Cognitive Process-Based Education 9

Cognitive Process-Based Education 9 you get good at learning these things, you get good at what life has to offer. The list above is a partial list of the group of learning processes that I detail in Chapter 4. It is really quite important. I have used dat- ing as a simple way of explaining it because no one has to explain why that matters to a teenager. Teenagers know that they have to learn the processes that I discuss in Chapter 4. As things are now, these impor- tant issues are not considered significant enough to deal with seriously in school. World history is always considered more important. But why should that be the choice? Earlier, I mentioned that students want to learn how to drive as well as how to date. This is a pretty universal goal that teenagers have so we should ask of it as well whether it is important and what it might be an instance of that is inherently significant in real life. On the surface, driving seems a skill that is an important part of daily life. So, one is led to ask why driving isn’t a school subject? The answer is that it is. Driver’s education has been taught in schools for many years. Not every school offers it, but many do. So what is the problem? It is just a useful skill, not a scholarly subject, so surely I am not suggesting that it is more important than physics. That is, of course, exactly what I am suggesting. In our test-driven society, when driver’s ed is taught, it is taught with a clear goal and a clear notion of success. When a student has passed the tests and gotten her driver’s license, everyone is satisfied. Well, not everyone. I was once called in on a consulting assign- ment for a university hospital that was working on a study to prevent teenage car accidents. The study was funded by an insurance company that would have been happy to pay out less in damages and, presum- ably, also thought fewer dead kids would be a generally good thing. What is the problem? Students may have their licenses but they don’t know much about driving and responsibility. It wouldn’t be a shock to anyone to know that kids drink and drive, text message and drive, and generally yell and scream and goof around while driving. They often die from this behavior. Could we teach them not to do that? The answer always seems to be to put up posters that say don’t drink and drive and to make them watch scary movies about car accidents. The school system strikes again. If we tell them, then they will do it, never seems to work, but we keep trying. HOUSE_OVERSIGHT_023755