Salt Lake City, UT is not the only place where housewives and their children are seeking artistic expression. Whether one writes a song, creates a sculpted bust, or just adds their own special touch to a store-bought item, they see benefit by virtue of pursuing the activity. One can find classes at hobby stores nation-wide, but there are some strictly retail operations which have the kilns already firing and are simply waiting for us to find a place to paint pottery.
Many families engage in these artistic endeavors together, as they find they all benefit from it. Teenagers are able to perfect artistic skills which are still very important to them at that age, young children work on those fine motor skills they will need to learn to write, and the in-between age kids learn to concentrate and focus on one activity for a long period of time. Mom and Dad get to spend time together with the children, with no television intruding into their special time.
With the public education system dumping arts and music classes, not to mention physical education and free play, kids need these activities more than ever. The basics of school have always been reading, writing, and arithmetic, and no one would argue that these skills are very important to develop in this ever-changing world. However, without being able to see the world in more than a right-brained manner, the next generation will be little more than cubicle dwellers, and we may see a reduction in new technologies or ideas being developed in the United States.
Because the more creative students do not learn well in a completely linear-styled environment, these students often drop out of school and never pursue much of a college education. This can become a total tragedy for the country. Many of these students do excel in art, science, literature, and music; and by removing these electives from the curriculum they simply give up on school completely.
What is worse is that we may not even know at the end of any school year just how many students have dropped out rather than finishing public school due to this lack of elective classes. Students can join scholastic clubs, and that does encourage some of them to stay. However, a creative mind will often score low on the right- brained, linear testing because that is not how they learn, and many will give up after repeated failures.
There is no doubt that this change in education has been intentional, and society as a whole has been steered in a direction that encourages memorization over learning. Regurgitation of information is prized over the ability to think a problem through for oneself. Because the female students tend to fare better in this world of standardized testing, many teachers, especially in the elementary school ages, try to push the male students into alternative classes and keep only those students who score high as mainstream.
By creative alternatives they are usually talking about special education, and this has always consisted of a dumbed-down curriculum managed through workbooks and multiple-choice quizzes minutes after the material is read. They are not required even to memorize, only to read and moderately comprehend. This allows teachers to focus on the linear, right-brained students who test well.
It is unclear whether or not pursuing artistic endeavors outside the educational setting will encourage students to stay in school or not, but it is a social test worth conducting. Even if the rate of attrition in public schools does continue, at least those students will have a better rounded experience overall because they have the ability to paint a portrait or play a song. The hope is that, with the proper creative outlets available, most any student will be better able to endure the boredom of the Three Rs.
Many families engage in these artistic endeavors together, as they find they all benefit from it. Teenagers are able to perfect artistic skills which are still very important to them at that age, young children work on those fine motor skills they will need to learn to write, and the in-between age kids learn to concentrate and focus on one activity for a long period of time. Mom and Dad get to spend time together with the children, with no television intruding into their special time.
With the public education system dumping arts and music classes, not to mention physical education and free play, kids need these activities more than ever. The basics of school have always been reading, writing, and arithmetic, and no one would argue that these skills are very important to develop in this ever-changing world. However, without being able to see the world in more than a right-brained manner, the next generation will be little more than cubicle dwellers, and we may see a reduction in new technologies or ideas being developed in the United States.
Because the more creative students do not learn well in a completely linear-styled environment, these students often drop out of school and never pursue much of a college education. This can become a total tragedy for the country. Many of these students do excel in art, science, literature, and music; and by removing these electives from the curriculum they simply give up on school completely.
What is worse is that we may not even know at the end of any school year just how many students have dropped out rather than finishing public school due to this lack of elective classes. Students can join scholastic clubs, and that does encourage some of them to stay. However, a creative mind will often score low on the right- brained, linear testing because that is not how they learn, and many will give up after repeated failures.
There is no doubt that this change in education has been intentional, and society as a whole has been steered in a direction that encourages memorization over learning. Regurgitation of information is prized over the ability to think a problem through for oneself. Because the female students tend to fare better in this world of standardized testing, many teachers, especially in the elementary school ages, try to push the male students into alternative classes and keep only those students who score high as mainstream.
By creative alternatives they are usually talking about special education, and this has always consisted of a dumbed-down curriculum managed through workbooks and multiple-choice quizzes minutes after the material is read. They are not required even to memorize, only to read and moderately comprehend. This allows teachers to focus on the linear, right-brained students who test well.
It is unclear whether or not pursuing artistic endeavors outside the educational setting will encourage students to stay in school or not, but it is a social test worth conducting. Even if the rate of attrition in public schools does continue, at least those students will have a better rounded experience overall because they have the ability to paint a portrait or play a song. The hope is that, with the proper creative outlets available, most any student will be better able to endure the boredom of the Three Rs.
Aucun commentaire:
Enregistrer un commentaire