Being a more of an English and History oriented student myself, I must admit I raised my eyebrows last night when I heard Obama stress the importance of math and science as opposed to other subjects in his State of the Union Address. Sure, it is extremely important we keep up with the rest of the world technologically, so that we can defend ourselves and export new and improved products, but English and History are as important if not more important than sciences.
Obama wants to use our students to work with numbers and technology to outsmart the rest of the world, but how are we going to work with and communicate with the rest of the world without the English skills that help us eloquently demonstrate our point without flaring up tensions or creating more problems for ourselves? How are we supposed to regulate trade and foreign relations without understanding what happened in the past so we can improve it for the future?
I think the problem lies in the standardization of education described in the movie "A Race to Nowhere". We are so concerned with teaching every child in the same way and giving them all the same answers that the most obvious option for education becomes the subjects that use numbers, because every question has a definite answer that every child in the world could answer either correctly or incorrectly. English and History are more subjective and they rely on interpretation, so it is harder to standardize those subjects. Do you think we are forcing the next generation into number-based careers because of the way we are teaching them?
Emma- I have to disagree with you that we are stressing math and science because they are definite and can be standardized. I think that we stress math and science because they are the only thing that everyone in the world learns about. In the United States, in english class we do most things with English. People in Norway aren't necessarily going to be taught about American authors, and vice versa. How many authors from other countries do we learn about? There is really no way to progress and be better than another country if we speak different languages. Same with history. We aren't going to say to China, "We know our country's history better then you know yours". There is really no room to progress because history is more about learning about the past not moving forward. Instead, a scientist from the US and a scientist from China could easily try to be the first one to come up with a cure for the common cold.
ReplyDeleteHey Alex!
ReplyDeleteI definitely think it is true that science and math have certain advantages over English and History, but I don't think it's necessarily true that a language barrier keeps those subjects from being more progressive in a global society. Structures and rules that we've learned about for essays and letters can be translated into many different languages without losing their meaning, (for example, no matter what language you're using its always more effective to explain quotes directly after citing them). And, even if our English skills couldn't carry over into a different language or culture, I think it is just as important to use them to convey ideas in our own country. For example, if America was debating over a foreign policy, it would be beneficial to have good English skills to communicate amongst ourselves to come up with a thoughtful solution, that would in turn also effect our relations with other countries. I'm not quite sure this makes sense, I hope you'll understand what I'm saying!
Emma,
ReplyDeleteI had a similar reaction when Obama pushed for a focus on math and science. I think that a component of education that has been largely overlooked in this discussion is the arts. I'm constantly hearing about art and music programs being cut from schools across the country (even possibly in my former schools, District 39). Due to the recession and shortages of school funding people assume these should always be the first to go. But what can be more universally understood than art? Painting, sculptors, and music can be appreciated by and communicated through all cultures, because beauty has no border. During the Great Depression money was funneled into the arts producing some of the most famous pieces of American art. I wonder whether the "Race to Nowhere" mentality has taken such a hold that we have lost our appreciation for the finer things.