I'm mixed on this. I don't think Miles is totally off. This
narrative of a defective generation of youth has a long history. One
could probably use Williams' critique of the golden age as a strong
analogue. On the other hand, my experiences teaching tends to move
in this direction as well. I find a lot of willingness to follow
instructions, but not a lot of critical thinking skills. A collegue
(who teaches 5th grade) suspects that part of the problem is that
internet strategies of reading tend to operate on a pan and scan
model, rather than a model that critically takes in complex
arguments. I would be interested if there were any long term studies
on this question of critical literacy (ie. I accept that I am
producing ancedotes, which may or may not mean much). My intuition
is that this may actually go beyond the effects of the internet, and
may have a lot more to do with a society in which its citizens don't
have much say in its direction. Robert Wood
>
> I hear things similar to what the article reported from a lot of
> veteran HS and college teachers - poor preparation, lack of interest,
> inability to read, write or think. When you hear the same thing over
> & over again from people with long experience, you should ask just
> what the IQ tests are measuring. That interview from Flynn that
> Michael Pollak posted was interesting - the rising test scores are
> mainly an artifact of changing modes of life and thought, and not a
> reflection of what Miles thinks they are.
>
> Even at the high end things seem rather grim. My sister-in-law
> graduated from Harvard in June '06 and reports that her fellow
> students were an intellectually uninspiring bunch. They're hyper-
> coached, machined little achievement products, but not what you'd
> think of as an intellectual elite.
>
> Doug
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