What the Comments on Intellectual Takeout Continually Prove
What the Comments on Intellectual Takeout Continually Prove
If you ever take a gander at Intellectual Takeout’s posts on Facebook, you’ll notice a trend: a continual stream of people emphatically calling out what they think children should have to learn.
It’s a fascinating study because the sheer diversity of all the suggestions, from mandatory classics training, to computer programming, to critical thinking skills courses, all share one thing in common: they’re all subjectively valued.
So many respond to the posted articles with their 2 cents about how things ought to be without ever taking a step back to look at what they wanted out of life versus others’ opinions of what they should be doing. Flippantly, they disregard the desires of others while projecting their own:
Kids need to read more/less classics!
Kids need to have harder/easier math!
Kids should be playing outside/inside!
Kids need to be have more/less homework!
For every thesis, there are 10 variant anti-thesis arguments, and then some, in the comments.
These people demanding a certain curriculum structure need to think about their own lack of fulfillment in education. Did they not get to study all the topics they wished for? Did they have to take courses that were useless or readily forgotten? Did they feel pushed to complete a course before they could truly master it, accepting a lower grade? Were they ever told to put a book down or to come inside when their self-directed education wasn’t over yet?
Given the average educational experience, most could easily answer, “Yes.” One-size-fits-all learning does not feed every type of interest, ability, and career desire.
It’s time to reconsider the nature of education itself, to move away from an authoritative, autocratic model to a learner-centered, self-driven experience fueled on natural curiosity.