Language development - Journal III

In We Should Cherish Our Children's Freedom to Think, Kie Ho reminds us that if education in the United-States encounters some problems, it has also made a lot of improvements and, though students may not know all that their ancesters used to know, they acquired the freedom to create and to think which is probably a more valuable knowledge for nowadays children: "Disgruntled American parents forget that in this country their children are able to experiment freely with ideas; without this they will not really be able to think or to believe in themselves."

Indeed, if people of the 12th century could learn pretty much everything about their past since the amount of history events were not that big, can we expect the same from 2010th or 2050th century students? Can they memorize million pieces of information and if so is there a point? If not, then, how to decide what it is they should know and learn?

To me, it has always been a mystery why it is so important to have a wide general culture. I always believed what matters most is knowing about what you care about. At school it is a big issue not to know when a so-called "important person" died or at what date this or that election happened. But not knowing what is a tacos does that make me less intelligent?

To read a great amount of books and to have learned an incredible number of facts and events seem relevant if you actually need them. Plus is it a good aim to wish for every child to know the same things? Isn't the standardization of knowledge the end of passion, inspiration and creativity? If a student is interested in a particular topic, then it should remain his choice and will to decide to make research in that field so that he can learn about it.

I cannot remember a lot of what I have been taught at school for the subjects did not appeal to me somehow. I never chose to learn what I learned and now I know the same things every child in my class knows or should know and it did not help me improve my knowledge on what I needed to evolve on my personal path. Being interested in astrology and anthropology I ended learning about the kings of France and the names of my country's regions. Today I look behind and regret the time I wasted on this and wish I could spend it on what I was passionate about.

Maybe there would be some positive effects on students if teachers let them go towards their passion in order for them to really be inspired. Then they may have the will to acquire the mental skills necessary to take initiatives and/or create something that will derive from their interest.

Education should, more than anything, bring to the students the desire to express themselves by offering the freedom to learn whatever they want. From that desire will hopefully rise the need to know and if not, then it is the role of the teacher to explain how it is difficult to create and be confident about what we do without being well-aware, well-informed and even specialized in the field we choose.

And this is my personnal believe that from one passion emerges a lot of others which eventually would help teachers to have different students, with different needs, different interests, different ideas and different goals but one common point: the passion to learn.