Return-Path: <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Received: from literacy (localhost [127.0.0.1]) by literacy.nifl.gov (8.10.2/8.10.2) with SMTP id f57Cwsf23698; Thu, 7 Jun 2001 08:58:54 -0400 (EDT) Date: Thu, 7 Jun 2001 08:58:54 -0400 (EDT) Message-Id: <3B1F7971.A9AD149F@ellijay.com> Errors-To: listowner@literacy.nifl.gov Reply-To: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Originator: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Sender: nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov Precedence: bulk From: Art LaChance <arthur@ellijay.com> To: Multiple recipients of list <nifl-ld@literacy.nifl.gov> Subject: [NIFL-LD:3482] Re: re; Degrading award ceremonies X-Listprocessor-Version: 6.0c -- ListProcessor by Anastasios Kotsikonas Content-transfer-encoding: 7bit Content-type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii X-Mailer: Mozilla 4.7 [en] (Win98; I) Status: O Content-Length: 6750 Lines: 55 Sally, Just a couple of comments here in response to your excellent input. When I attended an advanced electronics course in the Navy all skills learned in class were tested via 'performance tests' on field equipment. Major stuff. I learned more from doing that test than in class. My ld is connected to language reception as a result of a brain injury in the fifth grade. I learn best through doing and watching the results. The moral here is I think some sort of standardized performance measure is absolutely necessary, for many reasons, and primarily to prove to the teacher and student that the student understands the material. What I've learned since then is that "standardized tests" can be a good thing, IF and I emphasize IF, the child has actually been taught the skills involved. I remember clearly being in classrooms in elementary and middle school and stopping our regularly scheduled curriculum, (if there even was one) to review the upcoming standardized test of the day. What I remember was that nothing on those pages of information the teacher passed out made any sense at all. I had not a clue as to what they were asking us to do, and unfortunately I was not alone. We had never been exposed to anything like that. Almost as a direct result of those experiences I now highly recommend our GED students take as many GED Practice tests as they can so that when they go for the real thing emotionally they will be able to avoid most of the internal "test anxiety" and gear their heads into just taking another one of Art's stupid practice tests. So far it's worked fairly well. We're testing skill mastery, and they shouldn't be thrown off by the complexities of test style. Ceremonies are curious things. Hardly anybody shows up for a birth yet they come out of the woodwork for a death. And conversely, everybody hoots and hollers at a wedding, yet nobody says a word at a divorce (and that's probably a more beneficial thing for all). Strange values our society has. Art Art LaChance Gilmer Learning Center Ellijay, GA Brown Sally wrote: > I think there are several factors contributing to why school award ceremonies are so hard. First there are too few ceremonies valuing ones humanness and uniqueness in Western society. Second we are all created with such different talents and abilities, distributed so randomly that it appears that life just is not fair thus making any competition seem almost silly and cruel because no matter how hard someone tries they still may not ever even come close to even the finish line (metaphorically). Not being able to have a child is a good example of not even being able to enter the race. Obviously ceremoniesof any sort can be just as painful for people whose dreams are not coming true especially when society values deeply what they are not capable of. Third most schools do not give one the opportunities to explore all ones attribute because the primary focus is on academics. > > One major problem is there are too few ceremonies in Western Society to just validate one as a valuable unique individual. In certain indigenous cultures > in which everyone is given a name ceremony or a ceremony on becoming an adult one's value is not questioned. Everything else one accomplishes afterward is the icing on the cake. > > There is jealousy in none award ceremonies such as weddings and birth celebration. I heard of people not even having the strength to attend such ceremonies because they were having a hard time finding a mate or not being able to have a child and they would not be able to be truly happy for the one having the party. Jealousy of other people being able to procreate is a very common theme in Genesis. When being valued in society is based on the amount of offspring one has, people are going to be jealous ceremony or no ceremony. > > The educational system is also contributing to the problem. Whether or not you have a natural aptitude or not for scholastics that is what you are going > to be judged for by adults first. > > The question becomes of more of a spiritual nature. Was everyone put on this planet with a special gift to use to serve society and be a productive human > being? I would hope this is true. There are many types of intelligence and talents that may never even blossom in a school environment. Or one may > feel so defeated before they experience something that may be their gift, that they are not even able to recognize their capabilities. > > The whole thing is sad. We have appeared to have replaced the value of procreation with the value of "higher education" and those who are not capable are made to feel useless especially when they are in the system. > > I do not know what the answers are. Most people are very stressed (many educators and are doing the best they can in most situations, with ittle > support and resources). I think frustration and also ignorance is leading to their cruelty.However the cruelty of this award ceremony goes way beyond teachers frustration and ignorance but a major problem with administration, parents and teachers involved. They would have to be living under a rock not to know better. What type of example are they modeling for the kids? > > Ironically I was substitute teaching in school in which the opposite problem occurred. The administration was making the teachers give every graduating > fifth grader a positive unique award. I heard the teachers complaining. They were having problems coming up with something uniquely special about each > child. > > On a more positive note a wonderful children's book is called "Junior Thunder Lord" and the moral of the story is "those on the top must help those on the bottom." It is about a person name Yue who is beaten by his teacher for not knowing his work but succeeds despite of this, due to the smartest kid in the class tutoring him. He grows up to be a successful merchant and tries hard to help people no matter how frustrating it gets or how others perceives him. His values of helping others pays off in a surprising way to the character at the end. > > I am sorry this is so long. > > Sally Brown > > P.S. > I have an annoying learning disability myself that I just discovered three years ago at age 34. I just find it amazing how many jobs require Master Degrees when the true learning is done through doing the work and not through writing papers. Degrees are used now instead of apprenticeships, which seems to set unnecessary obstacles infront of people that would other wise be quite capable. This is yet another ritual to exclude more people than needed and not give proper experience to prepare the people graduating for the work that they are now deemed to be professional in.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b30 : Fri Jan 18 2002 - 11:27:58 EST