#568 Musings Beyond the Bunker (Friday January 27)
Good morning,
TEACHING BEGINS AT HOME
I continue to be confused by the cultural warfare being fought on the fields of K-12 school curriculum. Perhaps naively, I always have trusted that educators would make good decisions in choosing books that engage students and improve their reading and analytical skills. Hopefully these books would have literary merit. I would expect that these books would be analyzed in depth and discussed with classmates. One expects that children come home and speak with their parents and siblings about some of the themes of the literature. To be clear, I have not always seen eye-to-eye with teachers’ choices, as I think some great works of the canon are being discarded by some literature (but not all) of lesser quality—but in the end they are choices of the educators and need not be the same as mine.
Little did I realize that movements—on both sides of political spectrum—would arise, with people seeking to ban books because some of the language used at the times the books were written offends current ears, characters in some books may make life choices parents condemn, or the authors were people who are deemed morally wanting by today’s standards.
Lost in this preoccupation with what is being taught in schools is the very nature of the partnership of schools and parents in educating students. I don’t understand why parents are so concerned with their children reading certain books—books that the parents may actually not like. Parents are overly involved in the curriculum taught at schools through a misguided notion that this is the only place where kids are learning about the world. To be clear, these same parents who have declared war on the “educational establishment” likely would be stunned by what their children are reading on line or are hearing from their friends.
Lest we forget, the primary place where education comes is in the home, the family and the community. Going to church or temple, engaging in discussions of the news, and joining service organizations will provide valuable educational experiences for children. In the meantime, we are competing with the less credible and potentially damaging sources available through social media or a simple Google search. In the end, children's primary source of education about the world comes, for better or worse, from parents. Parents should discuss with children what is learned in school. It is in these conversations they can share their perspective (and maybe even learn something from their children’s classes!). Parents also should discuss with children what they see on TV, what they hear in the news, and what they see about town.
But most important, parents should set a good example—one that is not afraid of the occasional offensive book, one that is accepting both of newer marginalized authors and “dead white men,” and one that demonstrates the importance of consuming the written word from multiple perspectives and sources.
Indeed, parents should be reading to their children more. In 2016, the nonprofit organization Read Aloud for 15 Minutes found that “fewer than half of parents read aloud to their children every day, and only 34% do so for at least 15 minutes. Fewer than one in 10 parents reported reading aloud daily for 15 minutes from birth, as recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics.”
WE SHOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT LITERACY MORE THAN BEING CONCERNED ABOUT WHAT READING IS ASSIGNED
And for all the complaining about what children are reading, how about a focus on why people aren’t reading more. Some statistics from The Literacy Project in 2021 that should make all of us concerned:
Currently, 45 million Americans are functionally illiterate and cannot read above a fifth-grade level
50% of adults cannot read a book written at an eighth-grade level
57% of students failed the California Standards Test in English
1/3 of fourth-graders reach the proficient reading level
25% of students in California school systems are able to perform basic reading skills
85% of juvenile offenders have problems reading
3 out of 5 people in American prisons can’t read
3 out of 4 people on welfare can’t read
Schools are not the only place where children should be learning to read or learning about the world. I would suggest that all these parents who are so concerned about what happens at their children’s schools instead see the school as merely one part of the educational menu, and not the sole source of their kids’ education. Parents are not mere consumers of the educational system. It is too easy to be a consumer and complain about a product. It is something entirely different to have to engage in the educational enterprise as partners with the school. That begins by reading to kids and having them read to us. And then discussing books, news, and the world—and even sharing a conversation about the lessons being learned in school (including the ones with which the parents might disagree).
BEING WELL INFORMED
“Progress, far from consisting in change, depends on retentiveness. When change is absolute there remains no being to improve and no direction is set for possible improvement: and when experience is not retained, as among savages, infancy is perpetual. Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.” –George Santayana
Have a great day,
Glenn
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