Posted on 10/05/2009 9:05:59 PM PDT by jazusamo
Religious based schools can be pretty picky about teachers following the tenets of their respective faiths. On the other hand I’ve heard of Catholic schools headed by atheist priests. (Don’t ask me how the Roman Catholic church tolerates that. I don’t go to one.)
I agree with both of your posts. I hope Dr. Sowell didn’t discourage the kid who wrote to him. Any fifth-grader who knows who Dr. Sowell is and wants to write to him has a lot on the ball. Most of kid’s classmates probably wrote to people like Tom Brady or Britney Spears.
I’m sure it is, but my points is that I like kids like that. Docility and constant compliance bore me. I like a kid with some spirit.
points=point
I’m tired and need to get some sleep.
It goes back to Abe Lincoln.
They don't have civics classes in the fifth grade do they? It was centuries ago but the first class I had of that nature was ninth grade social studies.
Thank you for posting this...!
Very good article. Thanks for the ping.
There were rudiments of civics in the fifth or sixth grade that I remember. By that point we were discussing the United Nations and how it is supposed to operate.
Now that you mention it we would get a monthly “newletter” published by the UN. I forget the name it went by. Even then, mid ‘60s, I thought “what is this crapola?” lol
Thanks for the ping. I LOVE Sowell’s response, of writing back to the parents instead of the kids. My testimony on the woes of teachers indoctrinating kids — see my FReeper homepage!
Just think about the average. What use have they for you?
Forget about your silly whim. It doesn't fit the plan.
Hmmm. I would have written the child back. But, I wouldn’t have answered the question for him. I would have asked “What would you do to fix the economy? If you don’t know the answer, research and study until you do. When you have finished, write me back and explain your answer.”
It is the child that will have to live with the economy.
Another good one. Thanks for the ping jaz.
Yes we do. A 5th grader is first being taught that famous people have the answers. Second, any kind of real response to her question from Sowell would be beyond her independent ability to evaluate.
The letter doesn't appear long enough or complex enough to be a writing exercise for 5th graders, nor, would there be much value in summarizing a response that she didn't understand. Perhaps the students will "share with the class" what their response was, a response that the other kids wouldn't understand either.
Nope, can't find anything redeeming here.
This type of statement proves Mr. Sowell's point. Children should only be required to read Sowell only if they are also required to read Keynes as well.Correct...Sowell should be required reading in all middle schools and above.
No, Dr. Sowell's point is that children should not be assigned PhD thesis topics, and teachers should not presume to assign celebrities - even such a wise and well-meaning celebrity as Professor Sowell - composition topics by practicing on their sympathy for a child who has been given an assignment by his teacher.is a book written to teachers, and it panders some to the politics you envision when you think of teachers. But it makes excellent points about its subject matter. One point being that you have to walk before you can run. When children are first exposed to a topic they simply do not know enough about it to be able to have an original thought about it, and to give them assignments requiring creativity is just plain silly.
- Why Don't Students Like School:
- A Cognitive Scientist Answers Questions About How the Mind Works
and What It Means for the Classroom
by Daniel T. WillinghamIn fact, I see in it a planted similarity to another practice which the author condemns - telling a student he is smart. He says that it actually reduces the intelligence of a student to do that, and makes an excellent case for that claim. What it actually does is to flatter the child, and make the child arrogant and less inclined to do the hard work of actually thinking - and it is thinking alone which contributes to the ability to think. So the child becomes less diligent if told that he is smart, and becomes less smart as he becomes less diligent. Telling the child to do creative research when he barely knows what the subject is differs little from simply telling the child he is smart. It is flattery in either case.
Tho he mentions a particular letter from a particular child, Sowell mentions that it was not the only such letter he has received, and the response he gave reads like it could be a form letter for such occasions. He responds to the parents of the children who write as a way of communicating with the teachers who make such presumptuous assignments.
" I am a teacher and it is my job to teach you to LEARN!
He encouraged us to read the daily newspaper, a magazine, (Time Newsweek or whatever) and BOOKS!
I grew up in North Jersey and Mr Foster took us on several class trips to New York City. We went to the Zoo, the Museum and to Broadway to see "The Most Happy Fellow". These trips taught us what culture meant and we should seek out and enjoy all these aspects of our life.
We need more Foster's and Prof Sowell is right in step with him.
To sum it up, Tom, some teachers aren’t doing their job.
What if a fireman didn’t do his job, or a soldier his? What if the air traffic controller didn’t do his job, or the pilot (like the two who were fired for fighting in the aisle instead of flying the plane) recently?
I commend, on the other hand, the teachers who are TEACHING conscientiously and accurately .hose who are there to teach so that tomorrow’s adults will be armed in the battles to come.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.