It takes a lot of trees to graduate from high school. An entire 50-gallon container's worth, in fact. And this isn't all the paperwork Emma generated on the path to a high school diploma. Prior to middle school, I helped clean out her room every year. I'd pick out a few especially cute pieces of art and ditch the rest. Even more recently, I've tried to sneak in and ditch most everything most years.
I was surprised to find as much old paperwork as I did. It was everywhere. In the hidden space above the built-in in her closet. Down underneath her tiny desk. In drawers, on shelves, and tucked away in paper bags.
It's my belief that all this paperwork did very little to contribute to her learning (or Sam's, for that matter). It didn't make her a more critical thinker, unless she worked the worksheets while thinking about what a stupid waste of time they were. Two weeks in Montreal, in my opinion, does more for your French than two years' worth of worksheets. It didn't solidify her knowledge of history, or literature, or art. Math, maybe, but, who uses calculus in their day-to-day professional life outside of certain scientists?
What it does do, I suppose, is turn us into obedient workers who can take in information and follow directions. Ideal low level (if unskilled) employees. That's where a good solid liberal arts education can take you to the next level, one hopes. Teaching us to use our brains for more than just filling in a worksheet.
I use calculus in my day-to-day professional life. I just used it a few minutes ago, and it's Sunday. I best learning is done when I write it down. I may never look at it again, but I find if I write it, it sticks. So, I go through a lot of paper.
ReplyDeleteOkay - so engineers and scientists use calculus. Actually I think math classes are pretty useful in general.
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