"WHY DID I HAVE TO STUDY X? I'VE NEVER USED IT!"
Values for X include science (biology, physics, chemistry), foreign languages, writing, or history, but mostly math (algebra, geometry, trigonometry, calculus).
I have an answer for the question, but people don't like it. That answer is:
It wasn't for your benefit, stupid; it was to find the kids who would do well in it and go on to make great contributions to society -- and lots of money.
I absolutely count myself in with the stupids on this. For all the good higher mathematics has done me, I might as well have spent those hours in school playing miniature golf or watching game shows. So I am not without sympathy to their complaint. And they are not really stupid, although they are complaining out of ignorance here.
They need to understand that this is a downside of universal public education -- the kids all get tossed into the various subject pools, and the ones with the interest and aptitude -- and support at home -- will swim. Everyone has to take algebra, biology, etc. so we can find the future engineers, mathematicians, doctors, chemists, and so on.
A tailor-made system where every child is eased into what he knows and likes best might seem ideal, but like most ideals it is impossible in practice. What the kvetchers would prefer in fact is to have never had to study these things, but we need people who understand them -- and how else will we produce them?
It doesn't mean that the kids who struggle in math or English are useless dummies. Hardly. They may feel like way when they struggle, and I sure as hell did in trigonometry. It doesn't mean that they have nothing to offer. It just means that they don't have a knack for that kind of subject. Even most smart kids if pressed to study higher mathematics to its limits will reach a level where it becomes a fight.
Schools used to know this. They used to have plenty of vocational training for kids who really weren't interested in college but could make a good, even great living doing other things. Then we all got buffaloed into thinking everyone had to go to college except for the hopelessly stupid. Those people we could look down on.
This has led to the sidelining of vocational classes and the ballooning of college costs and college debt. It also has led to the foolish disregard of occupations that once held esteem in our culture, jobs that required knowledge and skill but not a degree.
So when I call someone who complains about having had to study algebra in high school stupid, I don't mean they were stupid about math. I mean they're being stupid about this particular question.
4 comments:
It also teaches you how to problem solve. Sure, you (probably) won't need to use algebra in real life, but your brain needs to be able to figure out complex issues and break them down into simpler items, solve them, and magically the complex thing is solved.
A kid might be bored by isosceles triangles, but give him a hammer and a saw, and soon he's a master carpenter using angles and frations all day long.
rbj13.
Except calculus, 40 years later and I still don't understand it.
I can see those classes as filters. What bothers me is using them as "smartness indicators." How about: If you can't do trig, or whatever, just remove the attempt from your permanent record.
OK, I tried. I still have to get my graduation points somewhere, just don't hold my attempt at trig against me. Bubba over there didn't even try, so he gets a better GPA.
It used to be considered helpful to at least have a passing knowledge of many subjects; you don't have to be a whiz at calculus but it can be useful to at least know what it is.
I had a classmate bitter at me in HS because Calculus allowed me to beat him out for the salutatorian honor. I didn't like our math teacher and saved Calc for college; he took the class and it caused his grades to drop enough that I moved ahead of him.
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