Teaching Against Idiocy (Revision)

What role should schools and schooling play in the US? In a Democracy?

According to Walter C. Parker in Teaching against Idiocy (Revision)

According to Mr. Parker, an idiot is one that is not exposed to public life and problems, and is someone that cannot mature because they can’t evaluate the diversity of social situations correctly. “An idiot is one whose self-centeredness undermines his or her citizen identity, causing it to wither or never to take root in the first place. Private gain is the goal, and the community had better not get in the way. An idiot is suicidal in a certain way, definitely self-defeating, for the idiot does not know that privacy and individual autonomy are entirely dependent on the community. As Aristotle wrote, Individuals are so many parts all equally depending on the whole which alone can bring self-sufficiency. Idiots do not take part in public life; they do not have a public life. In this sense, idiots are immature in the most fundamental way. Their lives are out of balance, disoriented, untethered, and unrealized. Tragically, idiots have not yet met the challenge of “puberty”, which is the transition to public life,” (Parker, 2005, pg1) writes Walter C. Parker. It is interesting how Mr. Parker compares schools to “village squares, cities, crossroads, meeting places, community centers, marketplaces,” because some of the larger schools are becoming more and more like little cities. Some high schools in the area in which I live are like miniature college campuses. Mr. Parker thinks that the schooling that children receive should teach them all about life. He thinks that the school is the place where the children are lead through puberty and into citizenship. Mr. Parker makes reference to the school as having the two most important resources for children: diversity and problems. Is Mr. Parker leaving something out in this whole equation? Where do the parents of these children come into the equation?

Growing up in a well grounded, family orientated home, has taught me the value of listening, understanding, and rationalizing all of the problems that a child or just a simple person may have. Mr. Parker seems to think that the schools nurture the child into “puberty.” I believe that schools do play a very important part of engaging children into different issues, but I don’t believe that they are the most important resource needed to develop a child’s natural ability to “grow up and think for themselves.” For a child to develop into a well rounded individual that can be “Democratic” in situations the child needs to be taught right from wrong. The child needs to be guided from, what should be the most important mentors in their life, namely the child's parents.

There are many situations that a child can be put into where he/she needs to make a decision based on what they have been taught. Who should teach them this you might ask? The answer is simple, the child's parents and relatives, teachers at schools, their community, and their peers. A child can mature and prosper from everyone’s input and rationalizations. The school should not be the “center of attention.” It is what the child is taught from a collective unit that will help the child to be more “Democratic” so that he /she can avoid having any indication of idiocy.

“Teaching Against Idiocy” by Walter C. Parker from Phi Delta Kappan,

January, 2005: pp. 344-351.

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Idiocy

What role should schools and schooling play in the US? In a Democracy?

According to Walter C. Parker in Teaching Against Idiocy

“An idiot is one whose self-centeredness undermines his or her citizen identity, causing it to wither or never to take root in the first place. Private gain is the goal, and the community had better not get in the way. An idiot is suicidal in a certain way, definitely self-defeating, for the idiot does not know that privacy and individual autonomy are entirely dependent on the community. As Aristotle wrote, Individuals are so many parts all equally depending on the whole which alone can bring self-sufficiency. Idiots do not take part in public life; they do not have a public life. In this sense, idiots are immature in the most fundamental way. Their lives are out of balance, disoriented, untethered, and unrealized. Tragically, idiots have not yet met the challenge of “puberty”, which is the transition to public life,” writes Walter C. Parker. According to Mr. Parker, an idiot is one that is not exposed to public life and problems, and is someone that cannot mature because they can’t evaluate the diversity of social situations correctly. It is interesting how Mr. Parker compares schools to “village squares, cities, crossroads, meeting places, community centers, marketplaces.” Mr. Parker seems to think that the schooling that children receive should teach them all about life. He seems to think that the school is the place where the children are lead through puberty and into citizenship. Mr. Parker makes reference to the school as having the two most important resources for children: diversity and problems. Is Mr. Parker leaving something out in this whole equation? Where do the parents of these children come into the equation?

Growing up in a well grounded, family orientated home, has taught me the value of listening, understanding, and rationalizing all of the problems that a child or just a simple person may have. Mr. Parker seems to think that the schools nurture the child into “puberty.” I believe that schools do play a very important part of engaging children into different issues, but I don’t believe that they are the most important resource needed to develop a child’s natural ability to “grow up and think for themselves.” For a child to develop into a well rounded individual that can be “Democratic” in situations the child needs to be taught right from wrong. The child needs to be guided from, what should be the most important mentors in their life, namely the child's parents.

There are many situations that a child can be put into where he/she needs to make a decision based on what they have been taught. Who should teach them this you might ask? The answer is simple, the child's parents and relatives, teachers at schools, their community, and their peers. A child can mature and prosper from everyone’s input and rationalizations. The school should not be the “center of attention.” It is what the child is taught from a collective unit that will help the child to be more “Democratic” so that he /she can avoid having any indication of idiocy.

“The free common school system is the most American thing about America."

America is centered around our education system, as it says in the text, “An uneducated individual was an untrustworthy custodian of rights and liberties, but a properly schooled individual would recognize the bonds of obligation and principle that stabilize society and preserves freedom.” (Tyak, D. P10) History serves as a reminder that shows that being uneducated is the pretense to being unsuccessful.

During this course we’ve had to read numerous pages of text from different sources. Some of the text speaks about the relation of education to socio-economic status. The Hodgkinson article compares education to demographics. These articles back up the quote above. I believe that our education system is second to our parents. Our parents are the ones that instill the morals and values. Our education system serves as a reinforcer to the morals and values our parents pass down to us.

I will use the best example I can that comes from my family. As I was growing up my parents and grandparents always taught me the difference between right and wrong. I learned how to act, when to act, and how to deal with different situations. They taught me how to be a respectful person and how to always do the right thing even if others do the opposite. As I progress through school, I was always faced with challenges by my peers, but it was those values that my parents and teachers taught me that guided me in the right direction. My family taught me to always be the leader as opposed to the follower. While I was in my earlier years of school my teachers were also there to guide me in the right direction. My teachers weren’t only there to teach me about the curriculum but they also help to shape me into the individual I am today.

Education isn’t only a one step process. It’s in tune with our families, our communities, and in some ways our culture. It is the most important thing, next to our family, that helps to shape the person that we all become.

Haiku

I wish good fortune
to continue my Edu-
Vacation. Bye Bye.

I think it's pretty self explanatory. I have to accumulate money to continue my education in college. The Edu-Vacation line is written because school is alot easier than the previous work experience that i had. I was a manager for a government agency for 10 years. I managed 60 people and ALL of their problems, so for me, returning to college is kind of a vacation.


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Schools for Citizens

I'm gonna keep this one short. There is a line in the text that I want to comment on, "After World War 2, experts in civic education sought to "democratize" Japan." It's funny how history repeats itself. Aren't we in a war right now and trying to democratize a society? The text talks alot about the history of education in our nation. It talks about the immigrants and the majority of people, how they are Protestant, white, etc.. Whether they are immigrants or not should not affect the ideal of education. It will change the way education is given, but the overall concept should stay the same. There is also another line, "Today there is lively debate about creating a curriculum that mirrors our cultural variety and equally vivid concern about teaching patriotism and common values. Our country is based on certain principles and values. They are common throughout our existstance. When I think about this I think about the crap about the flag and flag salute in our schools. Are they kidding? This is something that goes back hundreds of years and now that someone had a problem with it, they even considered taking it away. The last time I checked there were choices. There are different kinds of schools for many people. If they don’t like what is done move on!

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