Band: Try to remain calm. Have a nice day.
HOME SCHOOL and the upcoming generation of scientifically illiterate kids
by Terry 75 Replies latest jw friends
-
-
Band on the Run
Google Scholar has a host of articles available for the search request, "Public schooling vs. Home schooling." I saw many reliable, neutral sources. If you want to home school your kid, it is your legal right. Nowhere must I agree with you on a personal or community level.
-
Apognophos
My, there's a lot of anecdotes here. I think people are over-emphasizing the importance of getting good schooling. Let's be honest, most of these kids aren't worth the trouble and most of what they learn will be forgotten anyway; for them, the school's primary benefit is keeping them inside with something to occupy their time and (as someone already mentioned) teaching them to obey instructions. The smart ones will use their education as a springboard to something great, and the vast majority will go into boring mundane jobs which require no real knowledge of the world at large, only how to plug numbers into a spreadsheet or install sheetrock.
Even when a curriculum teaches critical thinking, most students are not going out into the world performing critical thinking. They performed critical thinking on selected passages in order to pass a test, but in the real world, they believe what they want to and suspend critical thinking. Just looking at people's polarized, group-think political opinions is proof enough of that. Regardless of the sterling reputation of their alma mater, adults end up going with the crowd, and feeling instead of thinking. Their education doesn't change their nature as human beings.
------------------
The only part of this subject that I feel strongly about is the part that Terry wrote about in his OP. Remember what the topic was supposed to be about? Parents intentionally handicapping their kids' education because they're scared of facts that threaten their worldview. What do you guys think can or should be done about this? It's already required by law that children be educated, but how do you prevent parents from holding intellectual tyranny over their children when home-schooling them?
This has become a hot-button issue for me ever since I learned that a particularly bright child in my congregation is getting home-schooled. She'll be educated well in the basic topics, I'm sure; her parents are bright and engaged. But because she is not being allowed to interact with anyone who could question her beliefs, it could stunt her ability to think for herself, and waste even more years of her life before she realizes her religion is bunk. Thinking about the wasted potential makes me angry.
-
Band on the Run
You posted my major point against home schooling. Sadly, schools often just provide labor for capitalists. Poor students can usually get a free breakfast and lunch at school. The new mayor of NYC kept the public schools open on a fearsome winter day so the children would have food. This is important to me b/c when I taught elementary school children in Newark I would see them eating orange popscilels and Pepsi on the way to school. We wonder why they cannot stay in their seats. A gf also taught elementary school. The students did not know what "cut it out" with scissors meant. When she passed out that school glue, they thought it was ice cream.
I saw homeschooling in the Mennonite area of PA. It was not pretty. My public school was not the best teacher of academic subjects. Nevertheless, I learned many valuable lessons from the forced interaction. We were exposed to diversity in many ways. I learned street smarts that are helpful in life. We were fortunate b/c we benefited from the War on Poverty. I would be wary of hiring someone I knew was homeschooled. Circumstances are going to differ.
As for JWs, my father was almost a Nobel Laureate compared to the other brothers. He helped me with fifth grade math once when I was desperate. I received a D. They had no resources to help me, precisely b/c of the JW problem. Do you think they could have taught me Gothic architecture and French? They would try their hardest. One of the problems facing public schools are teachers who do not know their subject. It makes a difference. With my present background, my guess is that I could teach history and a social science. My law school profs showed the imptce of knowing the subject. They messed up when it wasn't their interest.
Regardless of their religious belief, I feel most adults could not teach subjects properly. When you add a religious/social agenda, it truly spins out of control. This is about me. My parents took us to museums and the library. They could never teach in a public school. Yes, we turn out students as widgets but I am not a widget. I owe my teachers so much. There is no way I would have questioned the WT but for my exposure to classmates and my teacher.
-
Xanthippe
My niece was home schooled and has two degrees and is studying for her doctorate.
-
Apognophos
My public school was not the best teacher of academic subjects. Nevertheless, I learned many valuable lessons from the forced interaction. We were exposed to diversity in many ways. I learned street smarts that are helpful in life.
That's a good point that I overlooked. The home-schooled JWs are not being exposed to diversity. As a result, it's easier to think of worldlies as awful people. Whereas the school I went to was preppy; the kids were mostly nice to each other, and cared (a bit) about their grades. I couldn't imagine these kids being destroyed at Armageddon and never believed for a minute that they would be. I also got to see how they strived to get into good schools and achieve a nice career. It could have stunted me even further in my development if I had missed that exposure. Witness parents are complacent and unambitious, as they wait for Jehovah to fix everything, so it turns their children into do-nothings.