Because there is no way to actually respond to these folks who flood my in-box, I’ll publish my response here.
Hi David (Brooks),
For sure the divide can be traced to your roots as you suggest, but I just finished reading “War and Peace” and these questions have been plaguing SOME people for a long time.
As long as we are training kids in silos – as HS education is now – to be abstract and completely nonsensical (which it also is – as what we “learn” in school has almost NO bearing on life – so doesn’t incorporate the senses, hence non-sense), we will continue to have a populus completely unprepared for real life. Worse, they’re being inculcated that they’re ‘dumb’ or ‘stoop-ed’ (stupid) because they don’t have good report cards.
When this system is ~released, to give way to a practical school – where everyone learns up to date ways of cooking, sewing, carpentry, and metal shop (including electronics) with math science and history taught from those perspectives, we will go a long way to supporting self-esteem and inner autonomy.
Use badges as people show proficiency like boy and girl scouts’ have mini and super badges. Let kids graduate with portfolios. That is a source of tangible self esteem. How many artists, with their individual history of portfolio, stand in power without being confrontational?
Let them learn to interview each other for history – and those in their collectives – as well as others not in it. Then different “races”- geographic lineages, with their manner of cultural honing, will seem more hu(e)-man.
Moreover, when teaching with hands on approach, the heart is involved. Sometimes people will go into a ‘gentle flow’ state. Everyone is more attractive when they’re doing what they love (and l’ove- that which supports their Orphic Egg of creation and creativity).
They can go out in nature and write a little story – share with the class. (Your natural writers will thrive!).
This way folks might meet based on similarities; collectives can intermingle. I wrote about this in my Souk essay and how it ‘came’ to me. https://drjenwyman-clemons.com/2023/04/09/the-souk-part-1/
| The Souk (part 1)(Souk I)- updated 6-4-23 The goal of this essay is to show how the “souk” is a sustainable and inherently productive model for secondary education that could be incorporated into the present system…drjenwyman-clemons.com |
Blessings and Peace!
Dr. Jen (retired MD allergist)
Other nonsensical stuff we flood our kids with are the bulk of artificially-colored and themed toys and stories about unicorns and talking animals. No wonder they’re frustrated when their Harry Potter wands don’t work.
Non-sense means intangible, unreal, and immeasurable. I have nothing against imagination, but why inculcate it to the detriment of everything else? Imagination could be strengthened by observation and practicing recall.
When they “grow up” and find out all was a lie, no wonder people are discombobulated.
Nothing about “school” today prepares a hu(e)-man waveform to be a happy thriving, moving, individual. I’d say the true value of “school” today, is to teach others to 1)sit and 2) be on a winning or losing side of a team.
