i really think anti-intellectualism is the bigger problem, at least in america. let's face it--the overwhelming majority of people do not value a thorough education, did not receive one, and will not pass a desire for one on to their children. it isn't cool to spend your time reading shakespeare or developing advanced math skills--it isn't cool to pay attention in class, do your homework or engage your teacher in conversation/debate. as an american teenager you are supposed to despise school and your teachers for making you do work. "when will i ever use this" is a pretty dominant mentality--most american school children are convinced that school is a waste of their precious time (time they would rather spend watching television, playing games, texting, surfing the internet). this mentality is reinforced at home by parents who don't encourage their children to read or engage them in intellectual conversation, and who spend their free time watching television or doing other things. obviously i don't expect a child to be born with a burning desire to become a polymath, but when they do not have that desire within themselves, and the parents do not provide the motivation, the last resource is teachers. teachers are essential in educating our children and yet some teachers seem to have 'educating' very low on their list of priorities. before i go further i believe it would be useful to define the word 'education' for my purposes. the primary component of an education i think is critical thinking skills--it is absolutely essential that students learn to make inferences and deductions, make connections between separate ideas, analyze and explain ideas and situations and view new information and ideas with an open mind. knowledge is important and amassed over time but it is secondary to the ability to think critically about information. sadly developing this skill is almost a non-point in american schools. in college prep classes, often the focus of the teacher is ensuring their students pass their tests and pass the standardized tests (which are silly easy) and so the focus of the class is the memorization of information that will be included (in multiple-choice format) on the tests and standardized tests and not the ability to analyze that information of make connections between the ideas within it. and unless you happen to get lucky and have a great teacher or two, all college-prep classes all throughout high school are like that--and the ability to think critically is literally never developed. the system is like this in part because of the standardized testing system where students are expected to perform at a certain minimum level but also because teachers themselves are a product of the education system here and don't see the problem with the way everything works. also you don't tend to gain a lot of favor (in the short term) with students when you rigorously challenge them (as mentioned before, they mostly hate school and will hate you for making them work) and so it's just easier on the teacher to make the tests easy--kids pass, they like you, all is well. unfortunately without teachers providing that motivation and without parents providing it and without role models who provide it many students go through school without learning much of anything, and grow in to adults who don't know much of anything about anything, and then you become and old person who attends tea party rallies.
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