Headline Oct 23, 2015/ ''' SCHOOLS OF WISDOM '''

''' SCHOOLS OF WISDOM '''

THE WORLD OVER,  -granting justice to the poor students, or honouring the ''differently-abled''  students,and orphans-

Or providing them with the rights and some semblance of privileges, is never deemed a priority. The above holds [terribly and shamefully and permanently good?]  for the developing world 

So, Students ''Most Likely To Succeed''  is a new film that endorses on educational approach  geared to the workplace, but it neglects intellectual virtues.

AS EVERY BRIGHT student knows, that the gravitational pull of the Sun helps hold the planets in their orbits.

Gravity from the center holds coherence to the whole solar system. I mention this because that's how our social, political and educational system used to work but no longer do.

In each sphere of life there used to be a few  big suns radiating conviction and meaning. The other bodies were in orbit were defined by their resistance or attraction to that pull.

But how many of the big suns in our world today lack conviction, while distant factions at the margins of society are full of passionate intensity. Now the gravitational pull is coming from the edges, in sphere after sphere.

Each central establishment, weakened by its hollowness of meaning, is being ripped apart by the gravitational pull from the fringes.

The same phenomenon can be seen in many areas but it's easiest to illustrate in the sphere of education, both global and domestic.

If we want to produce  wise students/people, what are the stages that produce it, then?

FIRST, there is basic factual acquisition. You have to know what a neutron or gene is, that the Civil War in America came before Progressive era. Research shows that students with a concrete level of  core knowledge  are better at remembering advanced facts and concepts as they go along.

SECOND, there is pattern formation, linking facts together in meaningful ways. This can be done by a good lecture,  through class discussion, through unconscious processing or by going over and over a challenging text until it clicks in your head.

THIRD, there is mental reformation,. At some point while studying a field, the student realizes she has learned a new language a way of seeing    -how to think like a mathematician   or a poet   or a physicist.

At this point information has become a knowledge. It is alive. It can be manipulated and rearranged.

At this point a student has the mental content and architecture to innovate, to come up with new theses,challenge  others' theses and be challenged in return.

Finally after living with this sort of knowledge for years, exposing it to the rigors of reality, wisdom dawns.

*Wisdom is the a  hard-earned intuitive awareness of how things will flow. Wisdom is playful. The wise person loves to share, and cajole and guide and wonder what she doesn't know.

The cathedrals of knowledge and wisdom are based on the foundations of factual acquisition and cultural literacy. You can't overleap that, which is what High Tech High is in danger of doing.

''Most Likely To Succeed''  is inspiring because it reminds us that the new technology demands new schools. But somehow relational skills have to be taught alongside factual literacy.

The stairway from information to knowledge to wisdom has not changed. The rules have to be learned before they can be played with and broken.  

Paik Nak-chung   -South Korea's public intellectual sums up best: As the battle for material equality becomes more urgent and central to the survival of human civilisation:

*We need to envision a new way of organising an egalitarian society*.

With respectful dedication to the Leaders of the Free World. See Ya all Your Excellencies on !WOW!  -the World Students Society Computers-Internet-Wireless:

''' The Students Dynamics '''

Good Night and God Bless

SAM Daily Times - the Voice of the Voiceless