It amazes me that we live in a system that emphasizes the value of economic competition, yet in Friedman's articles we have evidence that the US is in danger of falling behind places such as Singapore, India and China. Wouldn't you expect that since Americans (supposedly) value competition, they would rush to be the innovators and try to keep an advantage? If the complacency that is found among Americans when it comes to education filters through to the global marketplace, the world will flatten even more quickly.
Sometimes people learn their lessons before they need them; other times they wait until they fall on their faces to start catching up. Wouldn't it be better to stay in the lead (if that is still the case) rather than expend the energy needed to catch up?
Roger, this sounds a lot like the last post you had on your blog about how students begin to care about their grade when it gets closer to the end of the semester. This seems to be a mentality that is spreading rapidly in our society,complacency.
ReplyDeleteI agree with James on this. Freidman calls it the Olympic basketball syndrome. For so many eyars we dominated in Olympic basketball with our professional players barely having to work and now all the sudden other team were begining to challenge us. It is time again for the mentality in our kids and our adults to change so that they see we are not enititled to anything in this world. Too often kids are given whatever they want rather than having to work for it; I believe this is a hard lesson my generation and those to follow our going to have to learn otherwise we will fall further and further behind.
ReplyDeleteAarrgghh! I just typed a response and when I posted it didn't work. So...short version. I think people 1) don't know we're falling behind and 2) don't really think it will matter in the long run--it's just another phase.
ReplyDeleteThis conversation reminds of the one I have frequently wit my son. He works in a high school where the students come from very affluent homes and the students are incredibly passive and disinterested. I suggested he give them a dose of Friedman and ask them how they hope to maintain the lifestyle they are accustomed to. Perhaps setting up a blog would be the next best step?!Grades appear to provide them them with very little motivation in a school that believes no senior should fail.
ReplyDeleteI firmly believe we have a responsiblity to engage our kids in these real life dialogues so that they view the content we wish to bring them in a different light.
In terms of education, I have to side with Michelle on this one.
ReplyDeleteAs a white, upper-middle class individual who was blessed with an awesome family and has lived, by comparison, a fairly sheltered life, I feel like I am a pretty good representation of the majority of students that attend Arapahoe.
And up until the first or second session of this class, I was completely oblivious to any competition coming from the rest of the world.
I know that this opens me up to a rash of comments, so I'll just take care of it myself. Yes, I am fairly naive. No, I don't really read the paper or keep up on current events as much as I should. Yes, I should do a better job of being informed.
But I think that this is exactly where our students are at. They don't have any idea that their education, and future employment/financial status is being challenged by harder-working, hungry individuals living on the opposite side of the planet.
So it seems to me that one of the best places to start is to tell them. Look how much has changed in all of us in the few short months we've been in this class. (For those of you who already knew about all of this constructivst stuff and practice it, well done!) So, I think it could only help our students to inform them of their reality. Like Ray said, "give them a dose of Friedman." We certainly work hard to prepare our kids for the CSAP's. We feel like if we help them understand what's on the test, they'll do better on it. Well, let's tell them what's really out there. I don't think it can hurt...
I have had this coversation with my students (especially in current events) and the majority of the students do not care. I can understand why they might not care. I don't think that they feel treatened and I do not think that they will care until it impacts them.
ReplyDeleteI really am not sure if our kids truely value competition. It appears that many of our kids have things handed to them and they do not need to compete with others.
This does worry me, but how do you make students care about something that does not have a direct influence in their lives.
I think that the issue is bigger then the students just not caring. I remember as a high school student thinking that the important stuff in the world happened with me and me alone. I would wager a guess that most students do not understand that there is a bigger picture to the world. I think that it is ignorance and not apathy that impacts the students more. They see at home that life can be lived from 9 to 5 and without any regard for the world outside of the US. The reasoning is slowly changing but until the students understand the importance of the rest of the world then it is going to be a struggle.
ReplyDeleteI think that there are some students who value competition but I agree with Alison on this one. Most of them have no idea how to fight for something that they believe in.
Cara is also on to something. I think that the worst thing we could do is ignore what is happening and hope it takes care of itself. We need to be proactive not reactive.
I agree with Brian; I have always seen apathy as a hiding place for those who fear failure because they don't know how to fight. Some might think students don't ask for help because they don't care, but I think we need to question WHY they don't care instead of accepting it as a "fact." Have they given up? If so, what defeated them? What can we do to get them to give it another chance? Brian argued that we need to be proactive, but perhaps these reactive questions are the first step.
ReplyDeleteOK, I did the same thing as Michelle. I had a big comment and lost it! Probably better though, because it was a little rambling.
ReplyDeleteAnyway, I basically said that kids here think they know it all but they lead such sheltered lives that they really have no clue. Weren't we all like that at one time or another? They don't have the intrinsic drive. I don't think they get that until they truly experience what is out there that is so different from here.
I spent half of my first day this semester talking with my students about last semester, about this semester, and about their futures. They didn't mind talking about last semester. They didn't even mind talking about this semester, but they all had problems talking about the future. Most of our students live for today. They have everything they could ever want and have never been forced to think about a time that they might not have it all. They are concerned with what is going on tonight or tomorrow and not with what is going on 20 years down the road. I had them all refelct on things that they wourld have to responsible for in 20 years. Most of them said a family, a house, rent, and a job. In our discussion afterwards, most of the students agreed that they would all get good paying jobs and would be able to have what they wanted. These are the same students that can't turn work in on time, can't come in to get help, and can't follow directions. They know that someone will always bail them out of every situation. Most of them will end up finding out the hard way that this is not always going to be the case.
ReplyDeleteI believe this is what has defeated them. How do we change this?
To go along with Jesse's comments, you might want to read this article that Mason Wiebe posted in the blog for induction teachers.
ReplyDeleteIt seems to me that every generation bemoans American youth who don't care unless something directly threatens them. (Like potentially being drafted, etc.) But that is like the United States in general, is it not? We build levees AFTER huge hurricanes hit. We mandate mine safety equipment AFTER more than a dozen miners die in one state within three weeks. We challenge world dictators AFTER they bomb our naval and air bases. Winston Churchill once said, "The Americans will always do the right thing . . . after they've exhausted all the alternatives." I would add that we usually do the right thing . . . after we've exhausted our ability to do nothing.
ReplyDeleteMy point here is NOT that we cannot do anything about this. However, I do think that when we accept complacency from our leaders - which we ALMOST ALWAYS do - we as a society are implicitly teaching young people a lesson. My solution? Here I invoke Jefferson - a revolution every 20 years is "a medicine necessary for the sound health of government." :)
Hmm, Amanda, when do you turn 35?
ReplyDeleteNot soon enough, my friend . . . heh . . . heh . . . heh
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