an interesting take on a interesting subject….

In France, nuclear energy accounts for 78 percent of electricity produced, and France has the cleanest air of any industrialized country. Minnesota has banned construction of new nuclear plants since 1994.

God gave us both resources and then know-how to live off the wonderful land we gave us, and a straight-up ban on alternatives seems backwards to me.

As for trains, idealistically yes, the most efficient way to move people. Realistically, the rail industry could not care less about moving people. The money is in moving freight, which they also do a less than stellar job of. While the infrastructure of passenger rail exists at a considerable level on the east coast, it is hugely inefficient. All it takes are temperature extremes (32-95 degrees) to lock the system up. Also, in areas where freight and passengers run on the same rail, freight will receive the priority to use the rail every time contributing to the inefficiency as a people-moving system. An electric (generated by nuclear energy) stand-alone light rail system would be an excellent alternative.

You are correct in stating that bio-fuels, are not the best alternative. One only needs to look at what happened with the ethanol mandate and the farm bill to see how well that worked. The prices of food have yet to drop from that debacle.

As you stated, this is a difficult problem with no real easy solutions.

I love Sufjan Steven’s “Vito’s Ordination Song” too. It’s great to listen in the car. We sang it congregationally at Mars Hill in Grand Rapids and it really creeped me out. But, great song, nonetheless!

1. I can only imagine how difficult it must be for a parent to decide between home school and public school. Much of that decision must primarily be made according to the schools in your district, your financial status, your confidence in teaching effectively, and even your relationship with your child.

2. As to the role of a teacher, many people who have commented have assumed that just because a person has an understanding of the subject matter, that he/she will be able to explain that information effectively to another person, or in other words, to teach. For example, while I am capable of doing long division, I am not sure that I would be able to explain it to a 4th grader very easily. Also, a teacher (whether a parent or a teacher in a school) should be able to adapt to multiple (and I seriously mean multiple) ways of explaining material in order for students to understand.
Often, it is difficult to explain something in a way that is different than the way we learned it or the way we understand it. This is one of the cool things about trained teachers. They receive specific, extensive training on how to do this. They learn how to adapt instruction to meet a variety of learners’ needs, as well training in how to break apart concepts and explain them in a way that is meaningful to the learner. While parents can certainly do this, or learn how to do this, I don’t think that teachers are given enough credit for this skill.

3. Another skill that trained teachers learn is how to provide meaningful experiences out of the concepts they are trying to teach. We know that children learn best when they can experience knowledge in a variety of ways- they read about it, they act it out, they create with it, they manipulate things and ideas. These experiences make the knowledge REAL. They are what make the concepts stick. Again, while homeschool parents are very capable of providing these experiences, this, too, can be difficult to understand all of a child’s learning modalities without training. I also recognize that there are plenty of trained teachers that neglect this in their own teaching. However, there are many more trained teachers who do a great job at this!

4. Finally, a little educational psychology as food for thought. Three of the main camps that describe how students learn are the behaviorists, the cognitivists, and the constructivists. While I don’t believe there is not one correct learning theory, I do believe that they can be combined, and each person brings his/her own viewpoint to the table.

Behaviorists basically view that teachers provide a situation, and the students will respond with a behavior. The behavior demonstrates the learning. The emphasis here is on the teacher providing the correct situation to get a response. This is not my personal favorite, as it seems a little Pavlovian.

Cognitivists encourage critical thinking. The teacher provides direct knowledge, as well as knowledge in which the students practice solving problems on their own. The emphasis is more on the individual developing knowledge according to his/her needs and abilities.

Constructivists believe that students learn best by “constructing” knowledge in a particular context, usually with other learners. Sometimes children can learn just as much from each other as they can from the teacher. The role of the teacher is to serve as a facilitator of learning within the social context.

I, personally, believe in a combination primarily of cognitivism and constructivism. Thus, I am a believer in public education (in theory) because I believe that in addition to helping children become critical thinkers, they must do so in the context of the world around them.

One more thing… as a product of, and a producer of, public education, I have felt at times limited by the system of public education, in which teachers are left with their hands tied by the bureaucracy of system that “knows more than they do.” I have also, at times, felt unable to express my faith to children because of the consequences that could occur if someone took offense. Sad, but true. I have also had the great honor of teaching many children, and seen the joys and successes that are achieved in public schools every day (please give public schools a little more credit for all that they do!). While there is no right or wrong answer to this situation, I do appreciate this discussion because I believe that both sides have a lot to learn from each other.

Ug. My brain hurts. There are many more thoughts, but I’m tired. I would love to hear your thoughts about my comments!