Fun is the Purpose of Education?

Education is designed to "get such fun out of thinking that (you) don't want to destroy this most pleasant machine that makes life such a big kick." Nobel Prize-winning physicist Richard Feynman, gave this as a reason why he didn't drink or experiment with LSD. Not only did Feynman find thinking about physics fun, but, when he went to Brazil, he found thinking about how to play a frigideira (small metal frying pan you beat with a little metal stick) so much fun he practiced over and over. A marching band chose him to play in their Carnaval parade.

     Now, how do schools fail to help students fulfill the purpose of education? From Brazil to the United States to Myanmar, the answer is the same. They foster rote memory and exams. Feynman found Brazilian students could recite, "Triboluminescence is the light emitted when crystals are crushed." But they never went into a darkened room with a lump of sugar and crushed it with a hammer to see a bluish flash.

     Before they can start helping students discover answers, a large percentage of teachers find they have students who come to school poor; hungry; tragically behind in their age's grade level; unhappy with their home life, appearance, and lack of friends; suffering from traumas of war, dislocation in refugee camps, and rape; and without support from family members facing the same problems. Sales reps are told they shouldn't try to make a sale, if their customers are distraught about something. First, they have to let their customers get the trouble out of their systems. The same advice applies to teachers trying to "sell" the joy of thinking.

     Nicolas Barre faced the same situation trying to teach in 17th century France, when students and their families were suffering from the effects of the Franco-Spanish War and a plague. Teachers trained at the Pyinya Sanyae Institute of Education (PSIE) in Yangon, Myanmar, have adopted Barre's method of speaking in a "humble, gentle, and simple manner so even the youngest can understand and teaching only what they themselves have adequately grasped." He did not say buy textbooks, manuals, worksheets, and standardized tests sold to suck every bit of creativity and individuality out of classrooms.

     PSIE courses train teachers in English, math, history, science, music, literature, the environment, and art. An art therapist from Ireland imparts her experience working with children in Belfast. Teachers learn to treat each child as special and loved, to celebrate each child's birthday, and to help wise and knowing children think, discover, imagine, and act with integrity.

     The idea of competency-based learning is challenging the idea of plunging a class past a failure to master and apply content and skills in order to cover a scheduled list of topics. Competency-based learning also recognizes: 1) some students move ahead and lag behind the pace of a class as a whole, 2) students show mastery in different ways, and 3) evaluating competency requires different measures for different students.

     Not only teachers and students need to buy into a difficult competency-based program, but so do parents and guardians, especially when their children are placed in remedial classes or not tapped for gifted programs or allowed to skip a grade. At a time when employers have trouble filling existing positions for skilled labor, much less for future positions involving artificial intelligence, 3D printing, programming, robotics, and the Internet of Things; when college graduates are starting their own businesses; and when the good union jobs of the past have disappeared, the social stigma of being held back in a class or grade is less important than mastering basic reading, math, writing, and speaking skills. Or discovering there can be joy in thinking.

   

AI Only Provides Opportunities for Rich People. Really?

     "He fixes radios by thinking!"

     The book, Surely You're Joking, Mr. Feynman! recounts this answer a man gave someone who saw the Nobel Prize winning physicist walking back and forth, when he was supposed to be fixing a radio. The book also tells how Feynman learned trigonometry by reading a book he checked out from the library, when he was eleven or twelve.

     I was reminded of these items when I read a July 7, 2017 article (theverge.com) by James Vincent. He cites studies that conclude people from working class and poorer backgrounds lack: 1) the ability to retrain for AI and robotic automation, and 2) the "soft skills" of communication, confidence, motivation, and resilience. Job losses and inequality will increase as artificial intelligence eliminates the administrative positions that have traditionally enabled these employees without higher educations to move up the corporate ladder.

     Yet, I remember the way the movie Hidden Figures showed a woman who made a contribution to the early US space program learned computer language from a library book, and I began to question the inevitability of this prognosis.

     In another example, a young Muslim woman I know, who doesn't come from a family of means, taught herself to sew by watching YouTube videos. She spent her last year of high school writing the essays and organizing the portfolio she needed to gain admission to the Fashion Institute of Technology.

       During the summer, colleges and universities offer scholarships to programs in a wide variety of fields. During the school year, they sponsor debating, math, computer, chess, and other competitions open to all. And every school is beefing up the STEM courses in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics that prepare students to land positions in fields that have no pay gaps for those from different socio-economic backgrounds.

     The rich cannot corner the market on walking and thinking.