Bloom and Lifelong Learning

Bloom implies that the wisdom from the great books can only be obtained if it is translated by a professor in a classroom, but at the same time he laments that there are no professors left who are schooled in the great books, nor students who have a desire to learn from the classics. But Bloom doesn’t mention anything about lifelong learning and the need to have a frame of reference in order to learn from the great classics. One needs to have a question before wanting to seek an answer. Bloom mentions that his students giggled when asked if they were afraid of nuclear war. Maybe they found the question funny because the threat of nuclear war was the farthest concern from their mind because they didn’t have a frame of reference. Most of the classics deal with adult themes, like war and divorce. Not that today’s youth hasn’t been exposed to violence or sexually explicit themes -one need only watch the commercials to get a sense of the adult themes that are so prevalent in the media - but at the same time, I would make the case that a person needs a frame of reference to appreciate the message. This frame of reference can be negative, or – as Diana suggested in today’s blog posting – positive.

Unfortunately, today’s youth have a frame of reference for war. My son was in second grade when terrorists bombed the World Trade Center. At school on September 11th 2001, he watched and wondered as most of his classmates were pulled out of school one by one to leave with a parent for some unexplained absence. I chose not to take my son out of school that day because I didn’t want him to think school wasn’t a safe place. I tried my best to shield him from the news following 911, but the fourth and fifth grade “upperclassmen” were more than willing to share their take on what was happening in the world during the bus rides to and from school. My son had difficulty getting to sleep at night for a year after 911. He constantly wanted reassurance that he would be safe. I shared my concern with other parents who expressed that their children too were fearful at night. Unfortunately, my son and other Americans his age have a frame of reference for war. War has been a fact of life for most of their childhood. If these now eighth graders were asked if they are afraid of nuclear war, they wouldn’t find the question funny. In fact, they’d probably react with fear and suspect something had happened. They’d want to know why the question had been asked. They’d want to know what happened and if everything was okay.

Another reason that I don’t share Bloom’s pessimism about America’s youth and the state of education today is because learning is now recognized as a lifelong process. Over the past decade, the concept of lifelong learning has gained popularity. The core concept is that individuals learn from cradle to grave and that each individual progresses from one learning level to the next throughout his lifetime (www.referenceforbusiness.com/management/Comp-De/Continuing-Education-and-Lifelong-Learning-Trends.html). This trend, coupled with a better frame of reference for adult themes as youth enter adulthood, leads me to wonder if the university is not just a stepping stone in our search for the good life.