The State of Education- Part 1: Dawn of Technology, Zombification of the Masses
Greetings, Steemitans
To make a turn towards the slightly more serious, I wanted to take time out of my day to talk about a passion of mine, as well as my day job in education.
I have served as an educator going on 5 years now, and feel I can provide a level of insight into the field, where it's going, and inherent problems I have uncovered in my years serving at-risk students at an alternative K-12 publicly funded charter school. I will preserve anonymity and confidentiality when it comes to any names that may come up!
My hope here is to gather any insight from others with experience in educating the youth, especially from those in other countries. I feel like other countries may have it more figured out than the United States.
- Due to the extremely vast nature of this topic, I will focus on one aspect at a time.
- I welcome all feedback and insight! I honestly want to hear from you and what you have noticed about the education system in your local area or country.
- What are some programs or solutions you think may address the issue discussed in this blog?
Here we go! Today I want the focus to be on some major generational differences never seen in society, and how current educational models do not address these differences.
Dawn of Technology; Zombification of the masses
This is an enormous topic in it of itself, and could honestly get devoted more posts than just this one. The picture does a great job at addressing the issue. What do zombies and modern society have in common?
- Lacks capacity to critically think.
- Lacks effective capacity to communicate with one another
- Lacks ability to build meaningful relationships with one another.
Issue 1: Critical Thinking
Critical thinking is the ability to analyze information and using it to solve a problem, assess a situation or make a plan to persevere. That is my own definition, and instead of incurring a dry dictionary definition, I wanted to put it into my own words. Critical thinking is one of the most valuable skills to a human, and really differentiates us from other species. It is a skill that does not easily come to people, and is lost on even more because the proliferation and integration of technology into our day to day lives. The irony of me talking about this over the internet is not lost on me!
Technology, and our over reliance on it, has had some great consequences on society, as I see it. Firstly, at a very young age, children are overwhelmingly being shoved in front of a screen, and time used to foster imagination, social skills, etc, don't seem to be the priority anymore. Make no mistake, I am all for an increase in technological advances, however life is all about moderation and balance. When technology is concerned, and when (paraphrasing Mr. Sinek) "there are no constraints on usage, you are basically opening up the alcohol cabinet whenever there is an issue and saying to the alcoholic, 'drink your problems away little Jimmy.'" Instead of teaching kids how to critically evaluate, assess, and overcome an issue, anyone can easily escape into this alternate reality and "feel good." Dopamine (euphoric "happy" neurotransmitter) is released every time we use these things, and it's easy to forget the world when you're in. This behavior condones addictive tendencies that provide a bandaid to the problem, and not a true solution! We are overstimulating the masses! This world is all they'll ever need, and it is nearly impossible to compete with that from an educational standpoint.
Another way in which technology affects critical thinking is more abstract, but I think something needs to be mentioned about the ease of access to information. This is a great freedom we have across the globe, but I can't help but think that in having these palm sized devices that contain all the world's knowledge, the value of knowledge decreases. It's easy to access. Who cares? Google knows! In more ancient times, knowledge was sacred, and only those worthy were allowed to have access to it. I'm not saying people aren't worthy to have knowledge, but I do think it has lowered our respect for knowledge, and because of this, people have less and less experience actively using their brains to gather and interpret information. Our brains are muscles, and the less we work them out (say through critical thinking), the weaker they get. We are allowing the machines to take over and decision make for us. Scary thought, especially if you're familiar with movies like The Matrix (in all honesty, wouldn't be surprised if we are in a similar reality). I am all about having an intuitive understanding of a larger system, then allowing that understanding to transfer to all smaller cases that branch under that system. Understand the bigger concepts, yanno?!?!? Trickle down theory not from an economical standpoint!
Issue 2: Communication
This almost sounds counter intuitive! Doesn't technology allow us to communicate better? Yes and no. I would say that we are better able to communicate over long distances, however I am speaking on human to human social interaction. Modern forms of communication are very impersonal anymore, and because of this, communication between people face to face is taking a huge hit. I don't speak for myself (hopefully) when I say we don't want to only interact with humans over a virtual interface! I like meeting people in person, and when someone you are talking to continuously turns to their phone for their "meaningful" interactions (as opposed to the face to face encounter they are experiencing), we have a problem! I for one found great value in talking to people and forming study groups; mingling with others to help solve problems (or just shoot the shit). I was taught in high school from one of my wisest teachers that we are all learning how to socially interact with each other in school. That was the most important faucet of our education. This was creating what he described as "socially autistic" youth. How is it that communicating with virtual people takes precedence over communicating with a real life one in social interactions? Which leads me to the final point in this blog.....
Issue 3: Meaningful Relationships
How many Facebook friends do you have? Instagram followers? How many of them have you met or intend to meet? Be honest. The answer is probably not a lot. We have created an enormous amount of artificial relationships with people. Again, I'm all for networking, I love all the people I have met through the various social medial platforms (cough especially Steemit cough), but I have seen it far too often that either these relationships take the place or overshadow/weaken relationships we have with people we can connect with in person. It is difficult to form a true bond with someone if they aren't an actual friend, and again, when the youth aren't taught how to form bonds with real people, it can be detrimental to one's social health. Also mentioned in the video above! I have seen students of mine cause serious psychological pain to each other and then the next day they are total friends, all over what they said to each other on social media. Sure, they are kids, but I personally couldn't imagine the back and forth and so easily losing acceptance!
Final Words
Ultimately, I cannot blame the youth for a lot of the problems that I see. I feel I am blessed to have been in a generation where we still had to go to the library to find the encyclopedia or book for our reports, but were also required to look onto the digital references for added information. We had to ask our neighbors for help. I have seen a complete reliance on digital everything anymore, and as embracing as I am, the act of seeking out knowledge in this physical world still has so much value. It is more active. Just like active listening improves comprehension of what you hear, maintaining this more active approach to learning is vital to enhancing and uplifting the comprehension of ourselves and everything around us. For these posts, I want to think outside the box and begin addressing the source of what I think could be the issue. There are so many other issues lending to the downfall of our education system, but from what I see, technology has been a huge help and hindrance. How can we reap the benefits and minimize the deficits? There must be a happy medium!
I want to give a big shoutout to the fabulous @eaglespirit for inspiring me to write about this issue! It has been bugging me for awhile, and it honestly feels great to put it down somewhere and open it up!!!!
Very interesting article; thanks for posting it.
I have volunteered as a technical mentor for a FIRST robotics team in California. I never had a student on the team, but was talked into helping out, that was in 2006. The students on the team are supposed to be the smartest and most motivated in the school, but that has not been my experience.
The conspiracy followers will suggest that ever since the Federal Department of Education has been at the wheel, the quality of education in the USA has decline. This intentional, they say, as a way to dumb down the society to make it easier to control. I don't know if this is true, but if so, they have been successful...
One problem that I have observed is the idea that all high school kids will go to college; they must go to college. This means that the students who won't go to college are left in the cold on graduation day. I'm all for a technical/vocational track in high school that can start in their sophomore year, when everyone knows if they are really college bound. They will graduate prepared to enter a trade and a satisfying job. I tell people around me, "If everyone becomes an engineer, who will build what they design?"
One of my favorite parts of high school (1970) was shop; wood shop, metal shop, small engine shop, etc., and it pains me to see that they are gone from current high schools with rare exception. They called it "Industrial Arts", and that's what it is, and we need it back...
But the problem of a generation of apathetic and unmotivated young people will not be fixed with shop class, in fact it is such a huge problem that it feels unsolvable. Kids don't want to get dirty anymore, they are protected from anything that could cause even a minor injury; and therefore are missing something from the experience of growing up. They need to be tearing apart their bikes or skateboards, or building model airplanes and cars. This is a small thing, and difficult for parents to promote when phones, and computers, and video games have so much appeal.
I think that we may able to fix the situation, but it will take time. The way social and economic cycles work, it might automatically fix itself in a generation or two... Thanks for listening... ;-)
Wow, now that is a comment!
We opened a door @falseyedols, you doing most of the work of course ...
Wow what a thoughtful comment, thank you so much! This is exactly the type of feedback I was looking for! You beat me to it, too, as far as seeing all the art/wood/metal/auto shops go, I do feel that has had a negative impact on the youth. I definitely intend to be focusing on that in particular for a later entry in this.
It was strange you mentioned how the youth in that group were supposed to be top of their game, but were really lacking major skills. A lot of my kids, even the top dawgs, are seriously lacking basic academic competencies!
Finally, you also mentioned where I'm kind of going with all of this. I'm not going to outright make a conspiracy claim, but due to what I'm gathering, our education system isn't meant to make people smarter anymore. I feel like it's designed to keep people in their place; nice little cogs in the system.
Thank you so much for your time in reading this, and offering such awesome insight from your own experience! Cheers @jjhawg
Fantastic Article!!!! And as for someone who works full time in Social Media, I completely understand your thoughts. I am quite often asked 'Did you read what I posted on your timeline?' People do not understand it is my business, not my addiction, and managing over 200 social media accounts I never have time to get involved too much. People just need to limit how much they use Social Media, and take time to smell the flowers.
Your writing about knowledge and communications lead me to consider Information Theory, a subject a Professor Shannon, whose work is that on which we built digital communications, for instance, networks ... One of the first laws of information systems is, a symbol repeated most often has the least value and conversely, a rare symbol contains the most valuable information.
Thinking how we have access to billions of social interactions these days it seems like humans themselves have become 'symbols' and when treated as such have little value ... "too many rats in one cage" was the phrase ...
I've had the life experience of living in both densely and sparsely populated areas, and certainly rural folk tend to smile and wave to everyone, whereas city folk (this could also include the 'subdivided and conquered' suburbia where it seems most westerners live these days) tend to not care to acknowledge others. We could liken the online experience as a 'very crowded city'...
As far as critical thinking on a social level ... the most profound influence I had in those formative years of which you speak had been the American stream of consciouness writers, Emerson, Thoreau, Frost ... "I chose the path less taken ... and it has made all the difference."
Do you think if Frost put that on a meme that'd have any great effect? While technology has brought about a quick and massive shift, I see what we have now didn't just come out of nowhere, the American Transcendentalists saw it within a half a century of the beginning of American industrialism ...
Wow thank you for your very thoughtful comment! I like how you articulated the inherent value of something based on it's abundance. I have had the privilege of living and seeing larger and smaller communities as well, and I totally agree. Some people live too fast, and don't stop to take it in.
...hmm yeah, I guess stated elsewhere, it's the 'supply and demand' law ... infinite opportunities, limited time ... double-edged sword of being mortal and seeking a meaningful existence ... great sharing the moment with you!
likewise! <3
Wow this is terrific! You put this together from the time we had talked? Amazing. It really must have been brewing in your head for awhile. It came out like butter. I love this so much. 1, 2, and 3 are on point. Well said, totally clear, loved the photos and video. Of course, I love love love the shout out ... but that's me, I'm a Leo. LOL! up/resteem
bahahahah I am also a leo. That is too funny. I did spend a good chunk of the day writing this, and it felt good writing it too! Thank you for the inspiration @eaglespirit
That explains it! Leo's adore Leo's. LOL!! @falseyedols. It's just a given.
So glad you are feeling it, and look at the huge post below. MahGawww.
xx
It all makes sense now!!!! Lol @eaglespirit :)
It makes total sense @falseyedols! LOL :)
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quite an illumination you pointed out here @falseyedols)
When I think about it, I ask myself why I subject myself to such unrealistic relationship at the detriment of real life relationship, and come to discover that am being controlled its a mind controlling thing, am like a zombie, we youths are zombies following the same path, should I say am quite unlucky to belong to this generation.