The world is awash with "Good Ideas." There are models for global warming and global cooling, growth stimulus with both raising and cutting taxes, the advantages and uselessness of pre-school.
Truth is hard to reach; what makes each of these disparate ideas appealing to its faithful is a coherent, consistent narrative. We are truly creatures of the campfire.
Education is a pretty soft area of investigation. What does the community hope to achieve anyway? And what works?
Truth is hard to reach; what makes each of these disparate ideas appealing to its faithful is a coherent, consistent narrative. We are truly creatures of the campfire.
Education is a pretty soft area of investigation. What does the community hope to achieve anyway? And what works?
And how does one evaluate success? How does one separate out genetic influences, home and environmental factors, diet, distractions...the list could go on forever.
But ours is a time of unprovable notions mixed with indignation; education is a perfect area where provocative guesswork can be planted and grow to the sky. One is that every child, beginning grade one, be assigned a topic like oranges or Easter Island or bracelets that the student would gradually learn and expand upon until grade 12. This would develop in him an expertise (more than his schoolmates) and the confidence it brings. It would also develop a perspective about depth in a topic which he could compare to popular presentations in news and conversation.
Sounds reasonable to me.
Sounds reasonable to me.
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