I couldn't agree more with your point of view, David! From what I hear (I have my sources) schools have suffered a cultural hijacking, largely in the direction of what's fashionable. As you say, it is increasingly assumed that everything must be done through computers - although the "skills" acquired are usually very narrow and restrictive: Microsoft Windows and perhaps smart phones.
Forty years ago, when I worked for a leading multinational computer firm, I witnessed an astonishing transformation. One year I was the despised "techy", the chap who knew machine code, assembly language, and compiled languages; understood how an operating system worked; and could even explain the intricacies of the file system. (Although I was surprised to note that, even after I had laid it all out in the simplest terms, my audience would claim to be utterly mystified).
Among managers, one of the basic marks of superiority was to know nothing about computers, software, or how they worked. Bosses would boast that they had to have secretaries take dictation, as they could not stoop to anything so vulgar as typing. (One claimed not to "know how" to use a keyboard!)
And then... came the PC! Instead of big timesharing computers, each manager now had his or her own PC - and suddenly they became very deeply interested indeed. Within a few months, attitudes swung round by 180 degrees, and now I came across groups of bosses at the coffee machine or the water cooler exchanging tips on spreadsheet macros! (I wondered how much harm they would do through wrong formulae or obsolete rules). Now I was the outcast because I DIDN'T use PC applications.
Soon all the other familiar curses descended on us. No one could just stand up and explain something: no PowerPoint, no credibility. Huge and elaborate spreadsheets became festering heaps of writhing bugs and inconsistent assumptions - sometimes causing managers to make astonishing claims about financial numbers. ("Computer says...")
I couldn't agree more thatclassroom time should be devoted to studying the actual subjects in question. Too many teachers are struggling to master esoteric techniques that in no way improve their outcomes. Every minute wasted on fiddling with software is a minute not spent on sharing knowledge.
The problems with school systems run far deeper than this lazy and ill-conceived reliance on computers you justly criticise here, David. As for 'Stormzy versus Bach' - music is a tricky beast! I fondly remember the futility of one of my middle school teachers trying to get us into listening to classical compositions... But music appreciation is a habit, and music lessons in schools do not have the scope or reach to instil it.
I personally would think it entirely possible to take a grime or rap artist and teach music appreciation by exposing the practices behind it, and through their use of samples, show the deep lineage of music that connects Stormzy to the Bach concertos Glenn Gould was famed for performing. That schools today could not even contemplate a curriculum where such an endeavour was plausible to pursue is emblematic of the deeper problems with the entire framework of contemporary schooling.
II'm increasingly of the view that our very language has been hijacked and that we need new, more accurate definitions for everything. TPTB are getting away with a lot by hiding behind the smokescreen of out of date definitions.
Thus 'education' should now mean training to be conformist and compliant to the approved narrative; an absence of critical thinking; a reluctance to engage in activity not pre-determined by an authority figure.
My daughter, who runs her own independent art classroom says she is amazed by the number of children who come to her classes and want to be told what to do every step of the way, who can't make the smallest, most inconsequential decision on their own or use any initiative. Working occasionally as a supply teacher in a local secondary schools, she is horrified at the regimentation and obsession with avoiding punishment by the pupils. Like animals trained to move towards reward and avoid the electric fence. The teachers are like warders. The walls are plastered with climate cult and transgender propaganda rather than inspirational art or information about the wider world. Needless to say the schools have hardly any time devoted to art and abysmal resources for any creative endeavour - no doubt because it is a subject that encourages individuality and that is no use in our brave new world of trained monkeys.
I couldn't agree more with your point of view, David! From what I hear (I have my sources) schools have suffered a cultural hijacking, largely in the direction of what's fashionable. As you say, it is increasingly assumed that everything must be done through computers - although the "skills" acquired are usually very narrow and restrictive: Microsoft Windows and perhaps smart phones.
Forty years ago, when I worked for a leading multinational computer firm, I witnessed an astonishing transformation. One year I was the despised "techy", the chap who knew machine code, assembly language, and compiled languages; understood how an operating system worked; and could even explain the intricacies of the file system. (Although I was surprised to note that, even after I had laid it all out in the simplest terms, my audience would claim to be utterly mystified).
Among managers, one of the basic marks of superiority was to know nothing about computers, software, or how they worked. Bosses would boast that they had to have secretaries take dictation, as they could not stoop to anything so vulgar as typing. (One claimed not to "know how" to use a keyboard!)
And then... came the PC! Instead of big timesharing computers, each manager now had his or her own PC - and suddenly they became very deeply interested indeed. Within a few months, attitudes swung round by 180 degrees, and now I came across groups of bosses at the coffee machine or the water cooler exchanging tips on spreadsheet macros! (I wondered how much harm they would do through wrong formulae or obsolete rules). Now I was the outcast because I DIDN'T use PC applications.
Soon all the other familiar curses descended on us. No one could just stand up and explain something: no PowerPoint, no credibility. Huge and elaborate spreadsheets became festering heaps of writhing bugs and inconsistent assumptions - sometimes causing managers to make astonishing claims about financial numbers. ("Computer says...")
I couldn't agree more thatclassroom time should be devoted to studying the actual subjects in question. Too many teachers are struggling to master esoteric techniques that in no way improve their outcomes. Every minute wasted on fiddling with software is a minute not spent on sharing knowledge.
The problems with school systems run far deeper than this lazy and ill-conceived reliance on computers you justly criticise here, David. As for 'Stormzy versus Bach' - music is a tricky beast! I fondly remember the futility of one of my middle school teachers trying to get us into listening to classical compositions... But music appreciation is a habit, and music lessons in schools do not have the scope or reach to instil it.
I personally would think it entirely possible to take a grime or rap artist and teach music appreciation by exposing the practices behind it, and through their use of samples, show the deep lineage of music that connects Stormzy to the Bach concertos Glenn Gould was famed for performing. That schools today could not even contemplate a curriculum where such an endeavour was plausible to pursue is emblematic of the deeper problems with the entire framework of contemporary schooling.
II'm increasingly of the view that our very language has been hijacked and that we need new, more accurate definitions for everything. TPTB are getting away with a lot by hiding behind the smokescreen of out of date definitions.
Thus 'education' should now mean training to be conformist and compliant to the approved narrative; an absence of critical thinking; a reluctance to engage in activity not pre-determined by an authority figure.
My daughter, who runs her own independent art classroom says she is amazed by the number of children who come to her classes and want to be told what to do every step of the way, who can't make the smallest, most inconsequential decision on their own or use any initiative. Working occasionally as a supply teacher in a local secondary schools, she is horrified at the regimentation and obsession with avoiding punishment by the pupils. Like animals trained to move towards reward and avoid the electric fence. The teachers are like warders. The walls are plastered with climate cult and transgender propaganda rather than inspirational art or information about the wider world. Needless to say the schools have hardly any time devoted to art and abysmal resources for any creative endeavour - no doubt because it is a subject that encourages individuality and that is no use in our brave new world of trained monkeys.