Lately, academia has me riled up and beat down at the same time. There is an issue in our home right now with my difficulty finding mental space to do my schoolwork because it’s filled with concern about my kids and theirs.
My latest is the issue that I strongly support Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligence – that humans have a wide variety of abilities. That in itself is not the issue, the fact that the government only values math, science and reading is. I don’t think the whole sytem is bunk, but as I see my kids grow into little people with their own style, my desire to help them be in full expression of who they are meant to be grows with them as I simultaneously sense the public school’s agenda to squelch this growth and turn out a mass society of problem-solving test-takers.
Which is fine for the problem-solving, test-taking kinds. Except when the method of instruction only connects with a portion of those students. That leaves a lot of room for floundering attention for those who don’t get it, or worse don’t care to. My point here is not to criticize the institution of public education, but to question the national motive behind it. When this country was colonized, an education was a matter of class and self-enhancement. Trades and crafts were the money-makers, services such as medicine and law were there to support and sustain communities, and education was a means to understanding not only math, science and reading, but their rightful purpose in the world, which at that time had nothing to do with a fear some other country was doing math faster. This nation has bullied it’s way into a technical pickle, litereally. We are so fearful someone else will do it better or faster, beat us to the punch, that my 5th grader was in tears this morning over the ridiculous amount of math, reading and science homework she had to do. RIDICULOUS amount. Her backpack weighs more than my washing machine. Every ill this country contends with boils down to one single thing:
Denaro. Capitalism is to blame for the ugliness of slavery, poverty, hedonistic greed, certainly the wonderful economic situation we are in at the present moment, and every other one we have dealt with in the past. So how am I supposed to have faith that this country is educating our children in the right ways, for the right reasons? How am I supposed to listen to the brain-washed teachers tell us brain-washed parents all the good reasons the first 2 months of instruction in a school year is dedicated to MEAP testing when my daughter desperately needs that time to LEARN? Why are teachers getting paid to show movies in their classes, yet often robbing a family of the precious down-time they need in the evening to connect with their families because of all the work they didn’t finish in class? I sure as hell don’t have leisure time enough to pop in a movie during the week when my kids are on MY time, so why should they? Are elementary teachers instructing or babysitting? Now before you think I’m irrational and don’t realize the concept of homework has been around since the concept of a formal education, back the bus up. What I’m saying is that there should be magic happening in that classroom between teachers and students and minimal effort made in the home, not vice-versa. Sounds a little bold and lazy of myself to say, I know, but trust me; laziness is not what fuels my fire. I feel that there is no family life if 3 children have a combined 4 hours of homework a night. We barely even watch evening television, which is a good thing in itself, if only it weren’t replaced with an evening of tense hostility over comprehensive homework assignments.
Homework and the value of time-management and responsibility that goes with it is not problemactic as long as it is a means to a purposeful end. But is it? Is it really? My daughter is doing this stupid dance for everyone when she could be exploring things that she is passionate about, spending time enjoying her pets in the evening, cozy evening down time or just a little…this is novel…solitude. I know, I know, that’s what college is for. But how the hell does a person KNOW what they want if they are being told what they should place value on for 12 years prior? I am questioning the way we do life in general in this counrty, and I have a beef with the mindless drones we are to go along with the program of cranking out MY kids to meet the ends of the government’s agenda to be as fucking competitive as we can possibly be. I am not a competitive person and I don’t value that trait in anyone. If we compete, we cannot unite. If we can’t unite, we will be forever at odds with everything that threatens who we are and strive to be. Who needs that? THE MILITARY, of course. Old habits die hard I guess.
My daughter knows who she is and what she values, thank God, but I will be spending the entirety of her school years until 12th grade trying to convince her she is no less smart than anyone else in her class, despite the test results. Because I believe it to be true. She is more sharp-witted and insightful than half the girls I meet her age. But somehow her school experience is making her feel otherwise.
Curse you, global competion. Can we please just move to Switzerland where we can escape the rest of the muscle-flexing world?