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.

Education and its Link to the Economy

The authors agree with Cremin’s position(page 36, last paragraph) that schools should not be made scapegoats for the nation’s economic problems: “As Cremin noted, the attempt in recent years to blame alleged educational decline for the nation’s woes is irresponsible. The argument that poor schools produce poor workers and that improved schools would solve economic ills has two major defects: it scapegoats educators; and it blurs understanding of a labor market in which the largest proportion of new jobs are relatively unskilled and millions of skilled workers are jobless.”
If the largest portion of new jobs are for unskilled workers, doesn’t that suggest that we are not an economically competitive nation? And if millions of skilled workers are jobless, doesn’t that suggest that workers that are skilled don’t have the right skills? If this is the state of our economy, perhaps it could be said that our educational system is not keeping pace with the needs of a changing economy.
As Chairman Ben Bernanke noted in his speech on Education and Economic Competitiveness http://www.federalreserve.gov/newsevents/speech/bernanke20070924a.htm
at the U.S. Chamber Education and Workforce Summit in Washington D.C. last September, the demand for more-educated workers with technical skills has been increasing rapidly, partly because of the advances in information and communication technologies, while the supply of highly educated workers has also risen. Nevertheless, the supply of educated workers has not kept pace with demand. He further asserts that from a macroeconomic standpoint, education is directly linked to productivity, which, in turn, is a critical determinant of the overall standard of living. He states that continuing advances in technology, as well as baby-boomers leaving the market and increased globalization, will put a premium on education. And while its difficult to predict which jobs will be most affected by technology, better educated workers will be better prepared to adapt. Ultimately, Bernanke contends that lifelong learning, particularly in light of advancing technological change, is an excellent investment for individuals and society as a whole.