I just finished A more beautiful Question, and I liked it, but I preferred Better Living Through Criticism more. I connected with the artistic philosophy discussed in the first selection more than I did with the concepts about education in this section. While I had a lot of problems with this section, I still really enjoyed with the author’s points, and I agreed with their stance on education. The educational system based on questioning reminds me a lot of my experience at Galloway. Over the years, I’ve really noticed how different of a place Galloway is, and I am extremely grateful to have been at a school that let me explore myself and learn independently. When discussing Deborah Meier’s approach to education, the author mentioned how Meier discovered and emphasized the fact that “When you give kids more freedom to pursue what they’re interested in, they become easier to control”, and I connected with this. I’ve noticed that when I have the freedom to learn about what I am interested in, I learn so much more and become more interested in it. Specifically, this is very true for me with music. I started to really get into music in middle school, and this is in large part because I had the freedom to explore it on my own. Even today, my music teachers give me the freedom to discover things and push myself without being over controlling or demanding. I believe this concept of allowing students to explore and learn about things on their own is crucial towards an education, and I wholeheartedly agree with the author on this topic.
While this form of education is incredibly valuable and impactful, I am struggling to see how it could be implemented into the public education system, especially with our current Secretary of Education. My train of thought comes from the chapter Who is Entitled to Ask Questions, and I was basically wondering this exact question. Is question-based education exclusive to private schools and privileged families? Or does it include people of lower socio-economic status? I was also wondering which type of teachers will be able to implement this teaching style. If there is a teacher who has 25 students in her class and they’ve been told countless times to just teach from the textbook, how will they be able to make the teaching style change to question based learning? I have a hard time understanding how this method of learning is practical for students of all incomes. I have a similar problem with the next chapter Why, What if, How. I believe that the method of taking a step back and asking oneself what the bigger picture is can be a useful and eye-opening practice. However, I was disgruntled that the author only explained this by focusing on the tactics and practices of CEOs in Silicon Valley. I understand that the author was trying to demonstrate how the most successful people take a step back, but I couldn’t help but wonder how some people simply do not have time to ask themselves if they are happy. For example, a single mother working three jobs can not afford to ask themselves if they are truly happy. Like the previous chapter, the author seems to only be focusing on privileged individuals. While I agree with the author on all of these problems, I believe it lacked a call to action and a way to implement these topics discussed.
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December 2019
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