The Valedictorian’s Revenge

This speech is a very inspired criticism by an “insider” of the educational system, a valedictorian. Erica Goldson, graduating from her high school top of the class of 2010, crafted a very harsh speech directed towards the same guys that were happily showing her off as an example of what you can achieve when you follow their directions. Priceless. She then decided not to go to University and travel around her country instead.

Full text transcription

Here I Stand
Erica Goldson

There is a story of a young, but earnest Zen student who approached his teacher, and asked the Master, “If I work very hard and diligently, how long will it take for me to find Zen? The Master thought about this, then replied, “Ten years.” 
The student then said, “But what if I work very, very hard and really apply myself to learn fast – How long then?” Replied the Master, “Well, twenty years.” “But, if I really, really work at it, how long then?” asked the student. “Thirty years,” replied the Master. “But, I do not understand,” said the disappointed student. “At each time that I say I will work harder, you say it will take me longer. Why do you say that?” 
Replied the Master, “When you have one eye on the goal, you only have one eye on the path.”
This is the dilemma I’ve faced within the American education system. We are so focused on a goal, whether it be passing a test, or graduating as first in the class. However, in this way, we do not really learn. We do whatever it takes to achieve our original objective.
Some of you may be thinking, “Well, if you pass a test, or become valedictorian, didn’t you learn something? Well, yes, you learned something, but not all that you could have. Perhaps, you only learned how to memorize names, places, and dates to later on forget in order to clear your mind for the next test. School is not all that it can be. Right now, it is a place for most people to determine that their goal is to get out as soon as possible.
I am now accomplishing that goal. I am graduating. I should look at this as a positive experience, especially being at the top of my class. However, in retrospect, I cannot say that I am any more intelligent than my peers. I can attest that I am only the best at doing what I am told and working the system. Yet, here I stand, and I am supposed to be proud that I have completed this period of indoctrination. I will leave in the fall to go on to the next phase expected of me, in order to receive a paper document that certifies that I am capable of work. But I contest that I am a human being, a thinker, an adventurer – not a worker. A worker is someone who is trapped within repetition – a slave of the system set up before him. But now, I have successfully shown that I was the best slave. I did what I was told to the extreme. While others sat in class and doodled to later become great artists, I sat in class to take notes and become a great test-taker. While others would come to class without their homework done because they were reading about an interest of theirs, I never missed an assignment. While others were creating music and writing lyrics, I decided to do extra credit, even though I never needed it. So, I wonder, why did I even want this position? Sure, I earned it, but what will come of it? When I leave educational institutionalism, will I be successful or forever lost? I have no clue about what I want to do with my life; I have no interests because I saw every subject of study as work, and I excelled at every subject just for the purpose of excelling, not learning. And quite frankly, now I’m scared.
John Taylor Gatto, a retired school teacher and activist critical of compulsory schooling, asserts, “We could encourage the best qualities of youthfulness – curiosity, adventure, resilience, the capacity for surprising insight simply by being more flexible about time, texts, and tests, by introducing kids into truly competent adults, and by giving each student what autonomy he or she needs in order to take a risk every now and then. But we don’t do that.” Between these cinderblock walls, we are all expected to be the same. We are trained to ace every standardized test, and those who deviate and see light through a different lens are worthless to the scheme of public education, and therefore viewed with contempt.
H. L. Mencken wrote in The American Mercury for April 1924 that the aim of public education is not
to fill the young of the species with knowledge and awaken their intelligence. … Nothing could be further from the truth. The aim … is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, to breed and train a standardized citizenry, to put down dissent and originality. That is its aim in the United States. (Gatto)
To illustrate this idea, doesn’t it perturb you to learn about the idea of “critical thinking.” Is there really such a thing as “uncritically thinking?” To think is to process information in order to form an opinion. But if we are not critical when processing this information, are we really thinking? Or are we mindlessly accepting other opinions as truth?
This was happening to me, and if it wasn’t for the rare occurrence of an avant-garde tenth grade English teacher, Donna Bryan, who allowed me to open my mind and ask questions before accepting textbook doctrine, I would have been doomed. I am now enlightened, but my mind still feels disabled. I must retrain myself and constantly remember how insane this ostensibly sane place really is.
And now here I am in a world guided by fear, a world suppressing the uniqueness that lies inside each of us, a world where we can either acquiesce to the inhuman nonsense of corporatism and materialism or insist on change. We are not enlivened by an educational system that clandestinely sets us up for jobs that could be automated, for work that need not be done, for enslavement without fervency for meaningful achievement. We have no choices in life when money is our motivational force. Our motivational force ought to be passion, but this is lost from the moment we step into a system that trains us, rather than inspires us.
We are more than robotic bookshelves, conditioned to blurt out facts we were taught in school. We are all very special, every human on this planet is so special, so aren’t we all deserving of something better, of using our minds for innovation, rather than memorization, for creativity, rather than futile activity, for rumination rather than stagnation? We are not here to get a degree, to then get a job, so we can consume industry-approved placation after placation. There is more, and more still.
The saddest part is that the majority of students don’t have the opportunity to reflect as I did. The majority of students are put through the same brainwashing techniques in order to create a complacent labor force working in the interests of large corporations and secretive government, and worst of all, they are completely unaware of it. I will never be able to turn back these 18 years. I can’t run away to another country with an education system meant to enlighten rather than condition. This part of my life is over, and I want to make sure that no other child will have his or her potential suppressed by powers meant to exploit and control. We are human beings. We are thinkers, dreamers, explorers, artists, writers, engineers. We are anything we want to be – but only if we have an educational system that supports us rather than holds us down. A tree can grow, but only if its roots are given a healthy foundation.
For those of you out there that must continue to sit in desks and yield to the authoritarian ideologies of instructors, do not be disheartened. You still have the opportunity to stand up, ask questions, be critical, and create your own perspective. Demand a setting that will provide you with intellectual capabilities that allow you to expand your mind instead of directing it. Demand that you be interested in class. Demand that the excuse, “You have to learn this for the test” is not good enough for you. Education is an excellent tool, if used properly, but focus more on learning rather than getting good grades.
For those of you that work within the system that I am condemning, I do not mean to insult; I intend to motivate. You have the power to change the incompetencies of this system. I know that you did not become a teacher or administrator to see your students bored. You cannot accept the authority of the governing bodies that tell you what to teach, how to teach it, and that you will be punished if you do not comply. Our potential is at stake.
For those of you that are now leaving this establishment, I say, do not forget what went on in these classrooms. Do not abandon those that come after you. We are the new future and we are not going to let tradition stand. We will break down the walls of corruption to let a garden of knowledge grow throughout America. Once educated properly, we will have the power to do anything, and best of all, we will only use that power for good, for we will be cultivated and wise. We will not accept anything at face value. We will ask questions, and we will demand truth.
So, here I stand. I am not standing here as valedictorian by myself. I was molded by my environment, by all of my peers who are sitting here watching me. I couldn’t have accomplished this without all of you. It was all of you who truly made me the person I am today. It was all of you who were my competition, yet my backbone. In that way, we are all valedictorians.
I am now supposed to say farewell to this institution, those who maintain it, and those who stand with me and behind me, but I hope this farewell is more of a “see you later” when we are all working together to rear a pedagogic movement. But first, let’s go get those pieces of paper that tell us that we’re smart enough to do so!

Via: americaviaerica.blogspot.com

Changing Education Paradigms

Brilliant animation to support a great speech by Sir Ken Robinson about how and why the current education system is completely out-of-place. He touches key subjects such as ADHD, factory-like school organisation, and my blogs’ main theme, grouping children by year of birth.

 

Is Your Child Gifted?

Traits in Young Gifted Children (source: http://www.giftsforlearning.com/traits.htm )

1. Need less sleep, even as infants.
2. As infants, may get fussy if set facing one direction for too long
3. Frequently reach ‘milestones’ such as walking and first speech earlier than average
4. May speak late, but then speak in complete sentences
5. Strong desire to explore, investigate, and master the environment (opens up cabinets, takes things apart)
6. Toys and games mastered early, then discarded
7. Very active (but activity with a purpose, not to be confused with ADHD)
8. Can distinguish between reality and fantasy (questions about Santa or the tooth fairy come very early!

4 to 11 years old questionnaire:

http://www.nagcbritain.org.uk/parents.php?id=49

Dyslexia (video)

A very nice and artistic short video on dyslexia, the learning disability for which one has difficulty reading. It is estimated to affect up to 10% of the population to some extent.

Furniture Corner Protectors

The bauhaus movement brought us simple, elegant and futuristic looking furniture

Image 1

that still looks modern 80 years after it happened in Germany’s mid 1920s to mid 1930s.

The designs were so successful that inspired somehow most modern furniture one can buy these days.  The reason of their success could be thought to be because of it great aesthetic appeal.  But once you have a child you realise of the real reason:  Sharp, clean cut corners means cheaper production costs, one of the goals of the original designers. Children safety was most definitely not one their priorities…  specially when you realize that furniture edges tend to be right at the height of a child’s head for the years that they are learning and mastering walking and like running to go to places.

So here they come the sharp corner protectors, and we found out that the only ones that really stick well are the soft foam ones (image 1).

Forget the other ones in hard plastic.  They are cheaper, but they just don’t stick enough and your son or daughter will play getting rid of them in a fraction of a second.  These can also be detached from the surface, but it is much harder to do so and they can be adhered again easily.

Image 3: Toddler Shield

If you happen to have a really dangerous piece of furniture, like a crystal table and want to keep it (probably the best would be to send it to the storage room for many years), I found this extreme solution (image 3).

Expensive, but sure worth it if it works well.

Mind, Brain, Health and Education

As part of the neuroeducation course I took: Mind, Brain, Health, Education: The Sciences of Learning

this past spring season, four of us published a website with some advice related to the brand new field.

the website address is: http://www.mbhe.org

Along with the overall structure and design of the site, I also contributed with a survey I run at the beginning of May that I already talked about.

You may want to check the conclusions:  http://www.mbhe.org/study-on-choice-freedom-and-creativity

Study on , Freedom, Choice and Creativity in Schools

Image via: http://www.faqs.org/photo-dict/photofiles/list/283/1069light_bulb.jpg

As part of a course I am following on neuroeducation,  I’m running a survey to study the relationship between the freedom, choice and creativity experimented in school and the one perceived later in your work.

If you want to participate (it’s takes only 3 minutes) and you are over 18 years old American citizen, just Click here to take survey (expired as of May 11th, 2010. You can see the results published in http://www.mbhe.org/study-on-choice-freedom-and-creativity)

Thanks for your contribution and, who knows? maybe your answers can contribute to help schools get better!

Violence in American Video Games

I have been playing video-games since I was 7.  I spent many thousands of hours playing them, and I still play when I have time.  But besides not having time for them, there is something that worries me about current video-games.  The arrival of Microsoft into the video-game market has also brought a stronger presence of Western, specially American, video-game developers in what was once a Japanese dominated market.  And even if so many teenagers and young adults are so happy about this entrance, as a father I am not so happy.

These American video-games are generally much more violent than the Japanese ones.  According to the Wikipedia, this is the list of the top 10 selling games for the original Sony Playstation:

• Gran Turismo (10.85M) – Driving Simulator
• Final Fantasy VII (9.8M) – Role-Playing Game
• Gran Turismo 2 (9.37M) – Driving Simulator
• Tomb Raider II (8M) – Adventure/exploration
• Metal Gear Solid (7M) – Stealh
• Tomb Raider (7M) – Adventure/Exploration
• Crash Bandicoot (6.8M) – Platforms
• Final Fantasy VIII (6M) – Role-Playing Game
• Crash Bandicoot 3: Warped (5.7M) – Platforms
• Final Fantasy IX (5.30M) – Role-Playing Game

Of the total 10, all are Japanese but the Tomb Rider games, that were produced in the UK.

This is the top 10 for the current Microsoft Xbox360:

• Halo 3 (8.1M) – Shooter
• Gears of War (5M)- Shooter
• Gears of War 2 (5M)- Shooter
• Grand Theft Auto IV (4.3M)- Crime Simulator
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 (4.2M)- Shooter
• Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare (4.172M)- Shooter
• Call of Duty: World at War (3.35M)- Shooter
• Forza Motorsport 2 (2.674M)- Driving Simulator
• Fable II (2.6M)- Role-Playing Game

All games are produced in America except Fable II, from the UK.

If you check other sources with more updated numbers, the top ten gets yet another shooter, but my point is clear enough with this data: So called adult games are basically violent games, many of them with very graphic violence. Worst of all, these games are played by young children.  Do you want your 8 years old son to spend hours simulating killing? That’s what many kids are doing today.  And many times with “creative” weapons like chainsaws, as it is for instance the star weapon in the Gears of War franchise.

Something is really wrong in a society that exposes children to so much violence and lets them play with so violent games with blood aplenty.  I dislike that game producers like developing such games, but the consumer always has the last word.  And so far when I visit the video-game section at the local Fnac all I see are children playing these violent games with their parents around or even joining them.  Something to think about.

Scratch: Programming for Children

Scratch screenshot

Scratch is an Object Oriented programming language thought to be used by children.  It is a project by the people at the MIT Media Lab’s LifeLong Kindergarten group,  a very interesting initiative that works on extending the creative learning experience of kindergarten beyond the toddler age.  I colleague at work who has a friend running a pilot program with kids using Scratch to create their own programs told me about how amazing is to see 8 year olds programming their own apps.

I believe that those like myself belonging to the 8-bit generation benefited from having to deal with machines that required some basic technological knowledge to play a game (what most of us wanted to do).  You had to write a simple command line (bload “cas:”, r for instance in an MSX) , and adjust the azimut of the tape player you wuold use to load your games.  I forced you to understand a bit how computers work even if you never thought of going for a career in engineering.  Yet today computers are way too easy to use to bother about how they work.  The result is obvious:  most teens can tweet at lighning speed, but they don’t have the most basic knowledge of how their computers work.

From their website:

Scratch is designed to help young people (ages 8 and up) develop 21st century learning skills. As they create and share Scratch projects, young people learn important mathematical and computational ideas, while also learning to think creatively, reason systematically, and work collaboratively.

Scratch is available free of charge: go to Download.

I hope Scratch bridges the gap between just using Facebook and search engines and the too cumbersome experience of installing a Linux based developing environment.  I wish a huge success for it.

Is my Child a Brat?

I have one recurring fear that I believe I share with many other parents. It is the fear of spoiling our child till the point of making of him (or her) the kind of “monster” we so easily criticized before being parents. Have you ever said to a friend or partner something like “When I have a child, I will never let him behave like that in a restaurant”? I have. Or “I like children if they are well-mannered. I cannot put up with those kids revolving around themselves like beasts and shouting and whining for anything” . Or “I don’t remember being allowed as an infant to behave like nowadays kids do” This last one is probably the truest. Since it refers to our memory. Probably we were not as well-behaved as we want to remember and chances are we were neither as toughly raised as we recall. Truth is, even if we for sure could do better today as parents, raising a child is always easier from the outside.

To comfort ourselves a bit (or not) I found this very unscientific list of the 10 signs you are raising a “little beast”:

10_Signs_Your_Toddler_is_a_Brat

I don’t know if not qualifying saves your child from being a brat, but it looks like if you can identify a few of these, then, well, then I think you have a challenge…