Vicissitudes and Victories

Learning How to Learn

Today I gave a lecture in a class on the history of Christianity. It was entitle Religion and Revolution. The funny thing is that my primary field of emphasis is Japanese American History. I haven't taken a class on Colonial America or the Revolutionary War for at least five years. Yet my graduate school education has taughht me how to learn, and I was quickly able to immerse myself in knowledge and teach the lecture. The teacher and students even commented on the things that I taught. The reason why I could learn about and give the lecture is because my education has taught me how to learn.

I think the proble with the No Child Left Behind Program is that it tests for the wrong thing. The truth is that it doesn't matter how much a child knows, it really matters how well they've learned how to learn. That is why classes in the arts, foreign languages, and humanities are very important. In learning these subjects children learn how to learn. I am not trying to belittle math and science because these disciplines teach different types of learning. But the real importance isn't in the subject matter, but in expanding childrens minds to be able to learn what they will need to cope with families, jobs, and friendships. Different children will need to learn how to learn in different ways, but at some level all of life is about being able to gain the knowledge and learn the skills that will help us to prosper. Well, that's my rant for the day.

posted by Joel @ 3:54 PM