The heart of education

Interesting NY Times letters to the editor on the subject of a recent criticism of US education by Herbert.

One of those responding, who teaches gifted high school students, noted that critical reasoning and thinking skills are needed, not learning facts since kids today can google what they need to know. On the other hand, some responses point out that other countries' children/teens spend far more hours on education and learning. Thought-provoking responses to a problem and issue that just isn't going to go away until we address it.

And here's my two cents. (Feel free to add yours in the comments). We need to address the disparities between school districts . As one reader notes, other social problems don't disappear in a classroom - poverty, violence, and drugs among them. Kids who are afraid to walk to school aren't going to be able to concentrate. And the trauma of seeing people shot and die changes their perception of time - the long term goal of getting a good education is not in some of their radars if they're trying to just survive.

I volunteered in a juvenile detention facility years ago out in Ypsilanti, Michigan. They asked me to teach math to the kids who were junior high and high school age- all boys. It took me three classes to get those kids (admittedly trouble makers) to just sit down. And several more classes to get any of them to stay on task. By then new kids were admitted and some of those I'd been teaching were gone. It was an atmosphere for a perpetual zoo. So I called a Catholic clergy member who was a missionary and teacher and asked her what she would do. . She told me to sing to the children and teach them - that was the way into their hearts.

I used music to teach math. I brought my guitar in and, knowing most of the kids never learned basic math, I sang fractions, addition, subtraction, multiplication. The boys who did know junior high math were given sheets to work on in the corner (which the nuns did with us if we were ahead on a subject) or asked to tutor others. The kids calmed down and sang the songs, but more importantly, their hearts did open. I couldn't believe the transformation. And they learned some basic math skills. It was the best I could do.

I know teachers in some school districts are still faced with these issues, all these years later. And more. And, no, I'm not suggesting that singing to the kids is the answer, but reaching their hearts is. What's at risk is our future- too many of our children don't have a love of learning coupled with the ability to feel safe and secure in the rest of their lives. How can they open their hearts to an education when they live in fear? No child in our country should be treated as a throwaway statistic.We just can't deal with the issue of quality education in a vacuum any more - we need to start dealing with the social problems that are interfering with access to a good education.