[lit-ideas] Re: Sounds right to me
- From: "John McCreery" <john.mccreery@xxxxxxxxx>
- To: lit-ideas@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
- Date: Sat, 13 Dec 2008 13:57:02 +0900
This isn't about providing dreams, which always, if they are good ones,
exceed the common ground. It is instead about selecting the most useful
curriculum to create a common ground in the present historical moment. The
recommendation here is to replace a priori reasoning with empirical research
aimed at ranking possible subjects from less to more controversial and to
build the core curriculum around concepts that are least controversial and
most widely shared, not just in one country or sect, but worldwide.
Individuals would then be free to go off in all sorts of directions but also
reasonably confident of having some common ground on which to base
discussion with any other educated person they met. The sneaky agenda, here,
is to have more people habitually turning to the the rigorous and critical
thinking that mathematics and scientific method require. I said "utopian"
didn't I?
John
On Sat, Dec 13, 2008 at 12:36 PM, Phil Enns <phil.enns@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> John McCreery wrote:
>
> "How, then, might we select the tools, a.k.a., useful ideas that might
> form the core of a 21st education for people who must cope with
> information overload and all sorts of different people?"
>
> I appreciate John's quote from Geertz and his comments. The only
> hesitation I have is over the above sentence. I don't think we are in
> a position to anticipate what will happen in the future nor should we
> be selecting tools for people.* Borrowing from Oakschott, we are at
> sea and there are no stars to guide us, so the best we can do is
> prepare ourselves for whatever may come. At this point I would return
> to John's comments. From experience, we know that math, physical
> sciences, accounting and human rights are very useful in many
> different ways, and so we should make training in these disciplines
> available.
>
> I suppose if I were to summarize my hesitation with John's comments,
> it would be that I would not want to posit an outcome for education
> beyond providing opportunities for students to receive training in
> subjects that may be useful in the future. On the other hand, I would
> want to encourage students to dream and have a vision for a future
> they can work towards using the tools we provide. I just don't think
> that we teachers are in the business of providing visions for people.
>
> *There is a de facto selection that happens when schools decide what
> programs to fund and what courses to offer. In a liberal society, the
> hope is that a wide variety of educational institutions will exist
> allowing for people to choose.
>
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Phil Enns
> Yogyakarta, Indonesia
> ------------------------------------------------------------------
> To change your Lit-Ideas settings (subscribe/unsub, vacation on/off,
> digest on/off), visit www.andreas.com/faq-lit-ideas.html
>
--
John McCreery
The Word Works, Ltd., Yokohama, JAPAN
Tel. +81-45-314-9324
jlm@xxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.wordworks.jp/
Other related posts:
