Las verdades obvias

Tengo que confesar que siento una gran atracción por las reflexiones que van en contra de lo que hemos establecido por cierto sin cuestionarlo debidamente. En ese sentido recomiendo leer lo más reciente del irreverente Roger Schank:

Fifty per cent drop out rates in high school reflect the irrelevance of what is being taught in high school.  The kids know it, but the system, which is defended by nearly everyone associated with it, does not. Here are some obvious truths:

  • To teach someone to reason one does not have to teach about congruent triangles.
  • To teach someone to write effectively, one does not have to ask them about themes in Shakespeare.
  • To teach someone about daily economics one does not have to teach about tariff acts.
  • To teach someone to be a good citizen one does not need to know about Lincoln or Washington but about how to analyze for truth in what current Presidents are saying.
  • To teach someone to be employable, one does not have to teach nearly any subject required by colleges for admission.

Let’s think again folks. Education is about teaching people how to live and how to make a living (to paraphrase John Adams.) We have plenty of intellectuals. Feeding the colleges is not the priority of the modern day high school — making high functioning citizens is.

Artículo: In Defense of What Doesn’t Work

Vía: Random Walk in E-learning