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Educational Nuance
Dig deeper--It's worth it
This post is from chapter 4 of the memoir.
The Star Spangled (Mangled) Banner has a foreign melody? Who knew? It’s true. Our beloved National Anthem, that lilting, pretty much unsingable tune that burst forth from the pen, if not the throat, of Francis Scott Key that morning in 1814 has for its melody an alien source. And a British one at that! Imagine the confusion on the part of our English cousins the first time they heard us singing, okay mumbling, our national song at some early rounders game, or early fourth of July barbecue. They would not have attached a meaning to the words. “Rockets’ red glare, Bombs bursting in air etc. But they sure as shootin’ would have recognized the music. It was ‘borrowed,’ bar for bar, by Mr. Key as he watched the smoke clear from Fort McHenry, and saw that indeed ‘Our flag was still there.’ Borrowed, that is, from an old world tune titled Anacreon, which soulful piece was used by a society of revelers to celebrate song and, what else, wine!
Why does any of this confusion matter in an old patriot’s memoir about going back to college? Because one thing I’ve found as I attempt to clear my own morning smoke, and to clear away debris and cobwebs gathered over a lifetime, is just how much smoke and fog has been created in my otherwise reasonably well educated brain. I’ve been led to believe a lot of crap. And I’m finding that one of the biggest challenges to my latest assault on the educational edifice is all the un-learning I have to do.
That’s not quite fair; I have learned a lot, it’s true. But a lot of what I’ve been taught has been an itsy-bitsy way toward the whole, a somewhat fractional education. I’ve not been exposed to the big picture, the whole enchilada, the widescreen view. And it’s time, after fifty odd years, that I take the opportunity to yes, educate myself about a lot of things. So I take responsibility for my own shortcomings. Such as those concerning our history, for example.
I realize there isn’t a lot of time to teach kids in elementary school the nuances. On balance, I believe American teachers do a pretty good job with the tools they have. And far be it from me to critique a system I know so little about, having dabbled around the edges of it, admittedly. Just because I’m a product of that system doesn’t mean I understand it. And maybe that’s a problem? Maybe kids aren’t given the chance to see and understand the shortcomings of their own education? Maybe they need to be told that what they’re being spoon-fed every day may or may not be absolute, verifiable, rock-solid true?
The Star Spangled (Mangled) Banner has a foreign melody? Who knew? It’s true. Our beloved National Anthem, that lilting, pretty much unsingable tune that burst forth from the pen, if not the throat, of Francis Scott Key that morning in 1814 has for its melody an alien source. And a British one at that! Imagine the confusion on the part of our English cousins the first time they heard us singing, okay mumbling, our national song at some early rounders game, or early fourth of July barbecue. They would not have attached a meaning to the words. “Rockets’ red glare, Bombs bursting in air etc. But they sure as shootin’ would have recognized the music. It was ‘borrowed,’ bar for bar, by Mr. Key as he watched the smoke clear from Fort McHenry, and saw that indeed ‘Our flag was still there.’ Borrowed, that is, from an old world tune titled Anacreon, which soulful piece was used by a society of revelers to celebrate song and, what else, wine!
Why does any of this confusion matter in an old patriot’s memoir about going back to college? Because one thing I’ve found as I attempt to clear my own morning smoke, and to clear away debris and cobwebs gathered over a lifetime, is just how much smoke and fog has been created in my otherwise reasonably well educated brain. I’ve been led to believe a lot of crap. And I’m finding that one of the biggest challenges to my latest assault on the educational edifice is all the un-learning I have to do.
That’s not quite fair; I have learned a lot, it’s true. But a lot of what I’ve been taught has been an itsy-bitsy way toward the whole, a somewhat fractional education. I’ve not been exposed to the big picture, the whole enchilada, the widescreen view. And it’s time, after fifty odd years, that I take the opportunity to yes, educate myself about a lot of things. So I take responsibility for my own shortcomings. Such as those concerning our history, for example.
I realize there isn’t a lot of time to teach kids in elementary school the nuances. On balance, I believe American teachers do a pretty good job with the tools they have. And far be it from me to critique a system I know so little about, having dabbled around the edges of it, admittedly. Just because I’m a product of that system doesn’t mean I understand it. And maybe that’s a problem? Maybe kids aren’t given the chance to see and understand the shortcomings of their own education? Maybe they need to be told that what they’re being spoon-fed every day may or may not be absolute, verifiable, rock-solid true?
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