Yeah, we all heard of the “3 R’s” of education—reading, ‘riting, and ‘rithmetic. First, can we trust a system that can’t spell “writing” and “arithmetic”?? Second, these, alone, do not provide our young with all the fundamental skills they need to be productive members of society.
In the last couple of posts, I mentioned James C. Hunter’s “3 F’s of change”—Foundation, Feedback, and Friction. Today, I would like to examine these as the essential components of education. At least one of these is sorely missed in academic preparation.
Foundation. Minimally, the “3 R’s” are indeed the foundation of any education. Then, of course, we graduate from Kindergarten. (Literally. I honestly don’t get the graduation ceremonies for Kindergarten. They are cute, and it is a pivotal year for the child, but….) As our education progresses, the foundation needs to be strengthened.
Critical to education are the so-called STEAM disciplined—Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics (and, of course, physical education!). For the less academically inclined, these can be intimidating. If so, then, whose fault is it? Of course, not everyone will study these disciplines to their full extent, but every educated person should have the basics. Life and progress demands it. The scientific method isn’t just for men and women in white lab coats. Technology is advancing at an accelerating rate. If one cannot keep up, he/she will quickly become unemployable. We are all engineers in our own way. How else can anyone shop at Ikea?? Not everyone is Picasso or Monet, but we can all have an appreciate the arts. Educators, as well, need to recognize the contributions the arts make to society, but also the role that these play in learning. And Math? Oh, how I tire of hearing students say they “can’t do math” or “I’m not good at math”. Indeed, this angers me. In most cases, I am not asking students to do integral equations. I am usually asking them to solve basic plug-and-chug algebraic equations. Somewhere along the line they have been told that they are not able to do these things or that it is not important to learn. This is no foundation!
Feedback. Remember, according to Hunter, feedback is where we “identify the gaps between the set standard and current performance”. It is a sweeping judgement and mostly over-stated, but, in many cases, our education system has closed the gap by lowering the standards to meet performance. We worry about self-esteem. We worry that, if we are critical, it will somehow damage a child’s psyche. And where has that gotten us??
I have been told, as an educator, that I should not use a red pen to grade, that I should not make tests hard as to test the students beyond their capacities and grade on a curve, that I need to teach to the least of the students, and so on. I am glad I never pursued a degree in higher education. I would not have survived. I believe students should be challenged to expand their capabilities. I will not hold hands, but I will guide you. My goals as an educator is to teach you what you need to know, show you what you don’t know, and give you the skills to close the gap.
Feedback in education need not be all warm and fuzzy. Nor does it need to be excessively harsh. Feedback need only be constructive.
It angers me to hear faculty say that “our students are not capable of x because of y”. It also angers me to hear (as I actually have) from students that “This is hard…. You need to bring it down to our level.” No, I do not! As an educator, I am responsible for bringing you up to the level you need to be to succeed in your profession. This leads me to the third F—Friction.
Friction. Because I had Physics with Mr. Ian Smith (one of my all-time favorite teachers) in high school, I understand the role of friction in our everyday lives. Friction is an absolute necessity. Try walking of driving without it. It shapes things. It polishes things. Likewise, friction is an absolute necessity in education—albeit and often forgotten piece of education.
Friction might also be referred to “healthy tension”. Unfortunately, we seem to be moving away from healthy tension in education. Young people are being taught to hide from ideas that challenge them. Both ends of the political and societal spectrum are guilty. Education should be a place where ideas and beliefs are challenged. This is in no way meant to imply that educators are to force their ideas upon students. Rather, it means that the foundation to a liberal education is respectful discourse.
One of my favorite teaching experiences came when one of my many favorite students, Addison, challenged what I was teaching about rolling friction. He insisted, as he was taught in Physics that there was no such thing as rolling friction. We went back and forth. For some, who do not know Addison or our relationship, he may have appeared disrespectful. One student chimed in: “Dr. Armstrong, just tell us what you want I to know.” No. That is not what I want. I was confident in what I was saying, but I was not a physicist. I acknowledged that I could be wrong and Addison correctness in challenging my instruction. I presented my case for why I believed that I was correct and promised the students I would confirm what I was teaching. I was, indeed, correct, and Addison and I brought ice cream to the next class so the humble pie could be served ala mode. Addison is now a physician, and there are few doctors that I would trust more. Why? Because Addison is someone who welcomes the friction that comes with learning. What he knows and practices has been challenged and is not taken lightly. THIS is an educated person.
In the Internet age, there is no information that I can deliver that my students can’t get faster by Googling it. My job is no longer to feed them information. Mine is to teach them the processes of mastication, digestion, and absorption of information. My job is to teach them how to ascertain fact from fiction. Science from broscience. For this, I love my job.
Be your best today; be better tomorrow!
Carpe momento!
Image source: https://i.ytimg.com/vi/wUnsniksBWM/maxresdefault.jpg