Here's a school that I drive by occasionally on my way to my wife's parent's house. You actually see a lot of schools like this in Peru with signs proclaiming that its the "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart" school or the "Albert Einstein" school or the "Franklin Delano Roosevelt" school...pretty much always with dubious connections to the names they've picked.
Sometimes I think somebody just goes through a book and picks a random name that they figure most Peruvians will associate with "smart" and slap it up there.
It makes me feel a little bit bad to think of the kids in there diligently studying away, although their schooling and the document they get may or may not have any actual worth. I don't know, is a diploma from "Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart" school in Callao the most sought after credential for hiring purposes?
I've been thinking a lot about this stuff mainly because I'm going to have to figure out who to entrust my daughter's education too fairly quickly. Actually that's an overstatement because I'm going to be overseeing her education, but there's a whole lot of socializing that needs to be done which obviously I can't handle (since I'm only one person and not a whole community unfortunately).
My problem with standard education is that it caters to the vast, stupid majority in a variety of ways. First of all, standard education is under the mistaken impression that you need to be respectful of bullshit, ignorant, idiotic ideas just because the majority of the population holds them. That in itself wouldn't be too bad, except that I'm afraid that my daughter will be discriminated against for growing up in a household in which you're actually allowed, even encouraged, to think with a clear and rational mind.
I guess the only way to ensure a good education is to develop a love of reading in your child. As long as they can get their hands on a library card, they should be able to educate themselves just fine. Really, you want people educating themselves because it's a whole lot easier to dupe yourself than it is to get duped by others.
Still, she's probably going to need somebody there to guide her through some of the tougher courses.
I didn't really become 100% fluent in learning something just from a textbook until well into college. Well...before that I could get the gist of stuff, but I had the occasional question. You know, maybe that should be the primary focus of our education system, teach kids how to teach themselves (I mean as a conscious decision and not as a necessity for kids who learn quickly that they can't learn anything from their teachers).
I guess this is one of those wait and see issues, I don't even know where I'm going to be when she reaches schooling age.
Mr Peru,I fully understand the challenge that you´re facing. I´d check out any Montessouri schools in your area. Read about Ms Montessouri and her educational philosophy and her method may be just what you´re looking for. I sent my son there and I´m happy with the results.
ReplyDeleteNaturally developing and encouraging a love for reading is paramount, but so is fostering the "art of conversation" and having a dialogue with your child that stimulates critical thinking and objectivity. Kids are a lot smarter than they're given credit for, talk with them instead of at them and the exchange of ideas starts flowing. Unfortunately the institutions we've entrusted to educate our children are "falling down" on the job and seem satisfied with leveraging education down to the lowest common denominator, especially at the in the public school level. But even the whole Montessori, parochial, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart menagerie of private school education is a "racket" not without shame, where too often you end up paying through the nose for something with dubious credibility and credentials as well as a lot of "voodoo" scholarship. At the end of the day as a caring and responsible parent you have to maintain a 24/7 connection and interest with your kid's education taking nothing for granted along the way. Plus, as citizens we have to get into the faces of our public officials and hold their feet to the fire when it comes to prioritizing education for our kids. Don't be distracted by all their bullshit and "smoke and mirrors". If we don't reverse the "dumbing down" of our society who will? Reading, it's a gift that keeps on giving.
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