Education:
Skill Acquisition or
Human
Formation?
I’ve been involved with education my
whole life – as a student, a teacher, and a parent. There is a phrase I’ve been hearing with
increasing frequency over the past few years used to describe a school’s
mission – “preparing students for 21st century jobs.”
The phrase makes sense and so does the
idea, obviously. However, it has been
used as a justification for practices that have begun to cause me real
concern. (Of course, I am only speaking
to my own experience, which is extraordinarily limited compared to the question
of education on a national level).
Technology has become, in many cases,
the new god to be worshipped by our educational system. I have seen text books replaced by e-books,
which have their benefits, to be sure.
But more and more, content is being delivered almost exclusively by
video and computer interactive activities rather than by language, especially
written language. Note-taking, in some
places, is being replaced by Powerpoint presentations, created by the teacher,
and posted on a class Web site for students to download and study. The need for spelling instruction is
questioned since student work is all done on a Word Processing program and
emailed, and cursive is being jettisoned even faster. One principal, at an in-service I attended,
even claimed that within a few years, there would be absolutely no paper used in
the school.
Of course, the level of this change
differs by state, district and diocese.
And, of course, it all begs the question, “So what? Given the pace of technology, isn’t this a
good thing?”
I don’t think so, and here’s why. First, I should point out that I believe
strongly in teaching children computer skills and integrating the technology in
other disciplines where it’s appropriate.
However, I see many problems with replacing the (paper) notebook with
the iPad.
There is plenty of educational
research out there, and anyone with an agenda can find or develop a study to
justify his position, so I will allow those who are interested to investigate
the research and decide for themselves which conclusions to trust.
However, I believe strongly in the
research that suggests that when educational content is delivered largely
through written language, as opposed to video, the brain becomes stronger.
It’s true that video and interactive
computer programs are essential tools to supplement instruction and maximize comprehension
of a topic. Those who lobby for their
exclusive use agree that they allow the brain to comprehend without working as
hard. But there also is the
problem. We don’t want to make learning
difficult, but we do want to train students’ brains. Language, note-taking, etc. allow students to
strengthen their ability to learn and think at levels an iPad and Powerpoint
presentation alone simply can’t.
There is also the issue that many
schools, starting as young as kindergarten, are providing or requiring personal
computers for each student for use all day.
There have been a myriad of studies about the negative effects of so
much screen time on brain development and attention.
In a nut shell, the push for
“preparing students for 21st century jobs” has shifted the focus
from human formation to mere skill acquisition.
This has been happening for a long time in many of our public schools,
but the trend is spilling over into our Catholic schools as well. The Cardinal Newman Society recently reported
that Catholic colleges are becoming more specialized, like their secular
counterparts, and abandoning a well-rounded curriculum for all students (with a
few notable exceptions).
And it is in our primary and secondary
schools that our Catholic school students learn prayer, silence, meditation,
focus and higher-level thinking. This
can not help but be compromised if we insist on keeping them glued to a screen
for 70% of the school day.
Catholic schools more than any other
should understand the importance of forming young people mentally, physically,
emotionally and spiritually as their primary mission, and not just focusing on
the acquiring of skills that will one day provide a paycheck (as important as
that is).
As previously stated, these are only
trends that I am seeing with increasing regularity; they are certainly not
universal. And my concern is not with
the proper instruction and integration of new technology, only the
over-indulgence and abuse of it at the price of our children’s overall
formation.
There are some positive trends as
well. Many Catholic schools and
homeschooling programs are refocusing on a classical curriculum. In the end, it is up to us as parents to
ensure our children are getting an education that prepares them, not just for
21st century jobs, but forms them completely as people created in
God’s image, and ultimately prepares them for Heaven.
