Is A Puzzlement!
"Is a Puzzlement!"
https://vimeo.com/45346724
Now why, after at least twenty years or more, has this particular piece from the musical, The King and I, bubbled up out the depths of my subconscious? The King of Siam questions everything he knows and believes. trying to reconcile the world he knows with the new world. Perhaps the deep and seeking questions of some of my students this week have touched a nerve; yes, a very raw nerve! School is failing them.
Teenagers are anything but stupid yet we, as a society, persist in treating them as if they are utter morons. The education system is perpetuating that idea in its ill conceived policies and band aid approached to the realities of life. Many of my students know that something is not right with the system that they are forced into, but they do not know what. So, I get the questions. Now a lot of teachers might back off from some of these questions, but I firmly believe that if a question is asked, the asker deserves an honest answer on a level that he / she can comprehend. She or he will know if I am being evasive or trying to put them off, making me a hypocrite - a quality I detest. This often leads into some highly "teachable moments" where real life learning occurs.
Some of the lessons I have had to teach this week:
1) "Life is not fair - accept that now and things will be much easier for you." This came about from a discussion in my Law 12 class about human rights. Discussions in my class, especially Law, can start with the mundane (Speeding is a Summary Offence.) and somehow end up in the arcane ( But what would the charge be if you were speeding and accidentally hit someone who was on their way to kill someone? Would you still get a ticket?) So it was not unusual when a simple discussion on the Charter and discrimination turned into one on Transgender rights. Now this is a murky area, but I try to get my students to look at all sides of an issue before making up their minds. I also firmly believe that we have a right to disagree with a policy, ideology, practice...whatever...as long as we never attack a person for their beliefs. Healthy dissent is necessary and a skill that has to be taught. One girl in particular was becoming quite huffy even at the idea that someone else might feel uncomfortable with gender neutral bathrooms. I calmly asserted that everyone had a right to feel what they were feeling and to express that as long as they were not being rude or hateful. This escalated into the rights of a male transitioning to female who wants to compete against other women. I took a stand on that, and disagreed with the idea. She immediately exploded. "But that's not FAIR!"
I asked her. "Fair to whom? Those women who have trained all their lives for the Olympics and are now forced to compete with someone who is physiologically is male?" She just looked at me blankly. I continued, " Learn something right now! LIFE is not FAIR! I know that you have been told most of your lives that you can have and be whatever you want, but life will have its way with you. You will not be able to have everything go your way or work out the way you think it should, and you will either adapt to that or stay trapped in your fantasy world. Learn that now and you will have a much easier time!" I could smell the smoke as she let that burn into her consciousness. I don't think anyone had ever broached that concept with her before. As the class ended and the kids filed out, a couple of them high-fived me with the comment. "Best class ever, Miss!" She hung back and we had a great discussion about how to make your points without being volatile and confrontational. I gave her a big hug. curious to see if any of it would have an effect. The next day she was a different person: articulate, controlled, respectful of her peers...wow! At the end of class. I was the one giving the high-five, and she was beaming! That'll do; yes, that'll do!
2) "You will not be rewarded in the real world for simply doing what you are supposed to." Arrgh! This belief is one of the consequences of the idiotic policies that have been around where everybody gets a trophy for just showing up and students can pass by sitting in a seat and having a pulse. Learning for the sake of learning is unheard of. Why put any effort into your work when you know that Joey will get the same credit as you will even though he has missed 35 classes? Now, of course, I do have students who understand that this way of thinking is only going to hurt them, and rise above, but the majority buy into it. I teach History; it has a lot of content; you need to know that content to fully understand how events connect. Sounds logical, eh? Well, try and convince a bunch of teenagers that there is value in learning that content even if they are not to going to be "marked" on anything specific to it. They feel that there should be some reward for learning. As I was teaching the Great Depression the other day, this came up. I asked the student why she was in school. She tried to find a response that did not involve the words "to learn". Her final answer was so she could eventually get a good paying job. I informed her that THIS was her job at the moment; LEARNING! Reward? Good grades that will hopefully put her on to a path of success. I asked her if she intended on living a productive life as a citizen of Canada. Of course she did! So I gently explained to her how a deeper understanding of the events that shaped our world today might be of benefit to her when the next Recession came or she went to Europe and wondered why Canadians are so well liked in certain countries. I think I got through to her, and some of the rest, that you will not be rewarded for everything little thing you do in life and to expect that will lead to a lot of frustration and disappointment. The idea that doing something well simply for the sake of learning and expanding one's knowledge is, sadly, one that has been lost along the way.
3) "Common sense is not common." This came out teaching essay structure to a class with many varied learning levels: Grade 10, Grade 11, some kids who were in Pre-IB, some kids who are at a Grades 2 - 8 level -yah..fun! As I was going through the mechanics of how to format the essay, what not to do, what to do, how to write an introduction, etc..., I could see some of my former Pre_IB students' eyes glazing and looks of incredulity coming on their faces. I smiled inwardly as I had seen this before when students come into a "regular" course after having been been in the more rigorous IB stream. They can not believe how low we have to set the "bar" to ensure that "everyone" has success (and most students will say that I have the "bar" higher than most teachers). So, off we went to the library to start their research. Once I had them all settled and mostly on task, I sat down with one of the students who had had a particularly pained look on her face. I asked her if she had any questions. "Oh my God, Miss! I thought that everyone knew by now how to do a basic essay! I thought it was just common sense!" Now this girl has a 98% in the course and puts out her best in all areas of her life. So we talked about the fact that we can not assume that all students have the same base of knowledge just because they are in the same school. grade or course. I explained that not all parents read to their kids or expose them to knowledge, so we can't hold kids responsible for things they have never been taught. She was not being rude or demeaning, she truly was flabbergasted at the lack of what she considered to be common sense knowledge that everyone should have by high school. This led to the question, "Well why don't the schools hold higher standards?" Oh. Lord! This led into a discussion about how the education system works and how it had changed, not for the better. We talked pretty much the whole class, and when the buzzer went, she thanked me for talking frankly to her. I sat there for a moment and wondered how many other students were going through their education puzzled at the seemingly pointless policies in place that discourage them from thinking for themselves and openly questioning the lack of common sense that they see everyday. Sigh!
4) "Just because you CAN do something does mean that it is a good idea to do it." This came out of another Law class; where else..lol? When I have a male student tell me that is normal for their generation to live in fear of doing something that could remotely be construed as sexist or sexual assault, my ire gets raised. I went out on a limb and actually dared to suggest that this so called "rape culture" is no different than the way men and woman interacted in my day. It just gets more publicity and that is not always a good thing. I also stirred the pot by suggesting that women DO have a responsibility in determining how they are perceived not just by men, but by society. I found it very interesting that the discussion always reverted to the defense that no one deserves to be raped no matter what they are doing, wearing, saying, etc..even though I had never once disputed that fact, and had heartily supported those comments. I asked them if everything that they believed should or should not happen in the world goes as they wish. Well, no; so I asked them then, why they thought that, in this imperfect world, populated by imperfect people, they should expect that all men will act nobly toward women and vice versa. Ah...that mental smoke smell permeated the classroom. One of the girls, with whom I had addressed some inappropriate shorts on the school trip tried using the Charter against my argument (well done!). She claimed the right to wear what she wanted under the Freedom of Expression clause. I agreed with her; she does have that right! BUT, I pointed out that just because you have the RIGHT do something does not necessarily it is WISE to do it. Hmmm..more smoke. This comes right back to the missing quality of Common Sense that seems to afflict more and more of our young people. I love their idealism, but I fear for them in the real world.
Yes, as Yul Bryner sang. "Is a puzzlement!". I wish that I had the answers to all their questions, but they will have to find them out through trial and error just as I did. The world is a much more confusing place now, though. The fear they live with is normal to them, but then they wonder why so many young people have anxiety and depression. I am glad I am old.
https://vimeo.com/45346724
Now why, after at least twenty years or more, has this particular piece from the musical, The King and I, bubbled up out the depths of my subconscious? The King of Siam questions everything he knows and believes. trying to reconcile the world he knows with the new world. Perhaps the deep and seeking questions of some of my students this week have touched a nerve; yes, a very raw nerve! School is failing them.
Teenagers are anything but stupid yet we, as a society, persist in treating them as if they are utter morons. The education system is perpetuating that idea in its ill conceived policies and band aid approached to the realities of life. Many of my students know that something is not right with the system that they are forced into, but they do not know what. So, I get the questions. Now a lot of teachers might back off from some of these questions, but I firmly believe that if a question is asked, the asker deserves an honest answer on a level that he / she can comprehend. She or he will know if I am being evasive or trying to put them off, making me a hypocrite - a quality I detest. This often leads into some highly "teachable moments" where real life learning occurs.
Some of the lessons I have had to teach this week:
1) "Life is not fair - accept that now and things will be much easier for you." This came about from a discussion in my Law 12 class about human rights. Discussions in my class, especially Law, can start with the mundane (Speeding is a Summary Offence.) and somehow end up in the arcane ( But what would the charge be if you were speeding and accidentally hit someone who was on their way to kill someone? Would you still get a ticket?) So it was not unusual when a simple discussion on the Charter and discrimination turned into one on Transgender rights. Now this is a murky area, but I try to get my students to look at all sides of an issue before making up their minds. I also firmly believe that we have a right to disagree with a policy, ideology, practice...whatever...as long as we never attack a person for their beliefs. Healthy dissent is necessary and a skill that has to be taught. One girl in particular was becoming quite huffy even at the idea that someone else might feel uncomfortable with gender neutral bathrooms. I calmly asserted that everyone had a right to feel what they were feeling and to express that as long as they were not being rude or hateful. This escalated into the rights of a male transitioning to female who wants to compete against other women. I took a stand on that, and disagreed with the idea. She immediately exploded. "But that's not FAIR!"
I asked her. "Fair to whom? Those women who have trained all their lives for the Olympics and are now forced to compete with someone who is physiologically is male?" She just looked at me blankly. I continued, " Learn something right now! LIFE is not FAIR! I know that you have been told most of your lives that you can have and be whatever you want, but life will have its way with you. You will not be able to have everything go your way or work out the way you think it should, and you will either adapt to that or stay trapped in your fantasy world. Learn that now and you will have a much easier time!" I could smell the smoke as she let that burn into her consciousness. I don't think anyone had ever broached that concept with her before. As the class ended and the kids filed out, a couple of them high-fived me with the comment. "Best class ever, Miss!" She hung back and we had a great discussion about how to make your points without being volatile and confrontational. I gave her a big hug. curious to see if any of it would have an effect. The next day she was a different person: articulate, controlled, respectful of her peers...wow! At the end of class. I was the one giving the high-five, and she was beaming! That'll do; yes, that'll do!
2) "You will not be rewarded in the real world for simply doing what you are supposed to." Arrgh! This belief is one of the consequences of the idiotic policies that have been around where everybody gets a trophy for just showing up and students can pass by sitting in a seat and having a pulse. Learning for the sake of learning is unheard of. Why put any effort into your work when you know that Joey will get the same credit as you will even though he has missed 35 classes? Now, of course, I do have students who understand that this way of thinking is only going to hurt them, and rise above, but the majority buy into it. I teach History; it has a lot of content; you need to know that content to fully understand how events connect. Sounds logical, eh? Well, try and convince a bunch of teenagers that there is value in learning that content even if they are not to going to be "marked" on anything specific to it. They feel that there should be some reward for learning. As I was teaching the Great Depression the other day, this came up. I asked the student why she was in school. She tried to find a response that did not involve the words "to learn". Her final answer was so she could eventually get a good paying job. I informed her that THIS was her job at the moment; LEARNING! Reward? Good grades that will hopefully put her on to a path of success. I asked her if she intended on living a productive life as a citizen of Canada. Of course she did! So I gently explained to her how a deeper understanding of the events that shaped our world today might be of benefit to her when the next Recession came or she went to Europe and wondered why Canadians are so well liked in certain countries. I think I got through to her, and some of the rest, that you will not be rewarded for everything little thing you do in life and to expect that will lead to a lot of frustration and disappointment. The idea that doing something well simply for the sake of learning and expanding one's knowledge is, sadly, one that has been lost along the way.
3) "Common sense is not common." This came out teaching essay structure to a class with many varied learning levels: Grade 10, Grade 11, some kids who were in Pre-IB, some kids who are at a Grades 2 - 8 level -yah..fun! As I was going through the mechanics of how to format the essay, what not to do, what to do, how to write an introduction, etc..., I could see some of my former Pre_IB students' eyes glazing and looks of incredulity coming on their faces. I smiled inwardly as I had seen this before when students come into a "regular" course after having been been in the more rigorous IB stream. They can not believe how low we have to set the "bar" to ensure that "everyone" has success (and most students will say that I have the "bar" higher than most teachers). So, off we went to the library to start their research. Once I had them all settled and mostly on task, I sat down with one of the students who had had a particularly pained look on her face. I asked her if she had any questions. "Oh my God, Miss! I thought that everyone knew by now how to do a basic essay! I thought it was just common sense!" Now this girl has a 98% in the course and puts out her best in all areas of her life. So we talked about the fact that we can not assume that all students have the same base of knowledge just because they are in the same school. grade or course. I explained that not all parents read to their kids or expose them to knowledge, so we can't hold kids responsible for things they have never been taught. She was not being rude or demeaning, she truly was flabbergasted at the lack of what she considered to be common sense knowledge that everyone should have by high school. This led to the question, "Well why don't the schools hold higher standards?" Oh. Lord! This led into a discussion about how the education system works and how it had changed, not for the better. We talked pretty much the whole class, and when the buzzer went, she thanked me for talking frankly to her. I sat there for a moment and wondered how many other students were going through their education puzzled at the seemingly pointless policies in place that discourage them from thinking for themselves and openly questioning the lack of common sense that they see everyday. Sigh!
4) "Just because you CAN do something does mean that it is a good idea to do it." This came out of another Law class; where else..lol? When I have a male student tell me that is normal for their generation to live in fear of doing something that could remotely be construed as sexist or sexual assault, my ire gets raised. I went out on a limb and actually dared to suggest that this so called "rape culture" is no different than the way men and woman interacted in my day. It just gets more publicity and that is not always a good thing. I also stirred the pot by suggesting that women DO have a responsibility in determining how they are perceived not just by men, but by society. I found it very interesting that the discussion always reverted to the defense that no one deserves to be raped no matter what they are doing, wearing, saying, etc..even though I had never once disputed that fact, and had heartily supported those comments. I asked them if everything that they believed should or should not happen in the world goes as they wish. Well, no; so I asked them then, why they thought that, in this imperfect world, populated by imperfect people, they should expect that all men will act nobly toward women and vice versa. Ah...that mental smoke smell permeated the classroom. One of the girls, with whom I had addressed some inappropriate shorts on the school trip tried using the Charter against my argument (well done!). She claimed the right to wear what she wanted under the Freedom of Expression clause. I agreed with her; she does have that right! BUT, I pointed out that just because you have the RIGHT do something does not necessarily it is WISE to do it. Hmmm..more smoke. This comes right back to the missing quality of Common Sense that seems to afflict more and more of our young people. I love their idealism, but I fear for them in the real world.
Yes, as Yul Bryner sang. "Is a puzzlement!". I wish that I had the answers to all their questions, but they will have to find them out through trial and error just as I did. The world is a much more confusing place now, though. The fear they live with is normal to them, but then they wonder why so many young people have anxiety and depression. I am glad I am old.
Comments
Post a Comment