This is going to be a long tweet more than a full post.
I just finished teaching an ACT Test prep class. It wasn't a horrendous experience, but it encapsulated everything that's wrong with education in the NCLB era. In class, students exhibit some of the same attitudes, but a two hour evening class really brought the problems into focus
First, the kids were satisfied. Many seemed to believe that they knew everything that they needed to. If all of them were going to get a 30 or above they'd have every right to be a little smug. Most of them won't get over 26. The overblown egos can probably be blamed on the self-esteem BS that started dominated education long before NCLB.
More importantly, the kids were totally incurious. They wanted only the right answer, not why the answer is correct. Not knowing why really won't help them get the right answer on the real test, but it will get them out of class more quickly. One must have priorities.
Socrates is famous for claiming that the unexamined life is not worth living; satisfaction combined with a lack of curiosity probably make self examination impossible. Those qualities probably also make education impossible.
Since this post started with a biblical allusion, it seems appropriate to end it with "herein endth the rant."
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