Ocrober 1, 2002
Kamloops Daily News



"Education is what survives when what has been learned has
been forgotten." B. F. Skinner (1904 - 1990)

Ah, education.  What is it?  Psychologist B.F. Skinner
thinks that education is the remnants of learning, not the
beginning of it.

Almost everyone has an opinion about education.  Ask a dozen
people and you'll get a dozen answers.  Ask one hundred
groups, as B.C. Minister of Education Christy Clark did, and
you'll get many more.

It's no wonder that everyone has an opinion.  We spend a
dozen or more years on the receiving end of education.  Some
of us spend many more years on the delivery end.

Students, parents, and the general public rightfully expect
results.  British Columbians spend a lot of money on
education, second only to health care.  Last year we spent
$6.8 billion on education and $9.5 billion health care. 

Minister Clark's recently released goals for Education are
ambitious.  She would require school districts to make
physical education mandatory for grades 11 and 12.  She
wants school districts to enhance student life skills and
readiness for employment.  She expects a lot from school
boards.

Clark has to be careful with how far she pushes school
boards.  School boards now provide a convenient scapegoat
for the B.C. Liberals.  They do the governments dirty work
in cutting expensive programs and take all the flack. 

Recently, some school boards have rebelled and run deficits.  
This left the government with no option but to fire the
boards and take them over.  In doing so, the government
becomes directly answerable to the electorate - - something
the Liberals would like to avoid.

Clarke's plans are potentially expensive and she is not
giving school boards any more money to implement these
plans.  The B.C. Liberals plan to spend less on education,
when you take inflation into account.

In addition to financial and political problems with Clark's
plan, there are logistical problem.  Some goals contradict
others.  She plans to introduce "pathway concentrations" in
areas like trades and technology, humanities, science, and
business and marketing. 

That contradicts another Clark proposal: "critical thinking,
problem solving and community and social responsibility." 
Whereas pathway concentrations require a focus on a clusters
of studies, critical thinking and problem solving require a
broad range of subjects.   Specific pathways don't allow for
exploration.  Critical thinking requires a broad liberal
education with many paths traveled. 

Then there are the pedagogical problems having to do with
the design of a curriculum that will meet her goals. 
Curriculum design is based on concepts first identified by
Benjamin Bloom in 1948.  Bloom categorized three levels of
educational abstraction which he called "domains."

Bloom called them the psychomotor, cognitive, and affective
domains.  The first step in curriculum design is to decide
which domain your educational goal falls.  Next, write
objectives that meet that goal.

The affective domain contains the highest level of
abstraction, including Clark's goals of critical thinking,
problem solving and community and social responsibility.  It
also includes the teaching of attitudes, values, and
commitments.

It's the kind of life-long learning that B. F. Skinner talks
about.  We may forget facts, but things learned in the
affective domain last a lifetime.

Teaching in the affective domain requires that students
analyze "complex sets of values, possible disparate values,
resolve conflicts between them, and begin to build an
internally consistent value system," according to one school
of education.

It can be done but it requires not only careful planning but
also requires that students are developed to the point of
accepting higher levels of abstraction.

Teaching in the other educational domains - - the
psychomotor and the cognitive - - are more manageable.

The psychomotor domain is for the teaching of manual
dexterity, eye-hand coordination, and fine motor skills. 
The cognitive domain is the teaching of knowledge as a
result of the presentation of facts and ideas.  Teaching in
the cognitive domain requires analysis, evaluation and
synthesis.  It's difficult but can be done. 

I agree with Education Minister Clark when she says that
"Education must go beyond teaching the skills necessary for
university…"  Teachers are always ready for a challenge.

Teachers will train the bodies, educate the minds, and often
sooth the souls of their students.  Teachers will do the
difficult right now - - the impossible will take a little
while.

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