Wise Up: Education
By David Bruce
June 9, 2008
• Recently, students in my junior-composition courses took a CAAP writing-competency test. In the test, my students spent 20 minutes each writing two essays. The theory seems to be that this is a fair test of students’ writing ability. Of course, it isn’t. What all of us, teachers included, do when writing is very much different from what my students were required to do on this test: 1) In real life, we would use a computer. 2) In real life, we would use a dictionary and perhaps do research, depending on the topic. 3) In real life, we would write more than one draft. 4) In real life, we would let time pass after writing the first draft. 5) In real life, we would look at the first draft and say, “Well, I have some content here. Now I need to improve this and to make it interesting to read.”
So what did the CAAP writing-competency test actually test? Not much. In my opinion, it tests students’ ability to come up with a handwritten first draft. If Ohio University wishes to evaluate students’ writing competency, ask the English Department for good ways to do that. For example, portfolios can reveal much about students’ writing competency. In addition, the use of pre/post essays can reveal much about students’ writing competency.
In this assessment, students write an essay without teacher help near the beginning of a composition course, and students write a similar kind of essay without teacher help near the end of the composition course. Both portfolios and pre/post essays allow students to revise papers and to use a writing process that real people actually use in this century. The CAAP writing-competency test would be much better for writers in the 19th century.
• Basketball player Bill Bradley had a good senior year at Princeton, averaging 30.2 points per game and leading his team to the semifinals of the NCAA Championship Tournament. Princeton lost the semifinal game to Michigan, but in the consolation game, it earned third place in the tournament, with Mr. Bradley scoring a remarkable 58 points. Afterward, he was named to many All-America teams and could have made many publicity appearances, but he disappeared from public view for a while. Why? He was at a friend’s house writing his senior thesis — a 150-page paper on the 1940 U.S. Senatorial Campaign in Missouri, an election that was won by future President Harry S. Truman. By the way, Mr. Bradley — a Rhodes Scholar — wrote his autobiography, “Life on the Run,” himself instead of enlisting the services of a ghost writer.
• The goal is perfection, but seeking perfection is more important than achieving perfection. Indian tabla master Zakir Hussain learned this important lesson from jazz saxophonist Charles Lloyd. Following a concert, one of Mr. Lloyd’s friends told him, “Charles, that was amazing — that was perfect!” Mr. Lloyd replied, “Man, I haven’t played good enough to quit yet!” Ms. Hussain identifies what he learned from this short conversation: “If I think I play well enough now, I might as well hang up my boots. It’s not about the goal; it’s about the journey. This is a learning experience all through your life.”
• Life is important, and one’s priorities must be set correctly. This is true, but how can people learn this lesson? In South Korea, companies are engaged in teaching exactly this lesson. They sell mock funerals to young people in college. These college students do these things: 1) write their will, 2) put on traditional Korean burial clothing, and 3) lie still as other people nail them into their coffin. Of course, being nailed in the coffin is only temporary — but it is very effective in being a reminder of death, and very effective in educating people to set their priorities correctly.
• The parents of children’s author Jane Yolen wanted her to go to a good school, and once they even lied about where they lived to get her into the best school possible. Unfortunately, Jane was too young to remember that she was supposed to give the authorities a pretend address, so she had to go to a different school. She was a smart student, and she was instantly promoted to the second grade when her first-grade teacher discovered that young Jane had read her first-grade reading textbook overnight.
• Zi You, a disciple of Confucius, started a school in a small town. Confucius visited Zi You, and he was very happy to see the school, but he tested Zi You by asking, “Is it worth it to expend such great efforts for a place so small? Is there a need for education here?” Zi You replied, “Education is necessary both to make good rulers and to make good citizens. Though this town is small, its people deserve to be educated.” Confucius replied, “You are absolutely correct.”
• Chris Martin, the lead singer of Coldplay, and the other members of the band take education seriously. Mr. Martin and his band mates attended London University. They declined to sign a contract that made them release any Coldplay records or tour before they had completed their final exams. Mr. Martin received a first — a top British honor — in ancient world studies. He and the other members of Coldplay became rock gods after their final exams.
• Alexander Fleming, the discoverer of penicillin, had an older brother named Tom who wanted him and yet another brother, who was named Robert, to keep up their studies after they had started to work for a living. Tom would ask Alexander and Robert to each contribute a coin, then he would quiz them on math, geography and history. The brother who answered the greatest number of questions correctly got both coins.
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