17 - Are you the right person in the wrong room?
As reported in the UK press from a US site: This is a child's maths test marked by a teacher.
You'll note that despite getting these two answers correct the child has been marked down for reaching the correct answer by a slightly different route than the one that the curriculum dictates .
What message does this approach teach the child?
While it's understandable that a tutor may wish to see the process that arrives at the answer, is it possible that being continually taught like this will produce an adult who, when faced with a problem, will resort and defer to default responses rather than their own thinking?
Indeed, is it possible that they may even ignore their own solution and discount it as it isn't accepted dogma?
In training I refer to this as “Cut and paste thinking”.
This is not understanding.
This is merely parroting.
This is the opposite of empowerment.
It is teaching reliance on a script rather than self reliance.
Some may speculate that this is the goal and I wouldn't be the person to know about such things but what kind of society would this produce?
The image was posted on social media and received almost three million views.“There aren't enough curse words in the English language for me to express how I feel about this.”, said one comment.
What does this have to do with learning self defence?
Are you encouraged to question your training?
Does everything you are taught actually make sense for your personal “training mission” or circumstances ?
If you are taught only scripted responses to threats and self created solutions or questioning are not encouraged as they don't conform to a style, is it possible that you may create trainees with limited capabilities in a moment of crisis?
“If everybody’s thinking alike, somebody isn’t thinking” George S Patton
Somehow, it's unlikely he was directly quoting E. H. Krehbiel – Pun intended: “but at least the thought was there...”
https://www.barrypopik.com/index.php/new_york_city/entry/if_everybodys_thinking_alike_somebody_isnt_thinking
Jethro Randolph / May 2020