learning, they're just trained by their parents, society, etc. to turn their brains off, stop questioning, be quiet, sit down, and memorise a list of things to spew forth on an exam. Someone who has Down's syndrome may not be able to learn as much as someone who doesn't, but it's not what grade of learning you achieve, it's what you do with what you've learned. We can even learn from people with learning disabilities and funny brain wiring. What a concept! (Pardon my touch of sarcasm, it just frustrates me that people don't get this, so they don't just miss out on things that can help them grow, but they also miss out on chances to show love and respect to people who are different from them.)
We also miss out on the depth that comes from "artistic" subjects. Think how many brilliant people were also into art: There's Pythagoreas' extensive studies of music, which were, to him, just as, or more important than, his explorations of right angled triangles (and you can bet you've noticed more examples of his musical discoveries than his geometric ones). Then there are DaVinci's inventions, which were as important to him as his study of form and proportion. Think how many people are prevented from playing with both sides, and thus never have the inspiration to figure something out which could change the world for the better. The great discoverers have always been mystics. You can't look at the way math turns into people, music, and stars, and not get all mystical. You can't look at everything you know and not think, "wow, the more I know, the more I know how much there is I don't understand, and probably never will." That is, unless you are seriously and painfully one dimensional. Those people rarely discover anything, and their names are not seen anywhere except in genealogy charts (or lists of political figures...).
MY QUESTION:
What are your thoughts? What was your experience in school? Did you have good teachers? What was good about them? Were you taught to turn off parts of your brain, ways of using it? Which parts? Why? How did this affect you, what did you do about it? Is there anything you missed that you have always wanted to explore? Anything you always thought was stupid, but have discovered has some cool applications?
I really want to know.