My Daughter still asks me to look over her papers before she turns them in. The problem is, my kid is so much more intelligent than I am that I really don’t understand all the things she is writing…
Which is a good thing. It means that she is learning and being educated.
But what I notice about her education trajectory is how, when you have been fortunate enough to have had exceptional teachers for your career, seamlessly the lessons integrate and build upon one another.
First you concentrate on reading, then math, then writing, then research. The research part of my daughter’s academic career has been long. She began doing research papers in fourth grade. She was taught how to find reputable sources (Just Say No to Wikipedia) and how to annotate them. This process of research and use quotes to bolster your argument has been a close friend for at least ten years.
But now, as a Junior taking higher level classes, when I read her papers I see the shift. Her Professors now want her to use less quotes and data to bolster arguments. They most definitely want research, but they want to see the conclusions that she’s drawn from reading multiple sources. They want to see what she has personally deduced from all the data. They want to see her unique perspective to something. They want her to come up with ideas that no one else has come up with. They want her thoughts to be personally, and in some cases universally, groundbreaking.
They are now preparing her to write her thesis next year.
They want her to take everything she’s ever learned, and go one step further.
They want her to take everything she’s learned and apply it to something she can call her own.
They’re teaching her to be an independent thinker.
So when someone wonders why they have to learn X or Y in school, because they are never going to use it in their life, remind them that all these steps are for a purpose of helping you learn how to think. Because if you don’t learn how to think for yourself, you will be lost. If you don’t learn to think for yourself you will constantly be looking for others to lead you. And while sometimes you need a leader, you always need to understand what’s going on around you and come to your own conclusion. Being a sheep is not necessarily the best life goal.
Don’t be a sheep.
Learn and grow.
Think for yourself.
Thank your teachers.
Waking up on the Wrong Side of 50 
super article
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Well said, LA. Bravo!
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👍
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Great points to thank our teachers, and to value education in a broad way. To get info from multiple sources and draw our own conclusions. A big yes on that. Including news sources.
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I don’t like when someone takes one news source and mocks the rest. Read everything. Make your mind up
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Unfortunately, too many teachers don’t teach you to think for yourself. They only teach you to regurgitate what you’ve been taught and give you zero room for deviation. Those that aren’t taught to think for themselves from other sources then struggle when they are expected to do just that. My son was floored in his college writing class when the teacher pretty much told him to toss out every single thing he’d learned in his high school english language arts classes. Granted, he has never struggled with thinking for himself so did well in that class, but others did poorly and could never understand why as they followed all the “rules” they’d been taught for years.
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My daughter has indeed been lucky…but how much of it is parents making sure kids are prepared
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I really think it is a combination, but it depends on the kids, the parents, and the teachers.
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True
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It’s why I love taking classes, I’m forced to use my critical thinking skills, and like a muscle, it can atrophy when not used regularly! 💪 C
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Totally agree
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Your daughter is getting an excellent education. I’m not sure most every student is as fortunate. I was criticized because my kids each took four year’s of Latin for their foreign language in high school rather than something more “practical” like Spanish. I believe they learned more in Latin that they use today than in any other subject.
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Well, I thought my daughter had excellent teachers, however, I know a lot of her classmates parents would disagree
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A great skill, learning to think for yourself. Comes in handy. Your daughter is learning what counts.
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💗
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I wish her experience was everyone’s experience. For some, school is teaching them to be a part of the flock.
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Yeah…that makes me angry
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My college algebra instructor was a product of a Jesuit education. He waxed eloquent on the need for the building block, the interdependencies of all knowledge. Learning for learning’s sake. I love it.
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That’s exactly it! All the pieces should join together!
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Your daughter has definitely received an excellent education and the gift of learning to think and analyze. I expect she will become a lifelong learner, and there is nothing finer than that, except putting it to good use.
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I hope she’s grown to love learning. I think it’s important!
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If school teaches nothing else but to think for ourselves, it’s more than worth all the money and time invested in it.
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