Learning for Learning's Sake

Since my kids have started a classical charter school, I've been coaching them through the transition from homeschool to academia. We've discussed strategies for budgeting time on tests, for example, or weighing "I can afford a B on tomorrow's literature homework, but I can't afford a B on tomorrow's math test." I have told them stories about using algebra to figure out "What is the lowest score I need on the history final in order to obtain an A-plus instead of an A for the semester? How many hours of study would it take me to hit that score? Is it worth my time, or should I prioritize preparing for my science final, instead?" I was extremely tactical about my grades in high school, and it paid off.

That said, I am also emphasizing that while grades matter, they are neither the only, nor the most, important thing. I got good grades, but I didn't obsess about the occasional B in chemistry; while I cared about making the honor roll, I did not care much about class rank.

Learning for learning's sake is a worthy, edifying goal.  Becoming a full-time mom was rough because I went into intellectual withdrawal. That is why I took informal ASL lessons when Eric and Daniel were preschoolers, why I joined book clubs that covered classics I'd missed in my formal education, and why I've so thoroughly enjoyed learning problem-solving math over the last five years. Lifelong learning is necessary to my spirit. (I hate being bored!)

Last night, I attended a meeting for parents of 8th graders, all about expectations for high school and preparation for college. When the headmaster talked about not giving in to a culture of insane competition, grade inflation, and fear of failure, it resonated. It also reminded me of a story from my own high school career, which I felt moved upon to share.

-----

Once upon a time, during my junior year, I was sitting in French class, brooding about my bleak, bored, and depressed existence at "This stupid school in the middle of a cornfield, which claims to be one of the best in the state but doesn't offer any AP classes." (I had moved to Indiana a few months before, halfway through high school.)

The French class grouped years III and IV together, and the official curriculum was mostly a repeat for me. At least Madame Selke was an excellent teacher who did great things for my accent.  Once she started a unit on French history, I perked up. 

Madame assigned us to do group presentations about various historical figures. I forget who I did, but it was probably Robespierre, who was always a favorite of mine after Mrs. Johnston's ninth-grade simulation of the Revolution.

Anyway, a three-person group, which included a GPA-obsessed girl named Holly, her best friend, Betty, and Betty's boyfriend[1], stood up and started doing a presentation about Henry IV in halting French. I quickly caught the problem and started grinning. I looked over and caught Madame Selke's eye. She looked less amused, but then, she was a native Frenchwoman.

She interrupted them brusquely. "Wrong guy. You're talking about Henry IV of England. Go back and do some real research. You can re-present in two days. You might even be able to salvage a passing grade."

Henry IV, who instituted religious tolerance, is a famous and beloved figure in French history. Imagine hearing "Oh, yeah, George Washington, wasn't he the British king who went crazy?" or "Franklin Pierce was the president who rescued the U.S. from the Great Depression!" [2] That's approximately how Madame must have felt.

Holly, predictably, started to cry. That was her response to everything. "I got a B- on this calculus test. I think I'm going to cry!" she would announce, and then burst into tears. Followed immediately by "But I'm ranked number nine in the class! This might knock me out of the top ten! I'll never get into college...[Wail]" (Her anxiety was unfounded, since her parents had been pre-paying her tuition to the Florida university system for years.)

I still wonder how they could have made such an error. Granted, the French and British aristocracy intermarried and conquered each other over the years. Acquitaine, Normandy, and other provinces endured a political tug-of-war for centuries. Henry II (of England) controlled much of modern-day France. Henry VI (of England) was even briefly declared king of both nations, though that didn't last.

Still, you'd think a modicum of research would alert them to the difference between "guy who usurps the English throne and probably murders his cousin, 1399" and "guy who converts to Catholicism so he can be crowned King of France, 1594." I mean, two centuries!

(Does it count as a "creative anachronism" if it's unintentional?) 

Holly was a classic example of putting grades over learning. She used to ask me for help with her homework; once she had a current events question and muttered "you're so smart!" when I answered "Jean-Bertrand Aristide used to be the president of Haiti. There was a coup there recently, he fled to the U.S., and President Clinton is considering sending troops to intervene." This simple explanation would have been unnecessary had she ever read a newspaper. Instead, she spent all her time on rigid homework, cheerleading, and boys.

She was also the kind of kid to say "But I can't take honors biology! The teacher is super hard, so I might get a B!"

While I found my peers' misplaced priorities sad, I found the results hilarious. The most important thing was acquiring a real education -- which included critical thinking skills like knowing how to [*snicker*] perform a sanity check. (Not just for programmers and engineers, folks.)

The "Henri Quatre" incident was one of the few highlights of an otherwise grim year. Heh, heh, heh.

-----

[1]  Names have been changed.

[2] Franklin Pierce, the 14th president (1853-1857), was an alcoholic and virulent anti-abolitionist; he is widely regarded as one of the worst presidents in U.S. history. Conversely, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, the 32nd president (1933-1945), is credited with navigating America successfully through both the Great Depression and World War II; he is widely regarded as one of the greatest presidents in U.S. history.

Please note that FDR was imperfect. I don't approve of court-packing, and Japanese Internment was a massive moral failure. FDR and Eleanor were progressive on civil rights issues for all other minority groups, though, and deserve credit for that. People are messy: George Washington was a great president, although he was also both an imperfect man and a slave owner.