In light of the ongoing discussion of the Prussian education model, my comment on Joseph Moore’s original Catholic Schools Week article would seem to merit its own post.
I attended Catholic schools from K-12, and my experience largely mirrors Mr. Moore’s. My schooling took place a generation after his, though. The last sisters were replaced with professional laywomen by the time I made it to junior high. By and large, the latter group were confused by and hated boys.
The ADD panic was just coming in when I started first grade. Thank God I had a good pediatrician who overruled my teachers and refused to pump me full of drugs for failing to act like a girl.
The rest went down pretty much as Mr. Moore said. With minimal effort, I aced every subject except for math–and for the same reason: I recall asking one math teacher why a particular operation was done a certain way when dividing fractions, and she couldn’t understand the question.
I was definitely among the 1% of nonconformist students. Never had many friends in my own age group (most were older). Holed up in the library whenever I could. Always had a nagging sense I didn’t belong there. All-school Masses were about the only times I felt like I was in the right place.
High school was worse than grade school. There were no nuns but quite a few non-Catholics on the faculty. The building itself was a fluorescent-lit concrete tomb with no windows–which Frank Herbert observed betrays hatred of children. I’ve been a night owl since I was twelve, and high school started an hour earlier than grade school. For all four years I spent first period struggling to stay awake. If you held a gun to my head and ordered me to tell you one piece of information I learned in high school outside a theology class, I doubt I could do it.
But like Mr. Moore, I quickly worked out the minimum amount of effort required, did that, and got mostly A’s–again, except for math. Again I’d use any excuse to hit the library.
I, too, went to a secular college out of high school, but the minimal effort trick worked for me there. I did go back to Catholic school for my MA in theology, though.
The whole education system needs to be burned down. Luckily, it’s currently torching itself nicely.
-Adam Lane Smith
Re: Ugly school buildings – good old William Torrey Harris said around 1900 that pretty, comfortable school buildings in pleasant locations defeated the whole purpose of schooling. Kids needed to learn to focus on what their betters were telling them to do, not on distracting things like nature and beauty. Ugly dehumanizing schools are part of the program.
Before I started reading these clowns I would not have believed it. It's like – well, sometimes, it's the same as – reading Communists. They seem immune to how horrifying what they're saying actually is. It's like listening to Frost and Withers in That Hideous Strength.
Of course it's on purpose. I should've known.
Anti-Christ’s are going to anti-Christ. The hard part isn’t believing it. The hard pill to swallow is for how long these lunatics have been working tto destroy Christendom and that over the course of a few hundred years, achieved it. I grew up thinking the error occurred in 1960’s. Boy was I wrong.
My experience is somewhat different. I grew un the Catholic province which diiviďed the school system into Protestant and Catholic. I went to the English Catholic school sytem and itveas the time if implementing the spirit of Vatican II reforms.
On top of that because of learning disability elementary school was tough. High school was a nightmare as I went to a boarding school based on thr British model. Luckily i eas a day student. I should've left after second year.
It was only in the post secondary studies that i really found both peace and enjoyment in studies.
Mind you all this time i was a voracious reader in several languages. I lament that the current learning via online/tecnology assisted has cone to late for me. I'd have immensely benefited and be more self confident.
xavier
"They seem immune to how horrifying what they're saying actually is. It's like listening to Frost and Withers in That Hideous Strength."
You shouldn't be shocked at the Children of Lies' reactions. What's shocking is that they don't realize that they've sold their souls to become Hollow Men.
I did better in school the less I tried. Constantly being lectured on "not living up to your potential" while being berated for asking questions adds plenty of jaded and bitter feelings toward the system. That made me a very bad student regardless of grades I got.
The whole system needs to suffer a fate like Carthage.
Thankfully I don't think it's going to last all that much longer.
Pink Floyd was right.