A message to high school students who hate high school; Here is why you hate it

Roger Schank:

The other day an article written by me appeared in the Washington Post saying that algebra was useless and shouldn't be taught in high school.

The hate mail that followed (written mostly by math teachers) was unbelievable. Mostly accusing me of being irrational and incapable of thought, and stating that math teaches people to think. This is pretty funny because if math is supposed to teach one to think, as they argue, they might have looked me up and discovered that not only was I a math major in college, but I was also a professor of computer science.

Of course, it is not only high school math I am against. I believe that every single subject taught in high school is a mistake. What I write here will infuriate teachers, but teachers are not my enemy. It isn't their fault. They are cogs in a system over which they have no control. I believe there are many great teachers, and I believe that teaching and teachers are very important.

Posted by Jim Zellmer at September 11, 2012 1:28 AM
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