I have to apologize for not posting earlier this week.  With a snow day, you think that I was able to catch-up, however, I am still way behind.  If breathing wasn’t automatic, I just might not have time to do it. 

I have been struggling with reading “The Children’s Machine: Rethinking School in the Age of the Computer” by Seymour Papert, not because it is a hard read, it’s not, but because during my undergrad days, I was forced to read 35 books (middle school level) in one semester.  I used to love to read, but ever since that class (loved the teacher and learned a lot) I can barely read a magazine article.  It’s not for not wanting to, but for the expectation that I have to.  At any rate, I have gotten through a few chapters of Papert and wanted to post on each one before I forget what I read about in them.

As Barbara stated in her post, http://barbaranantz.wordpress.com/2008/02/28/chapter-1-the-childrens-machine/   Chapter one  

 is titled Yearners and Schoolers.  The yearners are the ones that are yearning for a change in the school system.  They know that we are needing a change, but are unsure of what to do to create the change.  The schoolers are the ones that don’t realize we need a “megachange” and feel that we aren’t perfect, but who is.  The schoolers also don’t feel that our schools are falling behind, we just need to tweak what we are doing a little.

I know that he is correct in saying that the schools haven’t changed much.  He used time travelers to point out this fact.  By using a group of doctors who noticed many changes in their craft, the group of teachers really didn’t see anything different from their days in the classroom.  My first thought, was “how sad,” but then I thought about what few changes there have been since my days in middle school. Of course in the mid to late 80s (in Texas) it was called Junior High and there were still the four basic core classes being taught.  I thought about the things I learned.  I really don’t remember anything major during 6th  and 7th grade.  One of the few things I remember about in 8th was that the space shuttle “Challenger” exploded and we watched in on a tv that had to rolled into the classroom.  I don’t remember using computers until my junior year in high school and then it was programming and using DOS.  (I graduated in 90, so I am fairly certain that other schools had more computers than we did and more than likely used them sooner.)

Back to the chapter — Papert discusses Jennifer and her question about where giraffes put their necks when they are sleeping.  I found this to be interesting only because, I too, ask questions (okay on a rare occasion) that make other’s think, but I usually just search out the questions myself.  However, I still question if ALL children do this or will be able to think for themselves.  I believe that Papert is right when he says that “babies learn to talk without curriculum or formal lessons; people develop skill at hobbies without teachers;…” but I still think that at some point school has to come into play for at least the socialization development and if not for the basics of math, reading and writing. 

At this point, I see myself as a yearner, because after a week of being told to basically “teach to the test” (which goes against every grain of my being) I know that we need a change.