Just before his death, John D. MacDonald was asked by the Library of Congress to write an essay about reading. What they got was surprising; it was in the form of a short story involving a conversation between two of his most favorite characters from his fiction work. MacDonald produced an amazing explanation of the NEED for reading, indeed, he makes a compelling case for our need to read to survive, as individuals and as a society. I think you will find this inspirational and very revealing. Enjoy!
| john_d__macdonald_-_reading_for_survival.pdf |
Overarching Narratives in School
(a rant by Bingham, his world view as applied to education, a statement of philosophy)
It appears we need to be conscious of the reasons for being in school (as opposed to motivation), in humanities and an active participant in life. We need to tap into cogent, workable “myths” in the Joseph Campbell sense. We create histories and futures for them through authoritative narratives. Without a narrative, life has no meaning. Without meaning, learning has no purpose. Without purpose, school and the humanities are wasteful and unworthy of a student’s attention or interest.
One would hope that these alternative narratives would be shared and adopted by colleagues throughout schools with the result that many “subjects” are infused with them and thus meaning would be imparted to student’s school experience. Narratives are so powerful, they sometimes reflect a vision of a god. Gods are not to be questioned, but that won't stop me now!
Current dysfunctional narratives (gods):
The god of science/technology:
The god of economic utility:
The god of consumer-ship:
The god of separatism:
The god of school as a waypoint to entertainment success:
Replacement gods:
The Earth as a Finite System (Spaceship Earth):
We are Beings of Error (Fallen Angels):
American Foundational Goals (the American Experiment):
The Eternal fight Against Entropy -2nd law of thermodynamics (the Power of Diversity):
Language is the Great Tool of Humanity (Word Weavers/World Makers):
(a rant by Bingham, his world view as applied to education, a statement of philosophy)
It appears we need to be conscious of the reasons for being in school (as opposed to motivation), in humanities and an active participant in life. We need to tap into cogent, workable “myths” in the Joseph Campbell sense. We create histories and futures for them through authoritative narratives. Without a narrative, life has no meaning. Without meaning, learning has no purpose. Without purpose, school and the humanities are wasteful and unworthy of a student’s attention or interest.
One would hope that these alternative narratives would be shared and adopted by colleagues throughout schools with the result that many “subjects” are infused with them and thus meaning would be imparted to student’s school experience. Narratives are so powerful, they sometimes reflect a vision of a god. Gods are not to be questioned, but that won't stop me now!
Current dysfunctional narratives (gods):
The god of science/technology:
- Everything is better if done with more and more advanced technology.
- Science & technology are their own justification, “because we can.”
- Technology enhances learning.
- Technology can replace many functions of school.
- Science will find a solution to global warming, AIDS, drinking water, hunger, genocide…. We just have to wait for it to work.
The god of economic utility:
- If you pay attention in school, do your homework, score well on standardized tests and behave yourself, you will be rewarded with a well paying job when you are done.
- Smith, Marx and the Puritans; we are first and foremost economic creatures.
- You are what you do for a living.
- Good= efficiency, productivity & organization, Evil= inefficiency, missed deadlines & laziness.
The god of consumer-ship:
- “Whoever dies with the most toys, wins.”
- Is tied to both the god of technology and the god of economic utility.
- Commercials teach better than schools. Happiness comes from purchasing the products.
The god of separatism:
- While separatists understand better than most the need for students to feel connected and participants in a shared culture, they are creating divisions through an Afro-centric, Asia-centric or Hispano-centric narratives. While they are valid narratives and deserve our attention, they make a sharp divide leaving Whites on the evil side of the story.
- This is not to be confused with cultural pluralism which is a valid pursuit in school.
- The aim of separatism is a new narrative that offers blame instead of toleration and reconciliation in American society.
The god of school as a waypoint to entertainment success:
- School is a ticket to punched, a training ground for fame and fortune in sports, music, drama and the like.
- General subject learning has no intrinsic value.
Replacement gods:
The Earth as a Finite System (Spaceship Earth):
- Humanity as caretakers of the planet
- If any part is poisoned, then all suffer
- One region/country’s problem is everyone’s problem (butterfly effect)
- Racism becomes both irrelevant and ridiculous
- “Never send to know for whom the bell tolls, it tolls for thee.”
- Does not conflict with any religious ideas
- Must overcome the strength of nationalism
- Who’s the best (competition) becomes irrelevant when we will all die and we are all in the same boat – cooperation (co-dependence) becomes the better mind set.
We are Beings of Error (Fallen Angels):
- If perfection exists, it is with God (with a capital G). To think of ourselves as perfect is a sin in Abrahamic religions, hubris to the Greeks, dogmatism to scientists.
- Human beings make mistakes, all the time. It is their nature.
- Socrates: “I know enough to know I know nothing.”
- We know things, but much of it is wrong. And what replaces what is wrong is subject to questioning as well.
- When people are absolutely sure they know what is right, they are capable of any mistake or atrocity. We aspire to be God when we are certain.
American Foundational Goals (the American Experiment):
- America is not infallible (examples abound) but instead a great experiment on many levels
- Republicanism
- Capitalism
- Muli-culturalism/Multi-ethnism
- Questioning of authority
- Can a nation be formed and maintained on the idea of continuous adjustment of the operating principals?
- What is freedom and what are its limits?
- What is a citizen and what are the rights and obligations of citizenship?
- What is the best balance of governmental authority and individual rights?
- Students should see themselves as participants in the great experiment: to do that they need the knowledge and will to argue, to ask questions, to discover which questions are worth arguing about and what happens when the argument is over. Everyone participates, all points of view are admissible.
The Eternal fight Against Entropy -2nd law of thermodynamics (the Power of Diversity):
- Everything, including society tends to degenerate unless this force is resisted.
- Diversity not as a curriculum of revenge, but a powerful narrative to discover the value of other points of view.
- Entropy is really a move toward sameness, when everything is the same, there is no energy, especially creative energy.
- Every system (including curriculum) needs something new and different coming in from the outside all the time.
Language is the Great Tool of Humanity (Word Weavers/World Makers):
- Language is not only the vehicle of thought, it is the driver, it defines the world as we see it (paradigms).
- Language is the organizing tool of our past and our possible futures.
- A moral dimension: we are not to take the Lord’s name in vain, what other names are we not to take in vain? (Racial, gender, sexual, class, ethnic epithets).
- Self talk helps us determine who we are, shouldn't it be organized, analytical and of good quality?