“The children now love luxury; they have bad manners, contempt for authority; they show disrespect for elders and love chatter in place of exercise. Children are now tyrants, not the servants of their households. They no longer rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents, chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their legs, and tyrannize their teachers.“[1]
The above quote is attributed to Socrates who lived from 469 to 399 BCE[2]. It seems that the older generation has been leery of the younger generation since the beginning of recorded history. Whether its nostalgia or just plain old cognitive dissidence, as soon as one generation loses it’s youth it looks upon the next generation with scorn. Popular culture is filled with examples of old men telling their younger compatriots how things were so much better when they were growing up. However, is this truly the case? Was little Socrates really a saintly model of virtue when growing up or was he merely parroting what his father used to tell him as a child? I highly doubt it was the former rather than the latter.
Either way, this quote came to mind while I was reading Jason’s post a couple weeks ago. I wanted to comment that teenagers probably read more than we give them credit for and that just because one doesn’t have a book in his or her hand it doesn’t mean that he or she is not reading, but due to constant procrastinating, I never did. Then low and behold this article showed up in my in box in which Language Magazine deconstructs the notion that youth of today reads a lot less than they did in the past by comparing research on teenage reading habits from 1946 to 2010.
At first it appears that there is some truth to the notion that reading is on the decline. The article states that when asked “How often do you read for fun?” the amount of readers start to decline from 1984 onwards. However, the research shows that the decline has less to do with actual reading and more to do with teenagers not finding the reading that they are doing “legitimate.” For example, subjects would say “I don’t like reading except for comic books and magazines” or “I don’t like reading unless it’s about something I like.”
When asked the more specific question “Have you read a book yesterday” the rate of reading seems to remain mostly steady overtime. Also, the amount of time per day teens spent reading has also remained steady over time. When you factor in all types of reading, the only thing that seems to be on the decline is magazines and newspapers. Also, when looking at online activities, it appears that teenagers spend more time engaging in written communication (instant messaging, email, social networking) than entertainment (games, youtube).
With the nostalgic “kids these days” rhetoric debunked, the article identifies the true problems of literacy inAmerica. First would be time pressure, teenagers are under more and more pressure to do more activities, more honors or A.P. classes, more sports, in order to get into a good school. This couple with part-time employment and family responsibilities leave teenagers with less free time then ever before. The days of open lazy afternoons have been replaced with structured activities, SAT/ACT tutoring and extra credit projects. Many teenagers simply don’t have time to sit and read a good book.
Another problem is lack of access to books and other reading materials. This is especially a problem with teens that are living in poverty. For those in poverty, books can be very scarce. The article provided examples of teenagers in poverty that when provided access to books and other reading materials made positive changes in their lives. So by supporting and building libraries, especially in low income neighborhoods, and by providing 1 class period a week to quiet pleasure reading, educators can foster a love of reading and literacy among teenagers.
The article ends where I began, discussing how adults have always scolded and assumed the worst of teenagers and criticizing educators for “not doing their job to educate the next generation.” Granted they only went so far back as the 1800s but the point remains the same. The older generation has always found the one after it lacking. Perhaps the problem is more of the older generation’s standards then the younger generation’s behavior.
It seems that Finland is big in the news of late as that small country continues to take center stage in the world of education reform. As this recent article in the New York Times points up, the “Finnish model” has been all the rage at education conferences and in the press.While there are lessons to be learned from Finland, lessons we’ve been touting here at LearningDiversity.org right along, the doctrine of the Finnish model is distracting and not applicable in a general way. Read More
Here’s a very interesting post from Valerie Strauss’ education blog at the Washington Post describing a successful adult who attempted his state’s high-stakes standardized math and reading test. Needless to say he didn’t do well, but the really powerful point made in the article is about the detrimental effect such a poor performance would likely have on a student’s future.
Recently, one of my classes has been analyzing Plato’s Crito and Henry David Thoreau’s Civil Disobedience. I always look forward to giving my students these particular texts because of the vitriolic responses that they often evoke (Socrates was crazy for not escaping! I bet Thoreau never showered! among other, more critical and analytic verbalizations). These pieces are challenging to students, because they require kids to comprehend writing styles that are unfamiliar while grappling with overarching ideas that provide a unique view into historical contexts that often first appear to be strikingly anomalous (although upon reflection, they find out that this is not at all the case). Nevertheless, I have experienced instances in which my students become embittered and disappointed with me as a teacher because the texts seem so overwhelming to them that the challenge almost seems to be too much; i.e. why bother reading if I can just have the teacher explain the answers to me?
I admit that the impulse to just go ahead and explain the underlying ideas and themes is fairly strong at times, especially when working with, say, a dyslexic student who has emerged victorious from traumatic experiences in other school settings prior to her placement in the school I happen to teach at. With that said, I have recently been doing a lot of thinking (or, perhaps, the better word would be ruminating) about ways in which I can motivate my students to become more independent and autonomous. I should clarify here: this is not to the extent that they don’t need me anymore, but rather, how can I maximize my effectiveness as an educator AND get my students to feel comfortable with a mindset that encourages learning for the sake of learning?
I don’t have an answer to this question, but I have suggestions. I think that becoming familiar and comfortable with utilizing technology in classrooms is an essential component of encouraging students to find answers. I realize that a huge part of this means teaching students how to find reputable sources and become saavy internet users, but what an incredible tool they have at their disposal, since technology can greatly improve learner-centered teaching. In a recent article directed towards educators employed at instituions of higher-learning (but is very much applicable to anyone), Mary Bart writes that “learner-centered teaching means creating assignments that allow students to practice building connections with the material, and evaluate their learning. The technologies that can be used to help students take ownership of their learning include blogs, wikis, online quizzes, and VoiceThread.”
In attempting to create a culture that essentially values learning for the sake of learning, I emphasized to my students that the onus was on them; though I stated that I felt that learning these texts was crucial to their development of critical thinking skills, I let them know that ultimately it was their choice to take it a step further. We brainstormed a list of methods that they could use when they found themselves stuck or overwhelmed with a particularly challenging piece of text (my personal favorite being “text the author and ask him/her”; I guess you can get most anyone’s cell number these days via www.spokeo.com which is inherently frightening to me but that’s probably for another blog entirely) and they came up with a detailed list that included “ask a peer,” “take a short walk,” and “use Google Scholar.” These types of simple responses, in conjunction with helping students understand how they learn, are the first steps into learner-awareness. As we proceed with Crito and Civil Disobedience, we will hopefully do so in an environment in which students are aware that the subject being taught isn’t necessarily as important as how they use it.
Originally I set out to write a narrative of what it is like in the head of… well what it is like in my head during any kind of social situation or in a classroom setting. Unfortunately, I found that turning the multitude of thoughts and distractions that can run through my thoughts almost simultaneously into a dialog was not the most effective way to describe the way distractions occur for me. Read More
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Can education be standardized?
In modern liberal democracies, education is widely recognized as a basic human right. Government must respect this right and allow citizens to obtain the education they consider appropriate for themselves and especially their young. As government becomes more involved in the provision of education, however, teaching and learning are more
integrated into a mandatory institutional framework. What happens when the right to education and the obligation to conform intertwine?