“Because education has essentially established a monopoly on moving up the social ladder (which forces everyday citizens to participate in its rat race), it has no incentive to provide quality education to those it trains – particularly since unconditional federal support (e.g., student loans) subsidizes education and is allotted based on how many students attend each institution, not the quality of the education offered.”

I don’t think this is the problem. The problem is that the “problem” is underestimated by people. As far as I know, there is no country in the world where the education is good or like it should be.

Cluelessness is the problem, no? Ergo, education is a very deep subject. I mean, we’re talking about the destiny of the world when we talk education.

Since I have children, I had to ensure myself, as an ongoing thing, that they would have a good education. It was like a life or death thing for me; I don’t believe I have a right to fail on the question. I don’t believe adults have a right to fail on the issue of education. We can’t fail the children. What are we “adults” for, after all?

I did several things, but it could be that it all worked out because of their mother. I don’t know. They say because of me, but I don’t know.

Based on all I had seen, I told my boys the following in kindergarten or before first grade:

– It’s all easy. You’re too smart for all this. It is all designed for other students, not you. (It can be easy for almost all students.) It’s designed for the average, you’re not average. Try to finish early and take a look at the next chapter(s).

– Do not worry about the grades. Have fun in school. Just make sure you understand everything.

I happen to agree with an old German order of priorities in education. First comes physical education. Second comes order, discipline, etc. Third comes academics. I find that this order is in tune with the development stage of the children. I made clear to them that sports was the most important thing to me (ha, ha, some parent). I was the coach of the two that didn’t miss a game. They learned strategy, patience, decision making, competition, fixing things, how to win, how to lose, etc. What class teaches all that! Organized sports – and it’s well-organized in the United States – presents a unique arena for learning, if parents use it as such. I had to teach a coach too.

I steered them away from football and soccer to avoid possible bad injuries and channeled them towards Basketball, though it’s not my sport. Toward tennis too.

– It’s important to read with them and then philosophize with them. It has to be something not tiresome to them. We did this periodically. I made my errors. We started reading Newton’s Principia Mathematica, full of confidence, until one day we got stuck and my older son said, “This is now too hard.” It wasn’t age appropriate! We would go to Kant, to some history books, and perhaps the best was a list I made for them which we often went over when studying together.

It was a vertical list of virtues: order, discipline, concentrated attention, and many others (more than 10). On the side it said “virtues.” On the other side it said “vital forces”, very important term I took from Mexican national socialist Salvador Borrego in a book (what do I care, if it works that’s fine). They strengthen a person and so they are vital forces beyond the moral issue. I had another headline and at the bottom I had three or four sayings they also had to memorize. It was like a game. They couldn’t make a single mistake in a word or the order of the list. The one who did had to repeat it all. It was fun for them. One saying was from Hans Rudel, German WWII pilot and motto of the Luftwaffe, who shared it in his autobiography: “Nothing comes off except what you have practiced.” Sounds good enough to be on the list. I did not inform the sources, but most in the list was any such thing that is important.

I had to choose very well for this list. Big responsibility. “Talk about indoctrination.”

Wonderful list!

Anyway, both were great athletes, great students, great in every way. It could be all thanks to their mom too. You never know these things…alone she would have been a disaster. I give her 50% of the credit – but then it’s also beyond us. One just has to be grateful.

I think the mediocrity of the thinkers is a world education emergency.

“As such, the primary function of schooling has become more and more dependent on conditions of subservience and conformity rather than creating a generation of creative critical thinkers who can solve the issues our country faces and innovate solutions that advance us into the future. This in turn, is both highly unfair to those who are put through the academic grinder (but not inherently suited for success within it) and an immense waste of national resources.”

Yes. The grading system is a very important variable for learning, affecting it very much. That’s why I told my sons not to worry about it. The grades can be made a powerful tool for learning. They are used to judge students instead. In my system, all tests during the semester would be repeatable and only the higher grade would count. Why would I take an average? Why would I still count the period of failure or of lack of understanding? It’s not about premature judgments. Hard work for a teacher to use grading as a learning tool – but worth it. A Final Test should exist for the end of the semester that students can take if they want to, but the score on that one would be their final grade and non-repeatable.

I once mentioned this other system to someone and he replied that I should not forget that the educational system has to identify the best ones from the rest. I disagree with that. Typical job interviews don’t even ask for the grades. Special tests can be devised for such further curiosities. The point is that the country would be empowered with a system that produces the best learning environment, and that how grades or judging is applied is a major thing for that environment. It should not be judging like in a court. It should be judging for learning.

There are many more reforms that are needed (worldwide). I guess the President would have to design it. I could do it. I would not fail. I was in charge only of my children.

That was beautiful.

Written by John Leo Keenan for LewRockwell.com ~ November 14, 2024