Learning

I was reminded of the malfeasance among educators today. Now, it's all about "technology." That is the magic word. Anyone who questions, rightly or wrongly, "technology" is immediately dismissed as some sort of Neanderthal. Hardly, but I digress.

Science and math are also near the top of the list, as they should be. I'm not sure where English, or whatever they're calling it today ("Language Arts???") is. If it is an emphasis there's something missing. Have you seen your newspaper lately? Just today I read, "I had drank..." and "Snow and ice vexes travelers...." A recent college test reveal community college students' proficiency in writing: 19% were proficient--64% were not proficient and 17% were marginally proficient. We might well ask why these students are in college instead of high school--or junior high. But, again, I digress.

Where is history? The study of history has been relegated to an afterthought. One the Michigan state exams, what was the last subject to be included? And, once it was, was it ever really "counted" as part of the tests' scores? Nope. How many art or language teachers, lacking a full load in their fields, and coaches are called upon to teach history, with little training in history. (By this I mean a degree in history, not some fake thing like "history education" or "social studies.") There are lots of reasons for the study of history and good history teachers can make a difference. Our ignorance of history has allowed politicians to play us for fools. If these pols themselves know any history, they must be laughing at us until their sides hurt.

The December issue of Hillsdale College's Imprimis, found here http://www.hillsdale.edu/news/imprimis.asp , addresses this, in part. Hillsdale pres Larry Arn writes, ""we must recover the art of constitutional government...because we have lost sight of it." That's because we no longer study history or, if we do, it is taught by people who don't understand history.

Imagine having an American History teacher who says of the Civil War, the seminal event in US History, "It was a war. A lot of people died. Get over it. Now on to the Gilded Age." It has happened.

As Arnn notes, learning history "beckon(s) to a road" toward virtue and character. He cites this in discussing the "greed" of the recent financial crises.

Also from Arnn, "...the two qualifications to be a successful student: they [sic] must be willing and they [sic] must be able." A bit earlier in his essay/speech, he notes, "Students cannot be taught except when they work hard at learning..." and "...the hundreds of pages of unreadable rules that are promulgated and elaborated year after year by the Dept of Edu seem like so much foolishness." No kidding!!!! This has been the modus operandi for several decades. One of my more intelligent former colleagues said this for years about parents at conferences, "Give my kid an A, but don't make him work for it." If students cannot write (see above), how can they be getting (note I refrained from saying "earning!") Bs in college???? And who is running the education establishment today? You guessed it. And merit pay? Based on what? Some silly administrator's evaluation? Results from some deeply flawed tests?

Arnn, and others, have written some worthwhile things in Imprimus. You can read some good stuff at the Web site or even subscribe for free. Check it out.