One powerful current in the American social experiment is to shift education from a public school model to one in which public funding will support parentally-driven "school choice." Included among the choices are parochial schools, whose principal mission is to inculcate religious values into those attending their institutions.
I attended parochial schools from kindergarten through high school. During the time I attended those schools, teachers and administrators had wide lattitude to say or do just about anything. This laissez-faire educational approach was especially true in high school.
My experience in that environment was a deeply negative one. Some instructors were inept, or had barely enough qualification to transmit useful subject information. One instructor, who I thankfully did not have, directed his geometry class to make paper birds for three months; they did not do anything else, such as connect the project to geometric principles. Other instructors' grasp of pedagogy was not always apparent, though not as egregious as the bird brain teacher's wackiness.
Another instructor had a history of mental illness, including injuring a stud
ent during a class by slamming his head into a blackboard. The teacher was allowed to continue his profession in the same school, after taking a well-timed leave of absence. The high school guidance counselor did not demonstrate the slightest grasp of expertise in psychology, and once publicly described a student to the pupil's peers as "a bum." The counselor's only known gift was an ability to shoehorn seniors with borderline academic credentials into local Catholic colleges.
School assemblies included speeches from staff members in support of right-wing politics and political beliefs. These were not open forums, where contrasting views could be explored. School attire was jacket and tie, which we were told would "prepare (you) for the business world." This approach struck me as opposed to the encouragement and development of open inquiry, the use of which is the sign of a strong, independent mind.
At the time, the high school's main calling card was athletic achievement. In fairness, I'll point out that the coaches were highly qualified and helped get college scholarships for otherwise nothing-special student-athletes. The basketball coach was connected to the New York basketball mafia, with college and pro contacts cramming his address book. The track coach eventually became an athletic director at a Jesuit university, which seemed fitting.
Both coaches possessed a very strong sense of self-assurance and a willingness to impose their will on their student minions or just about anyone else they could push around. They were not interested in inquiry and discovery as much as "measurable achievement," demonstrated in fast sprint times or points per game. However, I respected their competency, although I loathed their methods.
I could not say the same for the teaching staff, with a couple of exceptions. But, by golly, there was discipline of a sort. For me, that part of the experience was pointless, since it was not grounded in my heart and was unpersuasively taught.
Clearly, the parochial high school was not the right fit for me. I chose to attend a public university -- The University of Wisconsin-Madison.
After much wandering in the wilderness of classes catering to a 30,000-plus student body, I began to develop the emotional wherewithal, the love of curiosity, and the willingness to embrace risk, that was never part of the educational package in the parochial high school I attended.
It is my contention that parochial schools are philosophically and practically unable to present such a package to today's students. Whatever the problems of public schools are, parochial schools are not the answer.
No comments:
Post a Comment