"A student's point of view: Kids don't want to learn" (CNN)

[b_r_um]

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I understand that we may need to use contemporary lenses to help students begin the process of learning about the history of literature/art/etc. and why it matters.

So we do agree?</p>

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I simply don’t think that responding to the problem by privileging the contemporary without acknowledging its foundations is the answer because I think educating in that way creates a dangerous arrogance about knowledge.

I am still not sure where you got that from. I very explicitly said that we should acknowledge old foundations where that makes sense, and Dad<em>of</em>3 seems to agree too. The problem is that the current curriculum only studies the past and never relates it to the present. </p>

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I know that we can’t just start teaching literature/history/art “from the beginning” because we’ll never get to “now,” and that’s not OK or rewarding for the students.

But that’s EXACTLY what the current system is doing. I’ve had several history classes that started with the ancient Romans and Greeks, and none ever got beyond World War 1 because we ran out of time. History class was basically storytelling time about medieval kings. Conclusions I drew? History is irrelevant because the world back then looked nothing like the world right now.</p>

<p>I did not have a SINGLE class in high school that EVER acknowledged ANYTHING that happened in my own lifetime (not science, not politics, not literature or music or art or economics). Not even 09/11 got mentioned inside the classroom. The only ray of modern sunlight was lunch break: the computer system through which we could pre-order and pre-pay for lunch was new.</p>

<p>Acknowledging the present in any shape, way or form in the current high school curriculum would be a huge leap forward.</p>