Historical Value

[Aosama, the Wandering Star]

But sometimes (and this is a rather painful truth) it is not the system that needs reform but the people in it.

I feel I must disagree with Aosama on none but one point: the educational system needs major reform.

Indubiably so. What I meant was that it is not always all the system's fault. Ever heard of the book "Don't Care High" by Gordon Korman? It is very funny, but mysteriously, each and every member of the school mentioned in the novel is filled with apathy and 'doesn't care'. It is shockingly reminiscent of some people in my own school.
No one wants to hear what the teacher has to say because he or she believes that he or she has heard it all before. Sometimes this is true (school is horribly repetitive, and sometimes I begin to suspect that somebody is doing it out of spite- then I give my head a shake, of course) but in all the instances in which I have experienced it, whether by sheer luck or something else, the teacher has explained it in a different way, or added something to my knowledge. I love my current History teacher (the one I mentioned ranting before) because he loves history and knows it, and once he cried out in despair in the middle of class due to the attitudes of most of the students. We need to hand on the history we have, but we need someone to do it. Our history teachers, proffessors, and librarians (akhtene, Child, for instance) are such people.
And as to your last question: No, I'm Canadian.

[ June 01, 2002: Message edited by: Aosama, the Wandering Star ]