Life Orientation: A Cinderella or Vital Subject at School

On initial consideration, my first reaction – like most other people – is to dismiss it out of hand. Upon reflection it could form a vital component in the development of critical thinking skills which is so vital for the inculcation of cognitive abilities.

Being an avid fan of 702 Talk Radio what frequently exasperates me is the facile thinking process that the average person utilises when proposing a solution to a problem. If the presenter attempts to force the listener to be more specific about what must be done to alleviate or prevent the problem at hand, the person is at a loss for words in order to provide any constructive suggestion. Alternatively the suggestions made often have unintended consequences which are worse than the problem being addressed.

This evening’s example – Thursday 29th January 2015 – was the shooting of 7 shoppers in the Bedford Centre by cash-in-transit robbers. A veritable raft of proposals was rapidly proposed with the major thrust being to bolster security. When quizzed what actual measures could be adopted, the usual “suspects” were paraded: guards with R5 rifles in bullet proof jackets within the building itself. Adopt a shoot to kill policy directed at potential robbers! The most inane comment is usually the one where “the government must do something.” That something is teaching values at school.

Shoot out in Bedford Centre

Shoot out in Bedford Centre

Every time that I hear that recommendation I audibly groan “how facile.” Naturally the caller/proponent is under the mistaken belief that their idea is the panacea that no other listener had the intelligence or wit to propound.

Teaching youngsters that smoking / fast driving / unsafe sex / et cetera ad nauseum can result in death, ill-health or unwanted pregnancy has never been shown to reduce any of those unsafe practices. Hence my audible groan and incredulity when it is mooted!

Everybody is aware that dangerous actions result in equally hazardous consequences. The adoption of a patronising attitude towards such miscreants solves no problems either.

3-excuses-for-smoking-1

Instead of a subject such as Life Orientation adopting a moralistic holier-than-thou attitude in attempting to convince children the benefits of not straying from the straight and narrow path, they should advance the development of critical thinking skills. How can such an advanced concept be “taught?” Well it cannot. On the contrary it has to be developed. It is a process, a methodology and never a single lecture. Rather it should encourage multiple interpretations and answers as being equally acceptable.

Take 702 Talk Radio’s topic on Wednesday night after 10pm, after my 15km run at Kempton Park, as another case in point! It was about the latest wave of xenophobic attacks; the previous being in 2008. Almost all of the callers were from the townships and hence they were Black. The Presenter – I have forgotten his name – queried whether it was racism. The response from overwhelmingly in the negative but nevertheless they wanted all of these foreigners out. Why do they want the foreigners out of the townships? Because they are causing the closure of locally owned stores and spaza shops. How are they doing that? By offering cheaper prices and longer hours by only closing at 22:00. Therefore the locals are buying from them in preference to locally owned stores.

 

Xenophobic attacks

Xenophobic attacks

The suggestions were that the foreigners should reveal their “trade secrets” to the locals and should be prevented from purchasing in bulk in order to obtain larger discounts. An even more improbable suggestion was that they should “share” those savings with the local traders.

All risible, impractical and some quite frankly racist suggestions!

What does this have to do with Life Orientation?

Plenty.

 

Protesters chant slogans during clashes believed to be linked to recent anti-foreigner violence in Reiger Park informal settlement, east of Johannesburg May 20, 2008. South Africa's police and the ruling ANC party intensified efforts on Tuesday to quell deadly violence against foreigners and a government minister said the unrest could damage the key tourism sector. At least 24 people have been killed in over a week of violent attacks on African migrant workers who are accused by many in South Africa's poor townships of stealing jobs and fuelling a wave of violent crime.

Protesters chant slogans during clashes believed to be linked to recent anti-foreigner violence in Reiger Park informal settlement, east of Johannesburg May 20, 2008. South Africa’s police and the ruling ANC party intensified efforts on Tuesday to quell deadly violence against foreigners and a government minister said the unrest could damage the key tourism sector. At least 24 people have been killed in over a week of violent attacks on African migrant workers who are accused by many in South Africa’s poor townships of stealing jobs and fuelling a wave of violent crime.

There could be a session on racism / xenophobia. What is it? Are only whites racist? Clearly not judging by the racist responses of blacks callers to 702 Talk Radio during that show! Why are people “frightened” by people not the same as one? Why is it so deeply offensive if people look different, dress differently, eat different foods and worship different Gods?

The worst possible way to present this lecture is by reading a text book or the teacher merely regurgitating some lecture plan! What is required is for these questions to be directed at the pupils. The teacher’s role will be that of a facilitator who will drive the students in a certain direction. By carefully playing devil’s advocate the intractability of this issue – in the modern management parlance – can be unpacked.

Life orientation#3

The onus must squarely be placed upon the students to derive the solution.

Many similar issues could be handled in this manner. What about some such as human rights, peer pressure or bullying. A whole host of issues can be similarly addressed.

Apart from lessons being interactive and not text book based, the whole method of teaching has to be modified. Often the dimmest, most intellectually challenged teachers are placed into this role. If that practice continues, the proposals made above will flounder at its first hurdle. Inspiring teachers who can grasp this nettle are what is required.

In another of his fascinating articles by Jonathan Jansen in his weekly column, this week he deals with precisely this issue in the article entitled “Great Reckonings in Little Rooms.”

Cavendish Laboratory

He quotes a vignette from the movie The Theory of Everything about the life and times of Stephen Hawking in which Professor Dennis Sciama takes his brilliant student into the world famous Cavendish Laboratory at Cambridge University. As they enter this hallowed place, his mentor utters the fateful words to the impressionable Hawkins, “This lab is where JJ Thomson discovered the electron and where Rutherford split the atom. Then as the professor departs from the lab, he leaves a parting comment, “Oh, and close the door as you leave.”

That action was profoundly inspiring to a Hawkins. Not only has his lecturer imparted some pertinent historical facts but he has knowingly & not unwittingly placed Stephen Hawkins in the same league. What it would require from Hawkins was not only perspicacity and intellectual brilliance but perseverance and determination to meet those unstated expectations.

It is only when the intellectual environment creates in those pliant mouldable minds a sense of wonderment, aspiration and desire that they will endogenously set their bar not merely to pass but to set the new world high-jump record.

Stephen-Hawking

These malleable minds are ripe for such moulding. The prerequisite is the enabling environment that will unleash that untapped potential.

This subject should no longer be the one in which the majority of students obtain distinctions without even opening a book or being mentally challenged.

Unless the changes that I propose are adopted, this subject should rather be consigned to the dustbin of excellent but incorrectly implemented ideas.

If properly and tenderly nurtured, it can produce a flower of beauty, enchantment and wonderment.
Albert Einstein

That is what will build a better South Africa and not the instant gratification of a “bling” quick buck society.

Naturally one can be cynical and sigh that only 10% of South African teachers have the ability, clarity of thought & desire to unlock that potential like Professor Sciama, but even if only 10% of pupils are exposed to such critical thinking skills, perhaps within the next decade South Africa could produce the next Einstein who could unravel the link between all the forces such as gravity, electromagnetic, strong and weak nuclear forces.

Instead of a convoluted universe of 9 – or is it 11 dimensions – an elegant formula equivalent to E = MC2 could be uncovered.

 

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