"In Maine, there aren't many jobs that scream out 'math and science,"' said Cook, who lives in Etna, in the central part of the state. Yes, both topics are important, but "most parents are saying you're better off going to school for something there's a big need for."

There's a lot going on here, I think.

For one, I could discuss how tragically shortsighted people are. That's a common enough refrain though that I'm sick of saying it and ultimately don't think it matters because I don't think people care. The fact is that the majority never look outside their bubbles. The woman's very premise belies a lack of vision : "In Maine, there aren't many jobs..." Fuck Maine. Fuck your home town. We don't live in a world anymore where many people can expect to get a job locally and stay there for their whole life. So when you're discussing education, it's irrelevant to base the conversaion primarily on the needs of a small locality. Yes, i'm considering a state to be a small locality because the market isn't my town and your town anymore. It's the whole planet, give or take a few countries.

Mrs. Cook has a pragmatic notion of educating towards jobs, but completely misunderstands the big picture. In the future, what will there be a big need for? I'm not precient, but I'm pretty sure we're not going to see a *decreased* need for analytical thinkers. Of course, it's possible that the jump I made -- "math and science education" to "critical thinking" -- is not obvious to people. I get the impression that people think of studying math and believe that it's basically only useful if you want to sit in an office or a lab alone struggling with the mysteries of the universe.

Truly, I'm not a biased geek. I hated math as a student and right up until my first day of college I spent 10 times as many hours writing as i did working problems. I loved science in many ways, so I chose Physics in college (and was woefully unprepared for it), in contrast to what I had always been skilled at.

I'm not going to sit here and argue that we need more math and science either, because I reject the notion that quantity is a relevant factor. The goal of pre-college education is, presumably, to provide a baseline amount of knowledge for people that ought to let them move in any direction they want. There are only so many hours available in which to achieve that goal and for me to argue for more of those hours to be spent in math and science is to argue that less should be spent in english, music, history. That's not something I'm comfotable doing.

I'm coming to believe that the very structure of our educational system is flawed. I am not an educator, and haven't studied alternatives, but when I think back to 6-12 grade education I find the analysis unpleasant. I see an overly rigid curriculum that emphasizes specific facts over general capability, memorization over analysis and which provided little practice in collaboratation skills. I also see a system that washes out the differences between students -- it's discouraging and reduces interest.

Now, I've come to a fine line, because I've almost suggested that our pre-college schools need to encourage specialization. But I don't want to do that. I truly believe that the development of broad-minded and intellectually curious adults requires that we teach kids that there is much to be gained from casting a wide net. At the same time, forcing a student to sit in a class that holds no interest for them is doing both them and their fellows a disservice.

I'd like to see schools that emphasize information seeking over information "downloading". I'd love to see more classes structured as round table discussions rather than unidirectional information transfer. I see no fundamental reason that a Math class can't teach reading or writing skills in the context of mathematics, just as it's possible to explore scientific concepts in a history class. It's a complex arrangement, of course, and perhaps untenable, but truthfully it's a matter of deciding wether our schools are to be vocational preparation, or if they are to be forums for a more general intellectual development. Perhaps there's a way to do both. It's certainly no simple problem.

CNN.com - Parents don't see a crisis over science and math - Feb 15, 2006