OPINION change quickly and drastically .
OPINION change quickly and drastically .
Then , in 1957 , the impact of Sputnik changed our quiet village forever . It was not change itself but rather it was more the volume and rapidity of forthcoming changes . My generation not only had to quickly act as a go-between from the past to the then present , but we also became explorers of a brave new world . We became agents of change that lasted throughout our professional careers . It was like a tsunami funnelling a large volume of water through a small culvert . Adapt or die became a rallying cry for this new wave , this future wave , of instability . Even now it has not relented , but continues its abrasive intrusion into what was once our quiet village . Technological change is changing the way our world operates almost daily . Unfortunately , it brings the bad with the good , in a paradox that gets cloudier every day .
Of course none of this is new to the ‘ older ’ generation . I mention these perceptions simply to establish a base for my reflections as I stood beside my father ’ s gravestone .
The irony of these little flashbacks is that when I started teaching in 1961 , I taught a Grade Six class using the same material that I had encountered in school nine years earlier — exactly the same readers , arithmetic book , social studies topics , and . . . well , you get the idea . Chalk and blackboards , pencils and scribblers , and textbooks were the ‘ instruments of mass instruction .’ Authoritarianism was still an integral part of a school system ’ s structure . Beginning teachers relied to a large extent on the support and wisdom of their elders , which was readily accessible . Instructional pedagogy was largely founded on a hand-me-down process . These ‘ givens ,’ compared to the instructional arenas of today , were like the primitive chipped stones and bones found in Olduvai Gorge as related to the practice that I had just inherited .
Big changes finally hit the educational circuit by the mid-sixties with the introduction of the concept of non-gradedness in elementary schools . Many more insights and innovations quickly evolved from this revolution .
The reason I bring this quick sketch of the educational landscape to your attention is that , as I have told many of the classes that I have taught at the school and university level , I was born in , and have come from ‘ The Stone Age .’ I have found it both amusing , and discouraging that today ’ s generation is disconnected from my home base — so much so that I have not yet figured out whether I am an Australopithecus , Neanderthal or some Cro-Magnon being .
Sometimes when I talk to my grandchildren , I feel that I must be one of those hairy beasts from the Stone Age as my grandchildren are all conversant with the leading-edge technology in almost every field . I ’ m still happy that I have just a flip phone and can send or receive a message when I want , if I want . I do not text , and do not want to text ! I do not have a compulsion to be phone busy .
Dick Tracy ’ s radio watch is now a reality , but we have now gone far beyond that primitive benchmark of revolutionary technology . Creative imaginations now have the wherewithal to push the envelopes of what might or could be into new realities . Paradigm shifts , transformational re-structures , shorter and shorter best-before dates are all common occurrences to this younger generation — I find it harder to adjust .
As I strolled from the graveyard , I had these and many more thoughts about my past . I glanced at the gravestones on my way out of the cemetery . How ironic : I had just come from one Stone Age , yet soon I will be going to another . I ’ ll be joining my many friends and colleagues who are already at that final staff meeting . The agenda promises to be heavenly , and you can carve that prophecy in stone !
news & views SPRING 2015 | 11