Chomsky is a genius; one of my true heroes.* I don't agree with
all of his ideas; I have found only one mentor that I've found
myself nearly completely agreeing with so far; that's the father
of Embodied Cognition (after a search for several decades for a
worthy hypothesis that fits my way of thinking); George Lakoff
In linguistics, he was head-to-head against Chomsky back in the
50s/60s; Chomsky's ideas won out in the popularity contest and
Lakoff only started gaining traction in the late 1970s and has
been gaining influence. Chomsky's ideas use a computational
theory of mind; Lakoff, an embodied cognition model (that we are
more than just our brain, but has room for some of Chomsky's
ideas to be potentially included within) But one thing they have
in common is this basic premise: Education is being done wrong,
to put it bluntly.* Chomsky's ideas on education are amazing and
fantastic and I find myself nodding my head anytime he speaks
about it. I'm sure at some point he influenced much of my
thinking on Education. I also was strongly influenced by John
Holt, who came up with Unschooling, and Summerhill; an
experimental school in England that extends back about 100 years
now.* The Sudbury schools in the USA are somewhat similar,
although they each have their own take on things. The current
system: The biggest problem with it is exactly as you said: Good
grades have little to do with "What's fundamentally right or
wrong" but "agreeing with the teacher". That's always true and
hasn't changed.* "Teaching to the test" has removed some of that
bias; but in favor of a skeletal learning that provides some of
the bones of education with none of the 'meat'. It's no wonder
being in school feels like being a walking zombie much of the
time. We accept that "this is the way it is" because it's what
we learned; and alternatives are almost nowhere to be found.* I
was lucky; I stumbled across "How Children Learn" and "How
Children Fail" by John Holt in my library when I was about 14
years old; same time that i read "Enders Game" sitting in the
library stacks until closing one day after school.* [that was my
"hunger games"] It gave answers; that what I see around me isn't
the only way there is; and that what I was feeling is normal,
yet not necessarily necessary. But I've always been strange like
that: When I was 12, I got a job being the custodian at my local
church.* I had the keys to everything - it was awesome.* I found
a book from 'ancient times' to to me - from the mid 1950s -
about "From 9-16" - big thick book describing "What's Normal"
for parents to see in their kids, from a 1950s perspective.* I
got to see "into my future"; and I just mentally changed where
it says, "And she sits there, listening to Jazz records and
doesn't listen to you" to "I sit there listening to [whatever
music I was into at the time] and not listening to you." I was
also influenced by Eric Ericson, who was the only psychologist I
ever saw (tripped over him when I was 18 - NOT someone I learned
in school) - who broke down Stages of Life - not just from 0-5,
or 5-17 - but from 0 through death. So when I was 30 and feeling
the need to get a mortgage and house, I knew I was in "nesting
stage" - even though I had read the book 12 years earlier; I
knew I was perfectly normal and fitting into a pattern.* It also
gave me the power to not follow the pattern, which I've also
done. If you're able to pursue college, and have the fortitude
to get through it, go for it.* But also; if you drop out, and
yet you have skills (for me, it was computers and programming)
that are marketable, getting a decent job and an income is
possible; there's ways around not having a college diploma and
getting an income doing what you like. The Burger King Myth is
instilled is us from the time we're young; but if you study
income levels; the GREATEST income boost is between "didn't
finish high school" and "finished high school." You don't get an
extreme income boost until you reach "Masters Degree";* and
that's a little tricky too; because an MBA (Masters of business)
is a different beast than academic master's degree - MUCH easier
to get (it's designed for business ppl to get a diploma rather
easily within a few years) - so that skews the results. That's
not to say you shouldn't finish; there are a lot of reasons to
get a degree.* Income doesn't have to be one of them; The world
of Business is a strange thing; they want to hire people who can
make them money. The degree is used by as a way to "filter out"
having to do too many resumes and interviews by their Human
Resources departments. Business is all about who you know, and
impressing them somehow. My best jobs I got through the "back
door"; my skills speak for themselves.* I'd get a "temp job";
they needed stuff done.* So I'd get myself in that way, and then
be SPECTACULAR with my skillset; going over and above what their
expectations are; and then, they'd hire me at levels that should
have required 7 years of school, even though I didn't finish
college. That's me though.* I'm a case study, not a role model.
