Seems like a long time ago that I started this series of Blogs about our educational system, yet I still have more. Having lived thru most of the last century, I think that I have a reasonable perspective on the last one and a basis for prediction on the one that we are now in. If the last one was the "Technical Century", then this one has to be the "Super Technical Century". As with most things, the first part is the easiest and that was true of this last century. We did not have all the technically trained people that were needed, but we did OK with what we had. The USA used the "Brain Drain" to collect the best brains from around the world from about 1935 on and thus were able to take advantage of the "Technical Century". Now we are entering the "Super Technical Century" and won't have the help of the "Brain Drain", so what are we going to do? It is a serious question and it bears directly on the quality of our technical education. Nothing could be more clear and we have to admit that we have not been keeping up and, in fact, we have been falling behind.
I don't pretend to have all the answers, but I do have some ideas. Enrollments in engineering and the sciences have been declining in our colleges and universities while the total number of students going on to college has increased. Test scores in both math and science have declined in our high schools over the past 50 years when they should have been going up. These are leading indicators that we will be in even worse trouble in the future when these school aged citizens become the main part of the work force. You could say that the hand writing is already on the wall as to what the future holds for the USA and our children. It does not look like a very prety picture if these trends continue. It could already be too late, but to give up is not in the vocabulary of the people who built this country, so here goes my idea.
I have seen all kinds of science fairs and programs to push math and science and most have fallen flat in their tracks. The reason is that our kids are just not interested or motivated to study math and science. This whole business about "Green" at first seemed to be a possible step in the right direction, but it has turned out to be directed and maned by people who have very little knowledge or appreciation of real science. It is all "Fuzzy Feel Good" stuff and our kids have fallen for it. What we need to do is to change how our schools teach. Notice how they have integrated "Green" into almost every class? It has worked. Our kids are thinking "Green" and are motivated, but for the wrong reasons. What we need to do is a similar thing with true math and science and integrate these into every class just like the "Green" advocates have done. The "Green" theme was easy, because any unqualified union teacher could get on the band wagon and promote "Green" and not have to know or understand anything about math or true science. Science was just a buzz word without any true weight. We need to get math and science into every class just like they did with "Green" and here is how.
Let's start with history. When we teach history about how the Spanish Armada tried to invade England, we need to teach why they failed. It was not that the fleet met a big storm off the coast of England as I was taught. It was because the Spanish did not have a good clock and did not know that the ocean had strong currents much like a river. As a result their ships ran into land during the night and during fog. It was not storms, it was the lack of the understanding of science and math.
How about this one? Why did England after the war with the Spanish suddenly gain control of the seas and most of the world. Prior to the war with Spain, England was just a small island without much of a navy. How did Captain Cook sail around the world and map all the areas and claim them for England? The clock, and a very good one at that. Who invented this accurate clock that had such a major impact on the history of the world? We would not be speaking English here in the USA had it not been for this one individual. His name was John Harrison. He perfected the most accurate clock that had every been made and it made possible the determination of Longitude any place in the world. Ships no longer had to worry about running into land at night or during fogs. They knew exactly where the were at all times. This was the GPS of its time. The quality of clocks or time keeping has continually improved with changing technology and without those improvements little of what we have today would be possible including statilites, computers, cell phones, ect. It was technology and most people have no appreciation of who these people were that we owe so much too.
How about the transistor? Do we teach in our history classes who and where the transitor was invented? No we do not. Is that because we don't care? Who invented it? Was it a single person or a company? Did it come out of one of our universities? Was it done at a private company or corporation? Yes, a corporation. Now where do you think that corporation is now? It is closed down, but why? The company was Bell Labs, a division of Bell Telephone. The problem was that they got too big and sucessuful and Bobby Kennedy as Attorney General under his brother Jack Kennedy attacked them as being a monopoly and broke them up into a bunch of small companies. These small companies "never" again developed anything significant. Rather than doing the research and manufacturing here, they purchased almost all their technology and hardware over seas. I think you know the results. We let the Kennedys kill the goose, pure and simple.
What was the root cause of the "Industrial Revolution" in Europe? Did some King or Queen do something to make it happen? Did some polititian pass some kind of law? No. If not, then what do our kids get taught about what caused the "Industrial Revolution" in Europe? Some kind of made up BS, that's what. The "Industrial Revolution" in Europe was stalled due to a lack of workers for the factories. It took too many people on the farms just to grow enough food to feed themselves and thus they did not have any extra for factory workers. It was corn and the potato from the New World that allowed the "Industrial Revolution" in Europe to go forward. For the first time there was a food source where a few farmers could grow enough food for themselves and have some left over for the factory workers. The potato was so productive that fewer kids were needed on the farm so they could move to town and work in the factories. You will not find the history of the potato being taught in our schools.
What ended World War II with Japan? The atomic bomb, that's what. Wasn't that the work of science? It sure was not some King or Queen or a politician. Who were the key players in the invention of the Atomic bomb? Can any of our kids name more than one scientist? Who was Madam Curie and what did she do? What is heavey water? Our kids need to know these things and they should be part of history, not just in science and physics classes. What did Pastur do or Galelio?
I think I have more than enough examples, but I feel you see the point. If these significant people and events were integrated into history and language classes like "Green" has been integrated, I feel we would be starting to change our schools and our educational system in the right direction.
