A Rant on Education

To discuss education in New Mexico, first I gotta rant about education.

I start from two premises: kids desperately want, above all, to learn; and the substance of the first six years of public school could be picked up in six months by a motivated, fairly clever adolescent.

Kids want to learn. They’re in this huge, confusing world, clueless, and they’re “alert as a Hawkshaw” for any clue how to be here. They’re born learning machines.

Parents and schools often beat that out of them. Not with physical beatings (we hope) but with disapproval, judgments, and insistence that we know what they should do or be interested in.

My second premise comes from A.S. Neill. His school, Summerhill, was a great experiment that’s been followed to good effect. What he did couldn’t be replicated in a public school because of budget, community politics, and other factors; but what he learned and said shouldn’t be dismissed. (We don’t dismiss the words of Jesus or John Muir because the world doesn’t run that way. We listen to their wisdom, assess it critically, and try to harmonize what we learn with life in a world of greed and self-absorption. Follow them as best we can.)

At Summerhill, classes were optional. Some kids attended, others mostly explored the woods or made things. Teachers were there, to teach or answer questions; but if multiplication or algebra seemed less essential than watching the bees or taking apart clocks or engines, so what? If you developed your brain and judgment and powers of concentration doing whatever appealed to you, you’d figure out how to apply that basic brainpower and focus to math, grammar, and chemistry – when the time came.

Neill had one kid who spent all his time in the woods. At 16, he decided he wanted to take the examination required for further schooling. He learned what he needed to learn in six months.

Schools don’t work that way. I get that. But what if they could bend a little. Make chess or bridge available as games that develop certain important aspects of one’s intellect, such as problem-solving? Perhaps have a class with no syllabus, or an optional one: kids could discuss things that matter to them, that pique their curiosity, sans grades or judgment, trying to figure stuff out together?

Everything a child does, from watching adults intently, through pushing or breaking things, to putting everything in her mouth is an experiment. “If I do thus or so, what will happen?” And while we need to protect children from some serious potential errors, we also need to let them do their job. Their job is doing every experiment they can think up to figure out this crazy world, and only they can see what they need to learn. We can guide them, offer them tools and toys to learn from, and pull a hand away from a hot stove; but “controlling” kids completely doesn’t facilitate real learning.

Schools’ first principle should be, “Kids desperately want to learn.” Educators should see themselves as facilitating kids’ gathering of skills, knowledge, strategies, and ideas that can help one survive and prosper. Schools should not see their role as ensuring each kid learns the specific material in a specific syllabus. Kids arrive excited, energetic, cheerful, and curious, then many leave sullen and resentful.

We must all nourish that curiosity, helping it flower into knowledge and critical thinking.

                                                       – 30 --

 

[The above column appeared this morning, Sunday, 28 August 2022, in the Las Cruces Sun-News, as well as on the newspaper's website and KRWG's website. A related radio commentary will air during the week on KRWG (90.7 FM) and on KTAL (101.5 FM / http://www.lccommunityradio.org/) and be available on both station’s websites.]

[I wanted to write about New Mexico’s education problems. One friend was saying that we’d solve those when we recognized that education for a majority of our kids had been more like an occupation than a learning experience. Another was pooh-poohing that. Me, I’ve always wondered, watching generations of politicians promise to improve the situation, and inventive national slogans infiltrate the conversation, yet nothing changes. And I’m working on that column. Asking a diverse group of smart people with different experiences of our education system, and thinking. So expect me to take a shot at that one in a few weeks.

[But first I had to rant. The basic point, that kids arrive curious and eager to learn and leave our schools somewhat sullen and chastened, and we think we’ll solve that by throwing more money into what we’re doing, listening to national pundits who’ve never seen a New Mexico sunset, or cracking the moral/religious whip harder . . . nutty. Everyone, of varying political persuasions.

To put it another way, I don’t understand, and have no expertise, but something is wrong that’s a lot more fundamental than we like to admit.]

[A friend emailed me this morning: “I am a volunteer Reading Buddy in LCPS, working with 2nd graders. Teachers in my school and another elementary school here in town have advised that 50 percent of 2nd graders cannot, repeat can NOT, read, due to pandemic school closures. Textbooks can't be used because these children can NOT read. Two of my kids who will soon be 8 years old, do not know their ABCs.

Just so you know....perhaps your wonderful dream is for another state.” ]

[P.S. The newspaper didn't ask mere columnists to contribute photos for National Dog Day, but Foxy wanted to play too:]