EDUCATION CREATING SYCOPHANTS!

Jack Andraka is one very motivated person. You can read an interview with him here by clinking on this link but read the précis about him first please. http://www.forbes.com/sites/johnnosta/2013/02/01/cancer-innovation-and-a-boy-named-jack/   

The reason he is noteworthy at present is that he has developed a paper sensor that could detect cancer in five minutes for a cost of as little as 3 cents. Jack did his research at John Hopkins University. Mr Andraka’s research could transform the face of cancer and encourage early detection. Jack’s method is 168 times faster, 26000 times cheaper, 400 times more sensitive and has a 90% success rate. Jack has been selected as the Intel 2012 ISEF winner adding to the awards won at multiple national and international math competitions. Jack, a member of the national junior white-water kayaking team, enjoys playing with his dog and folding origami.  I bet you are just as impressed with Jack’s achievements as I was but here is the bit of information that left me gob-smacked - Jack is a fifteen year old freshman in high school. (Cited www.forbes.com)

This got me to thinking, just how does a young person with this level of creativity; (1. Having the ability or power to create: 2. Productive; creating. 3. Characterised by originality and expressiveness; imaginative: 4. creative writing or one who displays productive originality) get though the education system we have in place today.

TORRENCE TEST of CREATIVE THINKING from a survey showed that;

• A child at four – 84% tested as highly creative.
• A child at eight – 67% tested as highly creative.
• A child at twelve – 34% tested as highly creative.
• A child at seventeen– 12% tested as highly creative.

I find this atrocious. Education is meant to enhance a person’s life. There is no purpose in giving a person an education if we do not also teach them how to live their life. We need to teach our young how to think; to reason; to deconstruct; to question and how to transfer these skills to all aspects of their lives. We need to teach our children that failing is a natural part of living and being human, and that it is these failings that teach us how to succeed. We need to teach our children that “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.”  In this instance I have pinched the words of Albert Einstein for he said it so much better than I ever could have. We can achieve this by implanting a sense of self-worth and confidence in their own natural abilities thus allowing our young to adapt to each and every new situation they encounter. Alvin Toffler saw that the illiterate of the 21^st century would not be those who could not read or write but rather those who can not learn, unlearn, and relearn. The world is changing so quickly that the skills required for today’s business world will not be the ones needed in five years’ time. Our youth need to be flexible, adaptable and ready to give it a go.

So let us look at what our children encounter when they commence their formal education.  Much of their day is spent indoors in a very controlled environment. The day is organised by bells. They are trained to start at a certain time, ending the day via the last bell. There is no flexibility, autonomy and uniqueness allowed. I may be a little on the cynical side but is this what they want? Is this what they need? Or is this the blueprint for the rest of their existences. That 8 to 5 routine that we complain about so much! 

Now, let us review what the education system is successfully imprinting into the minds of our young:

• Truth comes from the recognised and approved Authority
• Intelligence is the ability to remember and repeat but never analyse
• Accurate memory and repetition are rewarded
• Non-compliance and questioning are punishable
• Conformity is mandatory both intellectually and socially

So in straightforward English, this means that our kids are not being educated but rather indoctrinated.  They are being tested to reinforce levels of obedience. School is about memorising what you are told short term and repeating it, without the need to retain or evaluate. Assessment is completed under impractical and well-ordered conditions. Obedience is above all else, the prized behaviour. When you have an obedient compliant person they can be manipulated into follow any directive. John Henrik Clarke stated the “Powerful people cannot afford to educate the people that they oppress, because once you are truly educated, you will not ask for power. You will take it”.

Please remember that the views here are compiled by me from personal observations, talking to others and reading about the various education systems globally. I also gained 18 odd years first-hand experience of this system as a parent. This is why I question the validity of ‘formal organised education’. There are numerous sites on the internet that have all the information you need to decide for yourself. Parents, you just need to talk to your children and pay the odd unannounced visit to your child’s room. Educational institutions should operate an open door policy and if they do not – ask why not? It is your future and your children’s future that governments and politicians are messing with. It is our children that will pay the eventual price for our compliancy and procrastination. In closing I will leave you this quote to ponder:

“The aim of public education is not to spread enlightenment at all;

 it is simply to reduce as many individuals as possible to the same safe level, 

to breed a standard citizenry, 

to put down dissent and originality.”

(H.L. Mencken)

   

http://onforb.es/12EkIrW

http://www.trueactivist.com/gab_gallery/15-year-old-invents-new-method-of-diagnosing-cancer/

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GROWING OLDER AND GROWING UP!

I initially decided to write this blog purely because I enjoy writting, and usually have a belief about most topics. Yes, I grew up with the ‘hippy’ ideology that we should all be able to live in peace and harmony with the planet and each other. Yes, I still wear rose-clouded glasses that I refuse to remove for anyone. On the odd occasion I do allow them to slide slightly down the bridge of my nose…not to far as the ‘real’ world terrifies the bejesus out of me. Today’s blog will thankfully be short because I do have something to say from the heart that does not require data to be included.

The past few blogs have been a mammoth task as I had to research the information that was included, however today will simply be personal observations. I have spent the past 20 odd years raising my children to adulthood with the main message being that they need to grow up, gain an education that would enable them to get a job, maybe travel, get hitched and have a child or two. After all this is what life is about – right? NO, wrong, so very wrong.

Stephen Covey maintained that “you should leave this world a better place than when you got here”. To achieve this you need to be happy, not just smiling but truly happy. To achieve this end you should do the things that make you jubilant. Many of my kid’s friends are marvellously creative. Some create whole worlds of people complete with personalities, lives, families and discourses, to share with like-minded and talented youth. Some take remarkable photos of the everyday to create the enthralling. While others write tales of magic and fantasy that rivals anything that you buy at the local bookstore. As a society we have taught them that these are not worthwhile pursuits, and they are uncomfortable to admit to their miraculous gifts.

I love the internet, the world really is at your fingertips, but sadly my generation opt to play mindless games, pay their bills and shop online. We opened our Facebook accounts to check that our kids were not into anything that could be deemed harmful. We do not go anywhere near the really interesting sites; we do not see the astoundingly clever and creative concepts our youth put together and share with each other. Our youth are aware of so many current issues that most of the Adults in the room have no idea about. The youth HAVE got it and it is us who have become apathetic to the world and its possibilities.

This week courtesy of one of these sites I have learned of an 87 Year Old College Student Named Rose who share with the Uni students this wonderful summary of life ~

“We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humour every day. You’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die. We have so many people walking around who are dead and don’t even know it! There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody can grow older. That doesn’t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change.  Have no regrets. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.”  (Many thanks to michiamocristina from tumblr for sharing this).

Rose is right and so are many of our children; despite our best efforts to crush this seemingly intuitive knowledge from them. Remember to live your life without regret, if your friends are constantly trying to change you or worse belittling every idea you have, then it is time to change friends. It is your life and you need to live it how you want to. Have no regrets! Find the positive in life and lose the negative. Mimic the behaviour of our youth and pursue those creative outlets.  And in closing I will leave you with this lovely Irish Proverb to ponder. 

Dance as if no-one were watching,

Sing as if no-one were listening,

Love as if you’ve never been hurt,

 Live every day as if it were your last!