Wednesday, February 8, 2012
week 4
I think these pas few weeks I am started to learn that things are just not what they might seem to be. I need to not be so stringent in my thinking and step out of the box every now and then. When Postman talks about IQ's, statistics, numbers, I started thinking about how much our lifes are ruled by numbers. We place kids in prgrams - gifted/special ed - based on a number, my daughter is going to college this year and what school she gets into and if she might get scholarship money will be based on a number. Do these numbers truly show if she can or cannot do the work? No, although her ACT score is good, she can still get to college and bomb! My son got a terrible score and the school counselor even told him that he wouldn't be accepted into college because of his low score, however, he is in his second year of grad school so what did that number show? nothing! Our jobs depend on numbers - test scores, productivity, ect, but these scores don't give an actual pictures of what many of he kids can do. They have test anxiety, they come to school hungry and tired, or they listened to their parents fight all night so how in the world could we expect these scores to truly show what the kids are capable of. Are some of the scores a true picture? sure, but not all of them and we need to stop taking everything we read or hear as gospel. I like the idea that maybe this whole book that Postman has written has been like a huge hoax! What a great thought - it could be - the scary thing is is that there are many like me that since I was told to read this book by a professor, and I consider it a textbook it has to be the truth right? I've been trained not to question those in authority it is hard for me to change my twisted way of thinking .....but I'm trying
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The ability to exercise critical thinking is key to learning. Teachers often spend a great deal of time making sure the information they give is "accurate."
ReplyDeleteAs a teacher, I know many people believe what I say and will frequently take it at face value. This is as true of adult students as it is of grade school students. When I first assigned Postman last year, it was because I inherited the syllabus from a faculty member who couldn't teach the class. I decided to keep it because it's a great exercise in critical thinking.
As a novelist, my goal is to make sure every story I tell holds truth, even though I write fiction. The stories are made up, but the truth isn't.
I often tell my kids when they ask me about something that I really don't know the answer to but neithor do they, "well, if you don't know the answer then I'm right!" How easy is it to make up things that people believe if they think you are an authoritative figure!
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