Thoughts on Questions Posed in Class on January 19th

After last week's class I've had a hodgepodge of thoughts floating around, but I think I will address two of the questions asked in class - "What are we doing now that might need to be apologized for in the future?", and "What knowledge is of most worth?".

My first thought is in regards to our government apologizing for residential schools. The question was posed, "What are we doing now that might need to be apologized for in the future?" I thought this was an interesting question. While I do think the residential schools were a huge mistake and definitely called for an apology, I think there will always be mistakes. There are things that have been done all throughout history that we look back on thinking, "how could we have let that happen?" - for example, slavery. Now, obviously this is a big, BIG mistake, as were the residential schools. But I have to wonder if the people making these mistakes at the time actually realized the extent of their horror? I am by no means standing up for what was done, I'm just thinking out loud here. But take residential schools. It can probably be stated fairly certainly that those implementing and carrying out the residential schools plan most likely thought they were helping. Obviously they did not go about it the right way, but I think many things are much more easily seen from afar...after things have taken place...after we have seen the effects. We can judge the mistakes of others, but the fact is that sometimes when one is in the moment of the mistake he/she may not see the mistake being made. It is only after it is done and the effects occur that eyes are opened. The positive side is that many of us learn from these past mistakes and take care not to repeat them.

That being said, I'd like to go back to the question "What are we doing now that might need to be apologized for in the future?" with reference to education. I think we are probably making all kinds of mistakes! Not to say that we do nothing right, because I'm sure that there are many, many things we do well. But because mistakes are difficult to see when we are in the act of making them, we just have to try things, wait them out to see the effects, and adjust accordingly. Trial and error. The unfortunate thing about education is that we try and fail (and try and succeed) with the world watching.

A second thought was on the question, "What knowledge is of most worth"? Of course one could make a list that would wrap around the world twice. However, while I think certain subjects important (and honestly, I do think we're doing pretty well on that - math, science, social studies, L.A., arts), I think what is most important may not be the subject material itself (gasp!). Really, when I think back, I don't actually remember much of what I learned in grade 11 Biology. I'm sure some things have stuck around, but like they say, "if you don't use it, you lose it"! But I definitely do not think that it was a waste of time. This brings me to my personal "answer" of sorts to the question, "what knowledge is of most worth?". Perhaps the most important things we gain from our education are our values and skills. I think that while students may not remember exact content of the subjects, they will take with them the skills that were practiced (for example, working in a group, creating hypotheses, carrying out experiments, knowing how to find information when it is needed, etc.). They will also absorb the values that were positively modeled for them (and also those that were not modeled (excluded) - or modeled in negative ways). I most definitely think it's important, when designing curriculum, choosing course content, or creating a single lesson, that we think about what skills and values are also being learned, because this is what students will take with them!