Interesting Perspective on Modern Education by Sebastian Faulks

A Week in December  by Sebastian Faulks (New York: Doubleday, 2009) features a character discussing modern education:

"Well...I suppose I was lucky enough to be educated at a time when teachers still thought children could handle knowledge. They trusted us. Then there came a time when they decided that because not every kid in the class could understand or remember those things, they wouldn't teach them anymore because it wasn't fair on the less good ones. So they withheld knowledge. Then I suppose the next lot of teachers didn't have the knowledge to withhold." (p. 304)

. . .

"... But it was only the twentieth century in Europe that had universal education and the belief in progress--a net gain of knowledge among all. And that's now been abandoned as a goal."

"It was too difficult. People weren't prepared to put in the hours on the donkey work--you know, dates and facts and so on. I think in retrospect my generation will be seen as a turning point. From now on there'll be a net loss of knowledge in Europe. The difference between a peasant community in fourteenth-century Iran and modern London, though, is that if with their meager resources the villagers occasionally slipped backward, it was not for lack of trying. But with us, here in England, it was a positive choice. We chose to know less." (p. 305)

. . .

"... I suppose it was a dream that lasted really about fifty years. By the time universal education had begun to work properly, say 1925, and the time the first teachers started to hold back information, say 1975. So a fifty-year dream."

"... Maybe it doesn't matter. I think what's happened is that because they themselves know less than their predecessors, innovators and leaders today have remade the world in their own image. Spellchecks. Search engines. They've remodeled the world so that ignorance is not really a disadvantage. And I should think that increasingly they'll carry on reshaping the world to accommodate a net loss of knowledge." (p. 306)

The character's observations speak to (according to many leaders in education) a lot of the reluctance--the psychological and mental barriers--of teachers regarding implementation of the Common Core.

Irish Proclamation of Independence (1916) in Authentic Irish Accent

Here is a fun twist to teaching about the independence movement in Ireland. We have a free video you can play for students that features a young Irishman reading aloud the 1916 Irish Proclamation of Independence. His authentic Irish accent is certain to be a treat for teenagers who may have never heard a real Irish accent before.

 

 

You can also view the video here, where we also have the complete text.  There is likewise a free printable DBQ (document-based questions) worksheet that contains the complete text of this important historical document.

News: March, 2009

We are off to a great start. This month, our goal is on reorganizing the materials which we already have. Presently, there are numerous materials listed in one category which should logically be cross listed in another (e.g., certain historical documents are found under Texts, but not under the appropriate Social Studies unit). Once this task is completed, we should better be able to assess which areas need more materials and which are fairly complete.