When you hear that many “elite” undergraduates “can't read” books, the first thing that comes to mind may be that they aren't actually elite. (The term “pseudo-elite” itself suggests that.) As for the word “unable,” no, it's not that these college students, often Ivy Leaguers, are illiterate. The problem is something else: conditioning.
Fox News reported on the matter last Thursday, writing:
(Atlantic) Associate Editor Rose Horowicz speaks with several teachers at elite schools such as Columbia University, Georgetown University, and Stanford University, and finds that students at each teacher are overwhelmed by the prospect of reading all the books. explained the phenomenon.
Nicholas Dames, a humanities professor at Columbia University, said he felt “perplexed” when he was told that first-year students were never required to read a single book in public high schools.
“My jaw dropped,” Dames said.
Some professors found that there were a few students who were able to complete the task, but described them as “more of an exception” than the rule, and others said that when faced with difficult passages, they “shut up. ” he said.
“Daniel Shore, head of the English department at Georgetown, told me that his students have trouble maintaining concentration even in the sonnets,” Horowich wrote.
“It's not that they don't want to do readings,” she says. “They don't know how to do it. Middle schools and high schools have stopped asking for it.”
In a recent survey of nearly 300 third- through eighth-grade educators conducted by EdWeek Research Center, Horowich said, “only 17% said they primarily teach full text.” , reported that nearly 25% responded that the entire book itself was no longer the focus of their curriculum.
Standardized stupidity?
Fox said the problem plagues government agencies as well as private organizations. However, the latter is even worse because of standardized test prep. Just last week, an intelligent and outspoken former high school teacher named Daniel Bayard Jackson proved this.
In response to a report in The Atlantic, Jackson explained that she read the entire book in class. However, someone “tipped off” on her and the administrator called her in and told her that the time for the standardized test was coming up and all she had to do was “complete the worksheet” provided by the school. However, Jackson did not comply and continued reading in secret. result?
She was called back to the office, where several administrators had gathered. Jackson students outperformed all other classes on standardized tests. And the administrator wanted to know her secret. (Video below.)
(Note: A close friend of mine, who has sadly passed away, had a similar experience when he was an English teacher in a public school in New York City. (One of the reasons he lost his job.)
systemic problem
Obviously, part of the problem lies in today's high-tech society. Kids today are glued to their electronic devices, “screen addiction” is a reality, and they are addicted to social media. They watch videos and communicate through short posts, often using Internet abbreviations. The grammar is also bad. This is how they are conditioned. It's the “new normal.”
Parents often aren't helping, either, as Minnesota teacher Eric Calende cites an anecdote about his students. As Education Week reported in January:
While teaching a 9th grade class, Ms. Karenze gave the class a 25-page reading assignment, but the student's mother worried whether her son would be able to complete it within the demands of the individualized education program. I was there.
“His mother called me and said, 'This isn't going to work,'” Karenze recalled. “So I said, 'Do you want him to be able to sit down and read 25 pages at some point in his life?' She said, of course.”
That student ended up becoming one of Carenze's best readers…
The problem is that in today's parenting, there is more pandering than parenting. I remember being upset when I was young and being assigned a spelling of a seemingly unbearable number of words. My mother did not call the teacher to complain. In return, she ensured that I completed the task.
A parent's job is not to complain that their legitimate duty is not to “go to work” just because it's hard. It's to get the child to do the work. Oh, you might pout or tear up, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Pain encourages growth.
Burning your mental muscles
As with all things, what Education Week calls “reading stamina” can only be developed with experience and practice. So how can we avoid “elite” college students who “can't read”?
Start “gaining weight” gradually from a young age.
To illustrate this, when I first started going to the gym at age 19, the workouts I did seemed difficult. But training for the same amount of time seemed easy when I was 23, so I trained harder at that point. It was conditioning, mental conditioning.
Similarly, children will grow up finding it impossible to read unless forced to do so. And don't be afraid to pout. No pain, no gain: Burning mental muscles promises greater intellectual strength in the future. Limiting the use of television and electronic devices can also help. After all, what was the reality before these technologies? Eliminate the overstimulation that these devices bring, and reading becomes the only available stimulation, and kids are hooked on it. .
Another reason this is important is that reading promotes brain development, as the website NeuroLaunch explained in September. In summary, “The act of reading, while seemingly simple, triggers a series of neurological changes that have profound effects on our cognitive performance, emotional intelligence, and even long-term brain health.” may be granted,” the site states.
Furthermore, what does this lack of reading among young people say about the overall level of discipline today? What does it portend for our civilization? Would you rather fly with a pilot who can't work through a flight manual, or be treated by a doctor who can't understand Grey's Anatomy?
