I find the "implication/conclusion: [that] football MATTERS, school is
fairly irrelevant" a dangerous generalization used to leverage a
philosophical point. My gut sensation is that the anti-intellectual
picture painted by the anecdote is real, true; it represents the
mainstream in the United States now.
But a more sanguine side of me recalls that for many two years ed. reform
trials that fail, there are also islands of competent, legitimate
successes where teachers involve students in "doing".
I agree completely with Charlie's insights about what really counts for
teenagers. Someone else wrote recently about an initiative which runs
counter to the trend: Olympics of the Mind (OM). This combination of
teamwork and ingenuity brings aspects of schooling out into another world
beyond the school walls. I suspect that in many schools (especially High
Schools) OM is considered an activity for dweebs and pinheads--a further
manifestation of anti-intellectualism fostered by...by what?
Best regards,
-- Barry Mallis bmallis@markem.comLearning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>