We had another meeting Wednesday about Common Core and discussed
more ideas for implementation of the new standards. We talked again about the
new expectations for students. I know this will soon become familiar and
routine and we will all eventually reach a level of confidence in our understanding
of the program. In the meantime I had a few thoughts about education and ethics
on my way home.
The first one was that much of what we have and depend upon for existence, from our
government to electricity was created by someone with what we now consider an “inferior
education”. George Washington was a school dropout who received much of his
knowledge from studying and copying a book titled “The Young Man’s Companion”. The
book detailed “how to read, write, and figure; how to write
letters, wills, deeds, and all legal forms, to measure, survey, and navigate,
to build houses, to make ink and cider, and to plant and graft, how to address
letters to people of quality, how to doctor the sick, and, finally, how to
conduct one's self in company”. Washington studied it with vigor and determination. Benjamin
Franklin didn’t even finish grammar school
and was largely “self-taught”. He is often referred to as an “avid reader”. Would
we want our children to follow their example today? No. Not entirely. But on
the other hand we have people with Masters degrees from our own education system
who are wandering the streets looking for work!
My next thoughts were about my grandmother. She only
completed the eighth grade, typical of her generation, yet she managed to be
employed most of her life, own a business and a home, and live her adult life
in modest comfort. She had what her generation and mine called a “good work
ethic”. She expected to work hard all of her life for what she wanted. She anticipated
that she would have to learn and grow and adapt to life’s changes. She took
responsibility for what she did. She solved her own problems with the help of
God and her family. And she expected us to do the same.
I think the current desperation we seem to feel in education
arises from the complexity of our world and the fear that our students, our
children and grandchildren, will not be able to have a “good life” in the years
ahead unless they have a superior education. Employment is everything in our
society and often determines not only one’s lifestyle, but one’s status. But
hasn’t that always been so, even in Biblical times? I think what has changed is
the idea that we in education are responsible
for the fate of our students. If a
child does not succeed let’s blame it on the education system and more
precisely, his/her teachers!
There has been a shift in recent years away from the personal
responsibility
of the student to learn.
The ethics of our culture have changed. We have left the
black and white of “sin” for the gray of “lifestyle choices”. We have abandoned
“work ethics” in favor of “economic opportunities” which we expect the
government to provide. We have replaced “self-taught”
with “entertained”. And we have replaced “determination” with “instant
gratification”.
We now have more and more people who think it is someone else’s
responsibility to educate, train, employ, and support them. The employment
problem in many industries isn’t about finding qualified people, it’s about
finding qualified people who pass the drug test, don’t call in sick once a week
with a hangover, don’t steal from the company, don’t text and play games on
their phones half the day, and don’t insult customers with their arrogant
attitude.
We can teach and teach and teach all day
long, but if students don’t become avid readers, if they don’t want
to learn more, if they aren’t motivated to work and grow and learn, we aren’t
going to be the answer to all of their problems. We aren’t going to be able to
educate them into the “good life” they and their parents envision for them.
I am one of the most passionate supporters
of education that you will encounter. Education saved me from a life of poverty
and despair. Education has given me opportunities I never dreamed were possible
when I was a child. But I have done my part! I was always a motivated student.
I did my homework and more. I studied even when it wasn’t required. I read and
continued to learn after I left school. I never thought that the things I
learned in the classroom were ALL I needed to know. I taught myself many of the
concepts and skills that were important in my own personal journey through
life, or I sought out those who could teach me.
We
have to go back to a better balance between the responsibility of those
teaching and those who are taught.
Both have a moral obligation to do their
best!
