Dumbing down education --- another thought...
Today, in Canada, we have the situation where we have a surplus of people who have both the means and the time to devote to obtaining further education. At the same time, we have not expanded our ability to accommodate this large number of people. So how do we deal with the bottle-neck?
In the earlier times, the limited financial resources available to students had the effect of self-selecting the few and denying opportunity to the many. Today, since we must limit numbers in some other manner, academic ability and achievement seems a reasonable filter to select those who will receive the benefits of society's investment in their scholarly preparation. Thus, we have a situation where instead of dumbing down, we should be smartening up.
In fact, some older university faculty will admit, if you're lucky enough to catch them in an unguarded moment of honesty, that today's students must invest much greater effort in their studies than was required of them when they were doing their undergraduate work.
Unfortunately, at the public and secondary levels, much time and resources are wasted. I sincerely question the need for a degree in performing much of the duties expected of many graduates as they enter their chosen fields. We cannot waste precious time and talent and have Canadian young people falling further behind world standards as our schools continue to offer academic credits in questionable studies such as belly-button lint sculpturing and picket-fence and stick music, while at the same time, neglect basics such as mathematics, language skills, logical thinking, and ethical behaviour: Skills earlier generations acquired in abundance with far less exposure to classrooms.
Cheers, PW.
P.S. I had the opportunity to observe the inside of a high-school a couple of weeks ago and it's been a few decades since my last visit. I was shocked. Schools, as I remember them, were orderly and clean. Everything had its place and everything was in its place. The atmosphere was somewhat sterile or institutional. If I didn't know it was a school I was visiting recently I would've guessed I had wandered into the primate section of an underfunded zoo. That anything at all is learned in such an environment is a testament to the remarkable abilities and resilience of young people today.
P.P.S. I agree that it is sad that so many people who are capable of profound thought choose not to exercise their abilities. |
