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Another Teacher Opposes
"Back to Basics"
by Glenn Woiceshyn
Published in the Globe and Mail on Mar/23/1993.
Dear Editor,
Re: "Bad Memories Of The 'Good Old Days'--By Ruth Scott--Mar/22/93--The Globe
and Mail
Ruth Scott's article defending today's education system provides us with a good
lead on why our education system has a reputation of "least value for the money,"
and why parents are up in arms about it. Her method of defence is not to discuss
goals and principles of education, but to give a few isolated, positive examples
in the hope that the reader will forget the multitude of negative examples , such
as the high drop-out rates, widespread gang-mentality, faulty thinking skills, terrible
math skills, reading difficulties, and the many university students who can't spell
or write.
However, even her "positive" examples are flawed is some cases and frightening
in others. Just maybe it was her 12 years of a healthier education system that gave
her a desire to "read everything," a desire few students hold today. Her
examples about reading disorders and strapping are not part of the current education
debate, but errors in knowledge combined with negative social norms of the earlier
times. Her daughter and son may participate in all the politically correct activities
and pass their substandard classes, but can they think clearly and for themselves?
I was horrified at the stress given to the "political-correctness" agenda,
and the lack of emphasis on basic cognitive development. Stressing projects and courses
such as endangered species, native peoples, local communities, conservation areas
or home crafts sounds more like brainwashing than brain-training. Courses such as
reading, writing , arithmetic, history, math science and literature are not part
of an arbitrarily chose curriculum. They provide facts about nature and man, and
help teach basic thinking skills so that the individual can achieve success in life
and avoid swallowing the many toxic ideas and ideologies that are waiting to confront
him.
If Ms. Scott [a teacher] is representative of her profession, then the problem with
our education system is not so much a lack of enthusiastic teachers, but the teaching
methods and teaching philosophy they absorb when attending classes at the faculty
of education.
Sincerely,
Glenn Woiceshyn
© 1997 Glenn Woiceshyn. All rights reserved.
This article can be found on-line at at http://www.capitalism.org/glennw. |
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