Hi MSL,
Definitely spot on on the Gen Y outlook! On the formal education, I'm not so sure.
On of the (many) problems with formal education as it currently exists is the confusion of the symbol (certification) for the reality (skill set being certified). This as become more and more of a problem in two main ways. First, high schools are graduating functional illiterates, and second, some of the brightest students are dropping out of high school because they are so bored.
I would hope it would last longer that the first day of Basic !
There is a growing literature and interest in Prior Learning Assessment Recognition (PLAR). Right now, at least in Canada, it is used primarily for the recognition of immigrant trade skills, but much of the original thinking on it went back to how the Canadian educational system could recognize British military training certifications. In Canada at least, the main trust of PLAR activities is at the Community College level where a lot of these skills are class as "gen ed" (general education). I don't think any of them gives a gen ed credit for weapons skills, though .
Agreed on the Math and English as major stumbling blocks. I'm not sure if the anti-intellectualism comes from functional illiteracy or from having had poor teachers; I've seen both as root causes amongst my students. Personally, I have a tendency to also add "pernicious equality" as a root cause - kids are told they are "equal", not challenged in schools, rarely failed, and may develop an attitude that disdains any serious examination of a topic as a result. There's a rather famous quote although I'm going to have to paraphrase it, that goes something like I may not know anything about plays, but I know what I like (written by a reviewer). Rather than studying the area, they rely on emotional feelings and, if something is too complex, it is likely to cause confusion and revulsion.
Just a point about your note on the "argumentative paragraph". In the Ontario school system, it has been canonized into the "five paragraph essay" and has a doctrinal status. When the kids show up in university and have to deal with real essays, it usually takes them about 1-2 years to get out of that mindset. A couple of years back when I was teaching an intro class, I was asked how long the paper had to be and said 12+ pages. The student looked at me and said, "wow, so, that's like 2-3 pages per paragraph!". As a side note, I have also had students change their essay topics because the "experts" disagreed.
What I'm pointing to here is, IMO, a much more pernicious effect of formalized education - the sanctification of expertise and, by corollary, of the "expert". Now that is anti-intellectualism that strikes at the heart of a "learning culture" and the individualized form of it; lifelong learning. It's also one of the reasons why I teach "applied epistemology" .
Agreed and, as an added kicker, if all of the basic skills (maths, English, geography, history, social science, civics, technology,etc.) are in the curriculum there shouldn't be any reason why the can't a) use the older standards from, say the 1940's and b) make much of it available in online courses. Personally, I would still require a seminar in applied epistemology as the basis for intellectual learning as opposed to rote/kinesthetic learning; then again, I am biased towards such .
Marc
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