By Carol Hutcheson
Someone once remarked that the only certain thing in life is change. We know that the education is different from what we experienced. However, with the big push for better test scores, new methods and new curriculum, we shouldn’t throw the baby out with the bath water.
Technology has taken front row seat
Have you noticed that your grandkids can operate your entertainment system better than you can? They can also accomplish phenomenal tasks on the computer while we are struggling to remember if it is a right or left click. Technology now impacts every career, and our grandkids seem to be mastering it quickly and competently. But is technology all there is to learn?
The Arts and Humanities are still important
With the great push to teach technology, there are voices in the community that believe that general education classes such as literature, history, art, music, are no longer necessary.
Some are pushing for early specialization toward a career beginning in middle school or high school and especially in college. These people believe we should teach specific skills but not abstract thinking in diverse areas. Some advocate streamlining the educational process by fleshing out all classes that don’t directly pertain to a certain pathway of learning.
As a former high school English teacher, this idea terrifies me. From the humanities and history come the ideas that have enriched our lives and inspired us to greater heights. Great ideas, great writing, great music, great art have inspired men and women to improve themselves and the world they live in. From these sources have come ideas of justice, beauty, sacrifice, love, honesty, patriotism, service.
Education should build character as well as skills
As Oliver Wendell Holmes put it in his poem “The Chambered Nautilus”…”Build thee more stately mansions O my soul,” men and women should be seeking to improve not just their skills but their character. The literature and art have helped us understand the human condition and to feel compassion and a desire to serve. A society that focuses only on making money without moral underpinning is built on soft shifting sand and will eventually tumble.
Grandparents can help grandkids see the big picture.
I’m all for keeping up with the times and making sure our children can compete in the work place in the future, but I’m not for forgetting our heritage.
As grandparents we can help society sort through this dilemma. I would suggest looking twice at proposals which would eliminate a generally educated person. Our life experiences and our own education can help our grandchildren see the world through a much broader lens.
As Benjamin Stein wrote, “It takes a sense of history to have a sense of purpose.” Taking an active role in our grandchildren’s education can make a big difference to them in the long scheme of things. <<
Carol Hutcheson is a retired high school English teacher. She claims her greatest accomplishment lies in rearing six successful children and being grandma to eighteen grandchildren. Her partner in that enterprise is her husband, Don, to whom she has been married forty-two years. She can be reached at Carol@LetLifeIn.com
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