Disagreeing with Jeff Utecht

Jeff Utecht says that innAmerica (as opposed to China):

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[W]e focus on getting students to think different, we encourage them tonthink, to analyze, to question their findings. We teach them to learn on theirnown.

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Do we, Jeff? Or do we just benefit from our country’s overall opennessncompared to China? ‘Cause I gotta tell you, I don’t see a lot of explicitninstruction here in American schools regarding how to learn on yournown, at least not using present-day information and communicationntechnologies (which, of course, are what people need to master to be effectivenlearners in this century). And I don’t see a lot of encouragement of studentsnto really think, to critically dissect and analyze information that’snmeaningful and important (as opposed to better regurgitatingnfactual-procedural knowledge or doing what we say more often). AndnI see few opportunities for children to engage in discovery learningnopportunities where they might actually have findings that are interesting andnworth questioning (as opposed to the controlled and often contrivedn’experiments’ that accompany publishers’ science curricula).

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I’m fairly certain that Postman & Weingartner’s quote from Teachingnas a Subversive Activity is as applicable now as it was in 1969:

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What students do in the classroom is what they learn (as Dewey would say) . .n. Now, what is it that students do in the classroom? Well, mostly, theynsit and listen to the teacher. . . . Mostly, they are required tonremember. . . . It is practically unheard of for students to play anynrole in determining what problems are worth studying or what procedures ofninquiry ought to be used. . . . Here is the point: Once you have learned hownto ask questions – relevant and appropriate and substantial questions – you havenlearned how to learn and no one can keep you from learning whatever you want ornneed to know . . . [However,] what students are restricted to (solely andneven vengefully) is the process of memorizing . . . somebody else’s answers tonsomebody else’s questions. It is staggering to consider the implications of thisnfact. The most important intellectual ability man has yet developed – the artnand science of asking questions – is not taught in school! Moreover, it isnnot “taught” in the most devastating way possible: by arranging thenenvironment so that significant question asking is not valued. It is doubtful ifnyou can think of many schools that include question-asking, or methods ofninquiry, as part of their curriculum.

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I agree with the general theme of your post, Jeff, but so far I disagree with you on this issue. I think that whatever advantages America maynenjoy over China regarding critical thinking, creativity, innovation, and thenlike might be occurring despite our schools, not because ofnthem.

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Thoughts, anyone else?

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