The last 50 years have been “educators” deciding to ameliorate that situation” and we see what has happened.
have, first of all, been educators. Within the annual promotion paradigm. They have “ameliorated the situation” by doubling down on what didn’t work in the first place. One being a continual devaluation of vocational training, another being sterile theory such as “new math.”I’ve never been a teacher, but the gene runs in the family; only one of my 6 nearest ancestors was never a teacher. And my brother was, for a few years, a JV girls’ basketball coach. The point is that you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make him drink - and in the case of some “horses,” it’s hard to convince them that what you’ve led them to is water. Teaching that kind of kid is a sales job. You have to convince the student of the value of the lesson.
You have to convince the student of the value of the lesson. If you fail at that, learning will not occur. Period. If you succeed at that, even if somehow you never see evidence that the student learned the material, that is still not a complete failure because the student will, somehow some way, learn the material.
That is looking at the student with respect, seeing the adult the student will be after graduation. And having the humility to accept that you actually are not necessarily God’s gift to the student.