Sounds like your education sucked. For the most part, I feel mine sucked too. Rarely was I challenged to THINK. Rarely was I engaged.

But here’s the interesting thing about that–from my perspective, it looks like we both turned out alright. By that, I mean it looks (at least on the surface) like we both think critically and take responsiblity for our own.

Sooo. . . the billion dollar question is: Really, how important IS education (at least as we know it today)? What else are the contributing factors? As an educator, I’ll take responsibility for what I can–and bust my ass to fix what I’m able. All I’m asking is that, as a community, we start to take a look around for the other factors influencing our youth.

Why did a relatively smart kid in my class to tell me that I had a “small penis” yesterday? How could he possibly think that might be an OK thing to say? Really. What in the hell is going on? I don’t think he learned that in school.

Anyway–I hope I didn’t come accross as too “challenging” of this post. As I said, I appreciate that your major thrust here was Personal Responibility, and recognize that the education card just kind of got lumped in with it.

Personal responsibility is a big deal with me as well. And often baffling. Looks like we’re on the same page there.

‘Nuff said. I could go on for 10,000 words as well.

My blog? Meh. Its got a ways to go. Quite a ways. Thanks though. Your’s isn’t too bad either (he says, grinning at the understatement).

Later,
Chris

Thanks for stopping by and commenting. I really do appreciate your comments…

I realize looking back, I realize that I went off half-cocked on this post.

I didn’t mean to blame teachers for the problems in education. I had the same English teacher for three years in high school and I felt he was one of the best men I’ve ever met. John Taylor Gatto was a teacher for thirty years and he is part of the solution to the problem. The institution itself appears to be the problem. Have you read the underground history of education by Gatto? It is an amazing work. Blaming teachers for poor education is like blaming prison guards for abuses behind bars. Some are great, others are indifferent, and others are abusive – just like any other profession.

What I recall about my education is that I wasn’t expected to take responsibility for anything except being told what to do. Someone told me what and how to do everything and it was my duty to do it. I was expected to trust the folks teaching me, and with a few exceptions, you weren’t allowed to challenge them. We were drilled for years to follow the syllabus and obey,obey,obey. Why can you do A work and fail a class for attendance alone? Because you are not expected to be responsible for your own education. Why is school compulsory? Because people are not expected to be responsible for themselves. So what are we teaching? Dependence and irresponsibility. I even question the title of “teacher.” Can anyone be “taught” anything? Isn’t really about learning and less about teaching? Anyway, I could go on for 10,000 words…

What really pissed me off about this story, and it’s even more obvious if you watch the video, is that this family seemed to take no responsibility for their actions. Mr. Nelson’s vocation as a teacher just added fuel to it, because… isn’t a teacher supposed to understand personal responsibility? Isn’t that somewhere in the requirements for teaching children? Why do we have all this regulation and licensing, if we don’t even expect them to understand personal resposibility? I don’t know… Maybe I expect too much. Again this might sound mean… but I hope he doesn’t get another teaching job until he learns that he his responsible for his own actions.

Anyway Chris – I appreciate a teacher to stepping forward and challenging me on this. I just checked out your blog again and I like what you’re doing.

Too many people are too lazy or trusting (or something) to take care of themselves.

And as far as education goes, I’ll be the first to take shots at it–but I feel I’ve earned that right. As a teacher I’m part of the problem. It’s easy to sit outside, spot holes and point them out. But that kind of discourse always irritates the hell out of me.

Education schmeducation. You can point your finger (and I know it was a minor point, Steve, but still . . .) at me and the institution I work in, and I’ll take the blame if that’ll help. But let’s think critically for a minute. Let’s do what I’m trying to teach my students to do.

You said,

“The first problem is his apparent inability to ask important questions. he just seems to take things as presented without digging deeper.

If the story is accurate he obviously does not understand the concept of contract law and does not understand interest and debt. These are not difficult concepts and should be hammered home in any educational intitution.”

You’re implying the system should have done more to “hammer down” concepts of contract law, interest and debt. I say the system should have done a better job at teaching him to ask better questions.

Either way “the system” can only do so much. If education actually worked the way you are implying, it would prevent people from making mistakes. Ergo if education worked, there would be no car accidents, drug and alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy or (insert your social ill here).

Because Education (at least the schools I’m aware of) do hammer these things down pretty hard.

Yet amazingly–people are still making mistakes.

there is this page i found which tracks all the top blogs about personal development in just a single page
http://www.netreputation.co.uk/directory/Personal%20Development
you are on it too

As you say, the correction is going to be very painful for a lot of people.

Now I keep seeing articles talking about “predatory lending” and wonder to myself what the problem is. The thoughts you express go through my head every time I read one of those articles. I’m even more confused as to why politicians want to help keep people in mortgages that they probably shouldn’t have had. Renting isn’t so bad - especially in a market like California where you’d pay more in interest on a mortgage for a property than you’d pay in rent for an equivalent one.