Posted On: Saturday - February 29th 2020 12:19PM MST
In Topics: Music Educational Stupidity
How can you have any pudding when you don't eat your meat?!"
Peak Stupidity has been beating (heh-he) on this topic for a while now, most recently with The Professional Educators and a while ago with Advancements in Higher Education. I'm running into it every week, that is, the results of what should be very good public schooling (the kids are great!), but with emphasis on Ed-School experimental methods and "strategies" versus just plain teaching reading, writing, and arithmetic.
I put "strategies" in quotes here, as, per that older post of the 2 linked-to above, the teachers use words like that, straight out of Education School, in their descriptions of what the little ones are doing in class. Here's the exact quote:
"Readers of non-fiction use strategies to determine the meaning of unknown words."The kids wouldn't know this concept, and the parents don't want to hear about it. Get them reading the books, that's all. When they get done, they get stickers to put on a chart. Then, we see:
Strategies I use to tell time to the nearest 5 minutes.No, no, no! You let them play with the paper clock hands, and they either get it or they don't. If they do, they get stickers. What I'd like to see is the lady grading the math problems that the young boy missed due to pure laziness. There are no red marks though, as the teacher is too busy apparently, with her fancy teaching methods, to check the math and spelling.
People, such as writers of Peak Stupidity even, give the Chinese people/culture a hard time for it's severe emphasis on rote memorization. Sure, show them the math a couple of ways, tell them how to check the subtraction by adding them back up, stuff like that. As I've written about the fractions though, a few times of that is ENOUGH. I did times tables in 4th grade, as I recall, but I heard nothing about strategies, just 7 x 8 = 56, nuff said. If they get them all right, yes, you got it, more stickers!
What I'm seeing is not even the "New Math" or anything else with a name. It's just teachers wanting to use their methodologies to show this is not kid stuff. But it is! That's not to deride the occupation of teaching, but what is required is a general knowledge, lots of patience, a way with words, and a fondness for kids.
I think the reason for all this BS, leaving government interference alone for a bit, is that nobody wants to feel like she has wasted $25,000 of
If they'd never taken those extra required years getting teaching methodologies, strategies, and other -ies beat into them, I really believe these ladies at the elementary school would be much happier just relaxing about what they are doing and not wanting to be in some kind of new program or referenced in "the literature". They could just enjoy the satisfaction involved in teaching the 3 r's to the kiddies, as in the old days of the one-room schoolhouse.
As for the Schools of Education, all in all you're just another brick in the wall!
Talk about your concept albums! Pink Floyd's* 1979 album The Wall was arguably** at Peak Concept Album. This is the kind of stuff I don't want anyone listening to standing on the subway with his earbuds in. That's bullshit, man! You need a real hifi, no, NOT WIFI, HIFI! You need speakers with at least 12" woofers, a comfortable couch, maybe a black light or two ... etc..
Peak Stupidity has featured the music of Pink Floyd only once before with Brain Damage/Eclipse from The Dark Side of the Moon.
Pink Floyd:
Syd Barrett – lead and rhythm guitars, vocals
Nick Mason – drums, percussion, vocals
Bob Klose – lead guitar
Roger Waters – bass, vocals, rhythm guitar
Richard Wright – keyboards, piano, organ, vocals
David Gilmour – lead and rhythm guitars, vocals, bass, keyboards
* For the young Millennials still reading(?), no, he was no kin to Floyd the barber of Mayberry, North Carolina. It's the name of the band.
** I just noticed that Peak Stupidity mentioned that already
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