Conformity v initiative

Duncan Cumming

In dance you can explore different partners, different music, try things out, try new places, other cultures.  Even if you stick with teachers, explore the different ones.  I remember an early teacher banging on about teacher loyalty.  Another take on that is "clipped wings". That's what schools do, too.  Brand loyalty, ambassadorship... Ostensibly it's about pride. It's really about conformity and being easy to manage. 

Why do schools tell you what values to have? They all do, with their mottos and expectations. Most children are vastly nicer, more sensitive, more observant, more respectful and better mannered than most adults.  Where they aren't, they seem to have had terrible examples. Why don't  schools foster an exploration of different values and let children find their own? They seem to do pretty well on their own.

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I asked my sons about this.  

What are your school values?  

Ambition, respect, equity, he said, pat. 

Right, well, ambition, that's all about striving, isn't it.  Maybe trying to have stuff and be stuff is at the root of  a lot of society's problems....

It's good to have stuff.  You can have money and then you can eat. 

Fair point, but, you know, to excess... How do you know when to stop?  All I'm trying to say is other cultures, other people don't have ambition as a value.

What do they have? 

Being? 

You're going to be a Buddhist, aren't you?  he said, sceptically and sloped off, grinning, to conduct his own explorations doing I don't know what.

Why not?, I called up the stairs.  

The other son was a bit more aggressive in his defence of ambition, comparing a lack of ambition to being a homeless person.  I didn't think bringing up Diogenes in his barrel was going to advance my case at this point.

You don't have ambition, do you? he said, brutally, also grinning.

Not really. I used to. I was very ambitious up until I was about 34. 

I don't believe it, he said. He's the tough one.

Good jobs, always on to the next thing, bigger salaries, better perks. I was horribly materialistic. 

So why is being told what to do is better than figuring things out?

My son, a scientist to the core, likes structure, hates the vagueness of English. 

Because if you don't know something how are you supposed to start?

Initiative? Exploration? Tell me a science topic (I am hopeless at science).

Why?

To see if I can explore it.

OK...relativity.

Really? I said, slightly shocked. Did you study that?  At Higher?

Yep.

Did you have any background.

Nope. 

How long did you spend on it in school.

About a week?

Er, well hang on, you had three years of physics before that.  I stopped physics at about thirteen.

I though this was about initiative?

Yes, but you know, it's physics, I said, uncomfortable. Are there calculations?

Of course there are calculations, it's physics! 

I'll tell you what, he said, generously, to make it properly about exploration I'll give you a choice.

OK, I said, relieved.

Trends in electro-negativity going across a period and down a group.

Uh-huh.....  What subject is that?

Chemistry.

Right. And the other?

The three stages of aerobic respiration in animals, glycolysis, citric acid cycle and the electron transport chain. 

Fascinating.    I'll stick with relativity.  At least that's made into mainstream interest. And so it's fair, how are you expecting this - an essay, a presentation, a test? 

A presentation.

And how do you I know your're not going to move the goalposts when I present?

As long as it has the content of my Higher notes. 

So, homework this week.