Recently I was visited by a very good friend who had just returned from a long walk in the woods, and I asked her what she had observed. 'Nothing in particular,' she replied. I might have been incredulous had I not been accustomed to such responses, for long ago I became convinced that the seeing see little.

How was it possible, I asked myself, to walk for an hour through the woods and see nothing worthy of note? I who cannot see find hundreds of things to interest me through mere touch. I feel the delicate symmetry of a leaf. I pass my hands lovingly about the smooth skin of a silver birch, or the rough, shaggy bark of a pine. In spring I touch the branches of trees hopefully in search of a bud, the first sign of awakening Nature after her winter's sleep. I feel the delightful, velvety texture of a flower, and discover its remarkable convolutions; and something of the miracle of Nature is revealed to me.

-Helen Keller, Three Days to See (1933)
NB: Helen Keller was deaf-blind.

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

The System

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There is something inherently wrong with an education system in which, for lack of time, one must sacrifice reading a book one is totally excited about for skimming over it and improvising a book review about it - following strict guidelines - in order to get a good grade.

Now of course, one could place the responsibility on the individual to better manage their time or to take the initiative to read the book on their own time; however, in such a grade-oriented culture in which following guidelines is given more value than developing an in-depth understanding, I believe the problem is clearly systemic. Students cannot take their education into their own hands while satisfying the requirements of the system and maintaining a healthy, balanced lifestyle. Everyone, at some point in their academic career, must make a choice to neglect at least one of those three areas in order to better focus on another, and unfortunately, in this society, most pressures favour the prioritization of grades.

What do you think?

Gepostet von Nicholas Dubé unter Tuesday, December 04, 2007

2 comments:

hannah said...

ARHGH I agree. wholeheartedly. vehemently. passionately. this is a bizarre system and we, lucky pursuers of higher education, are stuck in it. the system...grumble grumble.

December 6, 2007 at 11:10 p.m.
Nicholas Dubé said...

Thanks for sharing in my rant, Hannah. Even though we all know this is just the way things are and we've largely become accustomed to it, once it a while, one just has to vent a little and remind oneself that this is not how education is supposed to be. Thank God for learning outside the classroom!

December 7, 2007 at 9:52 a.m.

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