By Marvin Albright / Chronicle contributor
Several years ago, our family hosted a brilliant young man from Germany as part of the American Field Service program. He lived with us for a full year and also attended the local high school. Today, he owns a Doctoral degree in literature and teaches at a prominent university in Wales.
One day he returned from school very disturbed about what had happened in a Social Studies class. A discussion centered around America's proposal to install guided missiles on German soil. The teacher turned to the AFS student and asked, "Tilmann, how do the Germans feel about this proposal?" He replied simply that the Germans largely did not want American missiles. The teacher terminated the discussion with the uncomplimentary remark: "That's a very naive and unrealistic opinion. With the USSR at their doorsteps, they need that missile defense system."
A subject was introduced; a question was asked; a statement was offered; an evaluation and conclusion was given. Subject closed!
So what did the class learn? They learned that the teacher was not open to free discussion. What did the teacher teach? He taught that there was only one position on the subject.
What was missing in this class? There was no opportunity for the students to learn from each other via a free exchange of ideas. They were not able to use their reasoning skills to probe the ramifications of the subject, either the positive or negative aspects. They were told what and how to think and believe — end of discussion.
Education has a proud tradition of not only imparting important facts, but also of encouraging and even prodding students to think for themselves. Exposure to all kinds of ideas and viewpoints encourages thinking. Diversity of thought helps to develop a discriminating mind and stimulates creativity. It does very little good to learn "readin' 'ritin' and 'rithmetic" if one does not at the same time learn how to reason. That is what a good teacher does! A good teacher listens, encourages, provides information and helps the student explore things beyond their imagination. And, unlike the teacher mentioned, there are millions of good teachers who would not let such an opportunity slip from their lesson plans.
Enter the President of the United States, who wants to encourage students of all ages to hang on, to stay in school, "to see things as they are and wonder why, ... to dream dreams and ask why not...?," to "reach for the stars" and to realize their full potential as human beings. What has happened? Parents and many teachers have cried "Boycott the speech! Stay home! Don't listen to such socialist ideas!"
What has happened to us? What has happened to parents who must know that education is the most important legacy they can leave for their children? How can children learn if they are shut off from ideas and then must debate out of ignorance and misinformation? What has happened to school administrators who are afraid to be reasonable and who want to expose students to only one side of any question?
Agree with the President or not, parents and teachers must seize the moment and use Mr. Obama's words as a learning moment, a teaching, a reasoning moment.
What is happening to us?
