Have children become unteachable?

Almost two years ago, my husband saw an interesting article on PJ Media entitled "The Unteachables: A Generation that Cannot Learn" written by Janice Fiamengo, professor of English at the University of Ottawa. "The greatest tragedy of progressive education," she wrote, "is not the students' lack of skills, but of teachable character."

The premise of the article is that children no longer think a low grade in school means they should apply themselves harder. Rather, it means they (and their parents) should pester and harass the teacher until the grade is improved. "[M]any students cannot forgive the insult" of a low grade, Fiamengo notes. "Some students are prepared for a fight, writing emails of entreaty or threat, or besieging the instructor in his office to make clear that the grade is unacceptable."

This brings to mind my ninth-grade algebra teacher, Mr. Napier, back in 1976. When I received a "C" on a test, I caught up with him after class and asked what I could do to improve my grade. His reply was simple: "Study harder."

I did, and received a B+ in his class. I was immeasurably proud of that grade. I'd earned it.

But today … "I have spent hours explaining an essay's grammatical, stylistic, and logical weaknesses," wrote Dr. Fiamengo, "in the wearying certainty that the student was unable, both intellectually and emotionally, to comprehend what I was saying or to act on my advice. … Most of them simply hope that I will come around. Their belief that nothing requires improvement except the grade is one of the biggest obstacles that teachers face in the modern university. And that is perhaps the real tragedy of our education system: not only that so many students enter university lacking the basic skills and knowledge to succeed in their courses – terrible in itself – but also that they often arrive essentially unteachable, lacking the personal qualities necessary to respond to criticism." [Emphasis added.]

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A few weeks ago at UCLA, a group of students held a sit-in "to support poor English writing skills. They whined about the 'racism' of being offered constructive criticism of their lack of grammar, spelling, and punctuation abilities. As products of dysfunctional government schools, many if not all of them have little or no writing skill. Many of them don't know they have no writing skills. They have been lied to and had their heads patted so often by paternalistic liberals that they can no longer recognize the truth about their shortcomings."

Now why is this, do you suppose?

Whenever I read something like this, I can't help but recall the accounts of schooldays related in the Laura Ingalls Wilder books, where rote memorization and mental calculation was not only required but insisted upon (sometimes through the judicious use of a switch). With the exception of science (which was apparently not taught at the time), most high school graduates a century ago could whup the academic fannies of high school (and college) graduates today. There are some old tests for eighth-grade graduation here and here if you'd care to see for yourself.

Some may argue that with so much new science and technology being discovered on a daily basis, the archaic knowledge required a hundred years ago is no longer necessary or even desirable. And maybe they're right. But surely it's necessary to have basic reading and writing skills, as well as a decent familiarity with geography, economics, mathematics and history? Or am I nuts?

So what's changed? Why is the educational system today such a dismal failure and/or why are students unteachable?

There are a number of factors at work. Parental attitude and involvement has a massive influence, of course. The dependency on personal electronics skews a child's mind, abilities, critical thinking and expectations.

But much of the blame can be placed on monolithic government monopolies that have ousted traditional ideals of educational and behavioral expectations in favor of feel-good nonsense, self-esteem drivel and fuzzy math baloney that demands more and more funding for less and less academic results. Teachers who actually hold high expectations and demand academic excellence are marginalized because they "fail" too many kids or lower their students' precious self-esteem. And let's not forget that self-esteem is more important than actually doing something to earn it.

This false sense of achievement often carries over into higher education. "[I]t enables university administrators to boast of the ever-greater numbers of students taking degrees at their institutions," notes Dr. Fiamengo. "Thus our universities participate in a happy make-believe. Students get their degrees. Parents are reassured that their money has been well-spent. And compliant professors are, if not exactly satisfied ... at least relieved not to encounter student complaints."

This fantasy of academic achievement comes to a crashing halt once students graduate and face the cold, cruel world where "grades" are secondary to a work ethic, honest labor and fundamental skills. Employers are frustrated at applicants' inability to communicate, either verbally or in writing. They are faced with new hirees who demand the proverbial corner office without having put in the effort to earn it.

In short, young people may come to the ugly realization that their entire academic careers have been a farce of low expectations, false praise and padded grades – none of which carry any weight in the adult working world. Eager to lash out and assign blame, they respond by "occupying" various places and demanding such absurdities as collective wealth ownership and guaranteed "living wage" jobs without the necessity of working for them. Others demand that the Bill of Rights be suspended because … well, they say so.

It's time to realize that today's public education is NOT about academics. It's not about knowledge. And it certainly is not about teaching young people to think for themselves. Instead, public education is about training children to become herd animals obedient to the state, lock-step with progressive government groupthink.

I can tell you one thing: Communities must break the glacial grip of the federal government and the NEA on schools. Until competition is returned to its rightful place as the motivator of school excellence, and until parents wrest control away from the educational machine, students will continue to be unteachable. It is yet another example of the humiliating decline of what was once the greatest nation on earth.

Meanwhile, folks, homeschool or use private schools. Don't let your children become unteachable.

Media wishing to interview Patrice Lewis, please contact [email protected].