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More on education: essentially, there is a core of knowledge that no one should leave school without. For example, everyone should know the multiplication tables, the difference between a noun and a verb, where to locate the equator on a globe, and the two houses of Congress. We should be defining that core, and ensuring that it is learned. Since, in the end, the only way of explaining things is by moving from known terms to the unknown, we should be finding the best methods of explanation available for different ages, backgrounds, and abilities, and apply them; and since there is, finally, no other very reliable way of getting people to remember except the repetition of facts and skills, we should be determining various ways of going over material without being utterly boring, and figuring out mnemonic aides when possible (Thirty days hath September, April, June, and November, etc., for example). But the main thing is to come to some understanding of what is indispensable, at various appropriate ages, and not letting anyone out without being sure they know it. After that, it is gravy. Instead, the curriculum is full of confused and inessential material, and there is no longer even an effort to ensure the timely acquisition of the multiplication tables, much less the continents and oceans, the basic parts of speech, or the simple structure of an atom. Until there is general agreement on ensuring basic knowledge, reform is severely hampered....... |
