Philosopher Ken Wilber addresses this idea starting at 40:30.
My view is that school is our social cultural incubator, whether we acknowledge it or not. We attempt to produce citizens ready to participate in our culture.
With the rapidly changing nature of the environment our children are walking in to, I believe that focusing on the development of cognitive skills and competencies alone will not serve the kids nor the world they are entering.
A little over a 100 years ago school report cards only indicated how many days of school the student missed, the number of detentions they had and how well they tended to their cleanliness. This was replaced with the evaluation and tracking of a student's cognitive development in basic math, language and science skills viewed beneficial to society.
I think it is time we sit down and take a look at what we are choosing to focus on in school once again. Start with what the world is needing and work back to inform what kinds of individuals and communities we need moving forward.
My hope is that basic math facts, forms of writing and simple science demonstrations aren't thrown out, but rather balanced with a fuller understanding of human development.
If I could decide on new "subjects" or areas of worthwhile development to monitor I would suggest:
- interpersonal development (relating to others, conflict management, stating what you want in effective manners)
- self-direction (how to research areas of interest on your own, or pursue your own goals)
- somatic awareness (mind body connection, awareness of impact of the body on emotions and various states)
- perspectives (the ability to acknowledge your own perspective and how it may differ from another)
- shadow work (being shown by others what we can't see about ourselves)
- self reflection (ability to identify and work with characteristics of one's self, motives etc)
There are several other skills I would suggest, but all of them center around the ability for individuals to develop higher level complex thinking.
What sounds more true to you?
a) I relate to the world around me through english, math, science, phys ed, history and art.
or
b) I relate to the world through interpersonal skills, an awareness of my values, short comings I acknowledge about myself, my gut reactions to things and by acknowledging that my agenda may not be valued by others.
While these might sound "out there", these suggestions are rooted in the science of adult developmental psychology which basically states that the more we can turn our subjective experience into an objective experience we can look at, the more development we experience.
The more we can see about ourselves, the more resources we have access to for ourselves, others and the world... which sounds useful to me.
Finally, focusing on these areas of development aren't seperate in my opinion. They can be integrated and used as lenses to look at stories, history, ideas in science, abstract mathematical relationships etc.
It might be a long way off before we are comfortable with the idea of evaluating and supporting a student's level of moral or self development, but my perspective is that choosing not to is a disservice to them and the world that they inhabit.
Your thoughts?
I would send my kids to your school!
ReplyDeleteSome truth there Rob..... and could be achieved with minimal re-arrangement of what we already have if the underlying philosophy of the establishment reflected that desire. With specialisation as a hallmark of capitalist societies the need for elementary education to provide broad skills that can later be directed is generally well recieved and specific subject areas may no longer cut it. In essence, to make the change would require the exit points (i.e. final exams) before specializaton begins (in University) to match these goals. Change those assessments and all of the years before will fall into place. ???????
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