Brian Gordon posted some negative but real thoughts about a focus on
learning in LO23452, stating
>...I don't think that the school system has EVER taught people
>what they really need. The purpose of education is most certainly not to
>teach children how to think ...snip...
and concluded with:
> Schools currently focus on rote learning and obedience.
>(My apologies to those schools which do not operate in this manner!)
I just now got back after a meeting with the counselors of my daughter's
school, where we reviewed some standardized test scores, discussed her
performance related to her strengths and weaknesses in information
integration, and some next steps for them and for my wife and I. Of
interest was the fact that they had a local counseling psychologist
presenting, to the students, some of the work on multiple intelligences.
One comment of the speech pathologist (isn't that an interesting label?)
is that the schools in Texas taught students materials specifically
designed to help them score well on the Texas competency exams. "Teaching
the Test" so they can do well.
ALL of our discussion this morning was on helping my daughter better
understand her unique learning styles and how she can best structure
information so that she can handle it most effectively from a continuous
learning perspective. The discussion was focused on helping her
understand the strategies and tactics she can employ as she enters public
high school next year -- how to manage the teachers and handle the
materials.
Isn't that refreshing and helpful? But why does that have to be so
unusual in our schools?
Part of the issue is that we are so focused on "competencies" and
"learning" that we tend to lose sight of the fact that the facts we can
test on aren't often the ones that allow us to perform at optimal levels
after we leave those "learning institutions."
This too, one can hope, is subject to improvement. It's not the people,
it's the system...
--For the FUN of It!
Scott J. Simmerman, Ph.D. Performance Management Company - 800-659-1466 mailto:Scott@SquareWheels.com
Designer of Square Wheels training tools and other team products <http://www.squarewheels.com/>
"The fog of confusion floated around their wagon like wool on a sheep."
Learning-org -- Hosted by Rick Karash <rkarash@karash.com> Public Dialog on Learning Organizations -- <http://www.learning-org.com>