Give Me That Old-Time Education
Give Me That Old Time Education
Stephen Z. Schneider, Ed. D. , Stony Brook University (SUNY)
I am writing this to my colleagues on LinkedIn asking for assistance in reaching local Boards of Education, school leaders and their constituencies. My goal is to support the continued existence of an American education culture where we all have the same basic knowledge, described below, while allowing for local and subculture modifications based on localized interpretations. I believe the following to be a state or local educational and societal issue, not a political one, hence no message to any legislator.
I teach university online courses. I’m a former high school principal, associate dean and director of a regional vocational and literacy program.
Increasingly, I am noticing people pursuing higher and higher degrees for credentialing purposes rather than pursuing education for knowledge and practical competencies.
I do not fully support the notion that knowledge accumulation is old school and knowledge acquisition is new and future school. I believe the accumulation and memorization of some things are an essential basis for future learning and for our democracy. The new school people say: “knowing how to know or how to find the knowledge is more important than actually knowing, because there’s too much to know to memorize.”
We should develop a national consensus centered on what knowledge and competencies we all should know, understand and share by everyone all over our nation. This concept should begin in kindergarten and be continued in increasing spirals of complexity and dimension through grade 12. With state and local interpretation and modification, I am suggesting our American K-12 education system should require mastery of a substantial knowledge base including, at a minimum:
Memorization of the:
-Pledge of Allegiance,
-National Anthem,
-Multiplication Table,
-Names and locations of each state,
-Vocabulary and spelling,
-Preamble to the US Constitution, and,
-National Motto.
Skilled at:
-Cursive or script writing,
-Pursuit of some vocational/mechanical ability,
-Literacy, reading and vocabulary development,
-A physical sport or activity,
-Clear declarative writing (in cursive),
-Keyboarding,
-Multicultural competence.
Competency and Familiarity with:
-Civics and the rights, responsibilities and obligations of citizens,
-The Federal System of government as stated in the Constitution,
-The local, state and federal representatives and their functions and limitations,
-The capitals of each state,
-The Periodic Table,
-Basic functionality in a foreign language,
-English grammar and parts of speech,
-Algebraic functions and applications,
-Responsible reproduction education,
-Domestic and personal finance,
-Digital and Informational Literacy,
-Domestic Science,
-Survey of Art with Practical Arts,
-Survey of Music with Practical Music and Chorus Singing,
-Public Speaking and the demonstrated presentation of a point of view.
Google should not replace thinking. Search engines should not shape our thinking. All students should have the same shared basic knowledge in a variety of academic, artistic, physical and mechanical subjects all over the country. While the brain is not a muscle, it still should be exercised to support the development of the higher order thinking skills “the future” will need.
All leading to as many citizens have the ability to:
-To think independently,
-Exhibit three dimensional decision-making,
-Demonstrate civic responsibility, and,
-Demonstrate critical thinking.
Of course, all this should be subject to the interpretation, implementation and guidance of local Boards of Education, their constituencies and their local cultures in setting policy. School leaders and teachers should direct and implement this policy and, above all, parents should be attentive, supportive and patriotic in encouraging students with, at least, the above knowledge and competencies so that they learn the importance of independent thought. As a practical matter, the high school, community college and college diplomas should indicate a certain basic and shared competency recognized all over our country.
What I am requesting of my connections in LinkedIN:
I am asking for your assistance in reaching those participants in education, described above, to consider establishing this list as a goal in the local schools. As with all goals, it may not be the achieving of the goal that is important, but in the path towards these goals. It should not come as a surprise to any adult in our nation that our original national motto was “E Pluribus Unum,” “From Many, One.”