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.

   

Future Career Opportunities

For youngsters around the world, where they will work or launch a business seems many years away. Yet, thinking about what factors a country needs to offer employees and employers can begin at any age. Forbes magazine (December 21, 2016) helped the process of identifying "Best Countries for Business" by ranking 139 countries on a composite of factors including: taxes, innovation, technology, regulations, corruption, property rights, investor protection, per capita income, and trade balance. Other factors to consider might be: infrastructure; political stability; threat of terrorism; human rights of men, women, and children; and health conditions.

     The Forbes ranking placed Sweden first and Chad last. At forbes.com/best-countries-for-business/list/, there is a brief evaluation of the business climate in each of the 139 counties listed. You can find out why a negative trade balance, regulations, government intervention in the housing and health insurance markets, budget deficits, and modest growth in Gross Domestic Product (GDP) positioned the United States 23rd among countries best for business.

     Looking for future opportunities, I paid special attention to the 26 countries with economic GDP growth of 5% of more. Admittedly, countries with less developed economies may be able to show the greatest growth compared to countries with more developed economies, such as the US with 2.6% growth. Nonetheless, growth is an important factor to consider.

Best for Business                                         GDP growth
     Ranking

     4                         Ireland                             26.3%
    130                       Ethiopia                           10.2%
    106                       Cote d' Ivoire                     8.5%
     85                       India                                  7.6%
    134                      Laos                                   7.6%
      97                      Dominican Republic            7.0%
    122                      Tanzania                             7.0%
    123                      Cambodia                           7.0%
     78                       Rwanda                              6.9%
    102                      China                                 6.9%
    133                     Dem. Republic of Congo      6.9%
    117                     Bangladesh                          6.8%
     98                      Vietnam                              6.7%
    113                     Mozambique                       6.6%
     81                      Senegal                               6.5%
     30                      Malta                                  6.2%
   109                      Mali                                   6.0%
   111                      Tajikistan                            6.0%
     89                      Philippines                         5.9%
    59                       Panama                              5.8%
  128                      Cameroon                           5.8%
  105                      Kenya                                 5.6%
    63                     Namibia                               5.3%
    94                     Bhutan                                 5.2%
    44                     Malaysia                              5.0%
  100                     Benin                                   5.0%

Of these 26 countries, almost half are in Africa. Youngsters might keep their eyes on what these countries do to remedy the problems identified in their Forbes descriptions, since African countries might offer the best opportunities in the future.

Break into a Happy Dance

What do festivals and weddings include? Dancing. Whether dancers are doing a Mexican Hat Dance or Horah to the tune of Hava Nagila at a Jewish wedding, there's a smile on everyone's face. Through the years, the same happy attitude has accompanied the slow graceful French minuet, spirited Italian tarantella, Virginia Reel from Scotland, Irish step dancing, Poland's mazurka and polka, the Sailor's hornpipe, clogging, square dancing, and break dancing by b-boys on the street. Colorful costumes often add to the joy.

  When Michaela DePrince was a hungry little girl living in an orphanage in Sierra Leone, Africa, she saw a magazine picture of a happy ballerina standing on her toes and wearing a pink dress. To be happy, she thought, I want to be like that girl. Defying all expectations, she was adopted and, carrying the picture of the happy ballerina with her, she came to the United States. As soon as her new momma saw the picture, she said, "You will dance." Ballet classes followed, and Ms. DePrince, now one of the few black ballerinas in the world, dances with the Dutch National Ballet. She tells her story in Ballerina Dreams.

     Misty Copeland, who just became the first female African-American principal dancer in the American Ballet Theater's 75-year history, is another happy ballerina. Her memoir, Life in Motion: An Unlikely Ballerina, tells how she pursued her career despite beginning ballet lessons at, for a ballerina, the advanced age of 13.

     Dancing is for the very young and very old. Multicultural Kids (multiculturalkids.com) offers children All Time Favorite Dances on DVD and CD formats and international tunes for dancing on Ella Jenkins Multicultural Children's Songs and I Have a Dream World Music for Children by Daria. Making conversation with two elderly women at a party, I asked how they met. "At folk dancing," one said, and, on the spot, she did a few steps to show me one of their dances. At the University of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, the Ko-Thi Dance Company (ko-thi.org) gives children and adults lessons in traditional dances from Africa and the Caribbean on Saturday mornings. For world travelers, trips can include learning a few steps after watching hula dancers in Hawaii or girls performing the classic Khmer apsara in Cambodia. Trip planners at AAA.com/TravelAgent promise travelers to Argentina will never forget their private dance lessons at an authentic tango house in Buenos Aires.

Super International Jokes

On Super Bowl (U.S. football) Sunday, I'm reminded of the joke about the announcer who gave the ball scores but failed to tell what teams were involved in the 14-3, 21-10, 59-0 wins.

     Kids might like the following jokes attributed to countries around the world:

What do Japanese parents tell their children? You're allergic to bees. Only get A's on tests.

What does the Loch Ness monster eat? Fish and ships.

In Dublin an Irishman asks Paddy the quickest way to Cork.
 Paddy says, "Are you on foot or in a car?"
The Irishman says, "In a car."
Paddy responds, "That's the quickest way."

Why do Argentinians look up to the sky every time there is a lightning flash?
They think God is taking their picture.

What is the fastest country in the world? Russia.

And from THE OATMEAL website:
Who is a penguin's favorite relative:
His/her Aunt Arctica.

(Hope no one is offended by these jokes.)