Apparently,I was spoofed. Normally I can spot hoaxes but maybe it's a sign of my own bias that I really did think the "Should math be taught I schools?" Miss USA video was real. Lol. In case you missed it:
Haha.
That video comes in response to this one, the real question about evolution asked to the Miss America contestants. You might want to skim it before reading on....
To my point: after watching the girls bang their way through an incomplete understanding of why schools teach what they do, I was struck by one consistency among their answers.
Nearly every girl said that adults should "present all views and let the kids decide for themselves."
Really?
I know "tolerance" is the watchword of this generation but I get tired of such me-centered "truth."
But it's not a matter of choosing between two "truths"; one view is right and the other is wrong, or both are wrong and we need to discover a third, right answer to the question. Creation (at least in the conservative form) and Evolution (in its scientific statement) cannot both be true at the same time.
Teaching both views in schools would at least expose kids to both significant views, but the question needs to be properly framed in its context: a faith proposition. (None of us were there to see the Universe begin, so a final answer will not come through mere observation and investigation. One's presuppositions determine her reaction to the "evidence.")
Why bring this up? It's not to fight over creationism.... Please take that elsewhere.....
I hate the idea that teachers are expected to do nothing but serve a buffet of ideas without guidance.
Wikipedia can do that without my help.
Modern views of "teaching" water down the teacher's best tools: Respect. Authority. Credibility.
As my pupils get older, I give less guidance during discussions (until asked) so students learn to evaluate and discern. But the bulk of my job is always to shepherd students of all ages toward excellent habits of mind. That includes pointing out the wolves, cliffs, and other hazards in the current setting ... not merely letting them crawl all over the landscape wallowing in every mud hole in the name of "self-discovery."
Even my squishy discipline, literature, refuses students the pipe dream of choosing their favorite "truth" from the smorgasbord. The text itself places boundaries on interpretation. Not all interpretations can be right. Complementary in some cases, but always boundaried by the text. Umberto Eco writes about this in one of his excellent essays on literary theory. (I'll link to it if I can find an online copy.)
If we want the proverbial next generation to rise up and do great things, we must stop telling them they get to pick beliefs from a menu unaided, without guidance or consequences. Ideas, like words, mean something.
Teachers need to pick up the mantle of mentoring, and parents should both recognize and encourage this.
Unless, of course, they can't trust their kid's teachers....in which case, why are you subjecting your child to that classroom in the first place?
Comments (1)
bahahahahahahah i dont belive in math wish that was my excuse :)