Are our kids just pig ignorant!?

[Hermit]

If my hypothesis is right it isn't the kids I am blaming, but the education system

...and never ever the parents, right?

I had some really crappy teachers in my time, whose sole motivation appeared to be to put me off listening to anything they had to say. I also went to a school that was apparently designed to convince me that "education" is synonymous with "hell on earth". They all failed to fail me because my parents did just about everything to foster my, and my siblings', innate curiosity. They saw me pouring over the pictures of my uncle's National Geographic Magazines whenever we visited him, so they bought a subscription, even though I could not speak, read or write English. They noticed how I enjoyed bringing home tadpoles, eggshells, lizards and so on, so they bought natural history magazines. Drawn in by the pictures, I started reading the captions, and eventually the accompanying articles. There were coffee-table type books about evolution and whatnot strewn about the lounge, just in case we found something of interest in them. It all became so fascinating, and of course I learnt to tell the difference between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans without even being aware of the fact that I was learning anything. By the time I was eleven or twelve, I could pinpoint the Galapagos Islands and the Marinaras, where the Pyramids of Giza were, and the Panama Canal.

Similar encouragements happened with history and science. We watched documentaries together, and it was fun. I learnt about the world wars and gravity long before any of them were even mentioned at school. By the time they were, I was eager to learn more.

Education does not - and should not - depend solely on "the system". If you rely on it alone, it is bound to fail your dear and near.

[klr]

If my hypothesis is right it isn't the kids I am blaming, but the education system

...and never ever the parents, right?

I had some really crappy teachers in my time, whose sole motivation appeared to be to put me off listening to anything they had to say. I also went to a school that was apparently designed to convince me that "education" is synonymous with "hell on earth". They all failed to fail me because my parents did just about everything to foster my, and my siblings', innate curiosity. They saw me pouring over the pictures of my uncle's National Geographic Magazines whenever we visited him, so they bought a subscription, even though I could not speak, read or write English. They noticed how I enjoyed bringing home tadpoles, eggshells, lizards and so on, so they bought natural history magazines. Drawn in by the pictures, I started reading the captions, and eventually the accompanying articles. There were coffee-table type books about evolution and whatnot strewn about the lounge, just in case we found something of interest in them. It all became so fascinating, and of course I learnt to tell the difference between the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans without even being aware of the fact that I was learning anything. By the time I was eleven or twelve, I could pinpoint the Galapagos Islands and the Marinaras, where the Pyramids of Giza were, and the Panama Canal.

Similar encouragements happened with history and science. We watched documentaries together, and it was fun. I learnt about the world wars and gravity long before any of them were even mentioned at school. By the time they were, I was eager to learn more.

Education does not - and should not - depend solely on "the system". If you rely on it alone, it is bound to fail your dear and near.

I agree ... there's always been a culture of learning by yourself/on your own initiative in our family.

I'm not saying this is any fault of Rum's of course. Sometimes otherwise very intelligent people just have "blind spots" about certain areas of knowledge.

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I've donated a poo-poo load of books and other stuff to local schools. My fossil collection appears to be on permanent loan as well. You want better kids, give teachers better material to work with. It sends at least two messages. "I AM involved." "I DO appreciate what you're doing."

And a globe is invaluable as well, it is the only device that shows the world as it actually is.

[Hermit]

Good on you, Gawdzilla.

I feel compelled to point out that I don't like the use of the words "blame" and "fault" in the manner they are used here. They are redolent with the whinging tone of people who cannot engage in constructive comment.

[Thinking Aloud]

I wonder if there's a correlation between folks who got a good grounding in global geography, and an ability to do the "Where on Earth am I?" game?

[Gawdzilla Sama]

I wonder if there's a correlation between folks who got a good grounding in global geography, and an ability to do the "Where on Earth am I?" game?

Can't be. I think you have invoked a demon to do the searching for you.

[Thinking Aloud]

Offspring #2 (age 3) just back from playschool, pulls out her latest drawings and says, "Here's my map!"

[Ronja]

This is indeed surprisingly accurate!

[Gawdzilla Sama]

"jungle". I guess that works.

[Rum]

Good on you, Gawdzilla.

I feel compelled to point out that I don't like the use of the words "blame" and "fault" in the manner they are used here. They are redolent with the whinging tone of people who cannot engage in constructive comment.

Tough. Judgemental as usual.

[Hermit]

Good on you, Gawdzilla.

I feel compelled to point out that I don't like the use of the words "blame" and "fault" in the manner they are used here. They are redolent with the whinging tone of people who cannot engage in constructive comment.

Tough. Judgemental as usual.

Blame it on "the system".

[Coito ergo sum]

If my hypothesis is right it isn't the kids I am blaming, but the education system - in this country anyway. Listen to this!

I was driving my mom and my daughter (she is 21) over the Pennines towards Newcastle from Cumbria, i.e. due east. We started talking about the lay of the land and I said I could draw a map of the world from memory more or less.

My daughter, who is average academically, though no genius as you will see asked me if we were travelling west what would be the first place we would come to. America I replied a bit puzzled that she didn't know. And its the Pacific Ocean first, she asked?

I am buying her an inflatable globe for Christmas and suing her secondary school in the new year.

Its a good job I love her dearly and she is a wonderful person in most respects. :sighsm:

Ignorance of geography is rampant, and inexcusable. Ignorance of history may be even worse. I had a conversation with a 20-something friend some years back, and she was of some ludicrous opinion that dates (even rough dates) and chronologies and names of places were unimportant to history, and that the only thing that mattered was whether one knew the "importance" of events. I asked her when the US Civil War occurred (something every American should know with some degree of specificity) and she did not know - I asked her if it occurred before or after World War One - she didn't know - I asked her if she could figure it out by thinking about the kinds of weapons, technology, styles of dress, or other aspects of the two events - still nothing. She had no idea which occurred first, and was certain that it was unimportant.

To me - geography and a good chronology of history are as vital to an understanding of world events and world affairs/history as a skeleton is vital to holding up the human body. Without that underlying skeleton, our bodies would just lie in an amorphous, messy pile. That's what happens to the facts and events in history if we don't at least know approximately when and where Napoleon went about his business versus when and where the Russian Revolution occurred. You can't begin to understand the "why" until you understand the "who" "what" "when" and "where" -- geography is the "where" part.

[Coito ergo sum]

We need more charismatic geography teachers....

This is my friend Sarah and she is a very enthusiastic geography instructor at the local college

She should start a youtube channel called "Hot for Geography", like Marina Orlova and www.hotforwords.com has made etymology sexy.....

Anything is interesting if you add boobs to it.

[Santa_Claus]

I used to spend a lot of time in Thailand (no shit ).

Locals generally not big on maps. even of own Country Initially thought it was just ignorance, but realised that it was because it genuinely didn't matter to most of them. If you ain't ever going to Chad, and your country doesn't own it - then does it really matter that it's in Africa? or matter that it exists at all America / Europe, much the same - not ever going to drive there. and exactly where idiot Westerners come from doesn't really matter to most. Hell, my TV probably comes from China - ok, I can find China on a map, but don't feel the need to learn the region it hails from. and it might come Korea - should it matter to me?

Historically maps were important to the Brits to show how good (big=good) the British Empire was. a couple of world wars also made maps more relevent to us. nowadays?

[M]

No offence Rum, but how did she get to be 21 before you picked up on this? Whatever the failings in our academic system, shouldn't we be filling our kids with as much knowledge as we are able to offer them?