I was honored recently to have my "story" included in the Oral History Section of the Southwest Collection at Texas Tech University. Following is a transcript of one of my talks included in the collection. The article is my promotion of reading and teachers.
Education and Reading.
Our earliest ancestors used the spoken word, and much later, the written word as a means of sharing thoughts, fe...elings, and ideas with one another, a communion of language celebrated by denizens of any locale.
The spoken or written word also serves an evolutionary benefit…words evoke images. When the brain changes a word into a visual representation…good, healthy, things happen. The electrical impulse that sparks from the transmutation of word to picture is equivalent to running several feet at full speed. This brain exercise is specific to the short-term memory centers in the brain. Short-term memory is the function affected by diseases such as Alzheimer's and dementia.
Recent studies show that exercising our short-term memory centers with actions such as reading, working crossword puzzles, or performing other problem-solving activities energizes our brain. In addition, as with any exercise, the muscle or organ exercised becomes larger and stronger. In the brain, the synaptic highway, the roadway for incoming and outgoing information, can change from a two-lane country road into a sixteen-lane freeway over time simply by transforming words into a pictures. Exercising the brain provides our kids with the ability to process incoming and outgoing information quickly and effortlessly.
Sounds simple, but the nation's school systems have become the latest victims of government intervention. For unfathomable reasons, politicians historically believe that the welfare of its citizenry is too valuable to be left in the citizen's own hands, that only in the far-away centers of government can local decisions be made intelligently. As a result, the local community no longer controls its own schools and the manner of education in which its children will be taught leaving each ISD with the “test.” The "test" not only measures students, but teachers and schools as well. Monies and jobs are on the line with the “test.” It is little wonder that school administrators quickly figured out, that the best way to meet the state standard was to abandon the process of education and “teach the test.”
Students were (and are) learning only what the State would have them learn. This is a very scary concept. Children continue to be drilled to the answers on the test and not allowed to step outside the State’s learning dictate. We have, with the 'test" effectively created “parrots” that can mimic and regurgitate the State’s test. Simple activities such as daydreaming and play, both vital in the development of imagination, have been put aside. And remember, imagination is the fertile ground for invention…
To add to the child's burden, the system even dictates what books children should read. To ensure that the students read these books, only "those" books on "the" list award grade points.
As a result, reading has become drudgery. And far-away government remains ignorant to a basic tenet of learning, that is, children cannot be forced to learn. Oh, they will perform as commanded during their school time, but once they exit the system and achieve free choice, the majority will abandon reading as their only association with the concept is through pressure. Plato said it best with his quote: compulsory learning never sticks in the mind.
Pre-test educators realized that not all children walked or talked at the same age and not all students learn the same things at the same age. The education system of that age promoted reading and writing, two basics for all future educational development. Today, once again, we promote reading by “lists” of what the child should read. When in reality, reading, the basis of all learning, should be about enjoyment. Students should be encouraged to read about things they like. Once a student finds enjoyment in reading, they will read more. The more a child reads, the more intelligent they will become.
I understand the need for required reading, but the curriculum should also provide one hour per school day for fun reading as well. Reading is and will always be – about fun. What "you" the reader likes to read, what makes "you" the reader think, what inspires "you" the reader to pursue more information, in short...reading should always be pleasantly entertaining.
Think of the terminology that adults use to prepare for a reading experience. Phrases like, I'm going to curl up with a good book, I'm going to slip into some comfy clothes and read, I'm going to sit beside a nice fire and read. All the terms associate reading with comfort. Why is it then that we do not allow our kids as students that same level of comfort?
Reading time should encourage our kids to "get comfy." If that means reading from their backs on the floor, or sitting in a bean-bag chair, or relaxing on a couch, then so be it. The end value of reading for fun is the student naturally "learns" or "becomes smarter." Reading teaches a child how to write and a child, who can read and write…well, is more apt to enjoy success in subjects such as math and science.
Reading what the child prefers promotes a healthy brain and allows the child to associate reading as a fun activity and not as a task. And it matters not what the reader decides to read, whether it be a graphic novel or a celebrity expose. For the scientific community understands that all readers eventually move up the reading ladder. When a child lifts weights during a physical education class, if the muscle group being exercised finds the weight load too easy, it will tell the lifter to add more weight. The brain does very much the same thing when it finds the reading material too simple; telling the child it is time "add more reading weight," which results in incremental reading advancement.
One of the great accomplishments of reading for fun is the sense of fulfillment in "learning," gathering one's own information and the joy that goes along with finding that information. Our schools should always be places where students learn because they want to, not because they have too.
To do so ensures that our children will become not only lifelong readers, but lifelong learners as well.
Education and Reading Copyright 2010 Mike Kearby
