"Once upon a time, before education was mandated and became a public responsibility, children witnessed and participated closely in the daily life of home and community. In the process, they developed some understanding of how things worked in the adult world-from concrete, physical experiences of starting a fire, drawing water, or spinning yarn to the more distance" and general rules of governing family authority, relationship, and community responsibilities. Children's lives then, though integrally involved in the adult work..."
Though the point of this article is about play ethic, I was taken by this first section. Education is a complex topic and quick reform is unrealistic. Today's children are born from young parents, many children themselves. Children (and adults) focus much energy into the "boob tube", video games, and even facebook. Many of us are guilty of these pleasures.
A significant difference between the "old days" and children today is the work ethic. I am fortunate to have grown up in a house with an immigrant father who instilled a strong work ethic; we would not get anything unless we put forth extreme amount of honest work and effort into it. That was the way he did it, that was the way we did it, and that is the way my children will do it.
I work with children that do not appreciate education because they have been taught that they are entitled. So the question is, how to we begin to redirect this ethic of entitlement back into a Work Ethic throughout society?
Excerpt from p. 28, NEA Today, January/February 2011. Written by Deborah Meier, Brenda S. Engel, & Beth Taylor
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