History and David McCullough

David McCullough, the author of prize winning biographies and histories, had this to say about history at the National Conference of State Legislatures:

David McCullough:
"History is not about dates, and quotes, and obscure provisos. History is about life, about change, about consequences, cause and effect. It's about the mystery of human nature, the mystery of time. And it isn't just about politics, and the military, and social issues, which is almost always the way it's taught. It's about music, and poetry, and drama, and science, and medicine, and money, and love."

History is the story of humanity. Without history we cannot begin to understand what it means to be human. Without history we cannot improve our society, nor protect the progress we have made. Without history we cannot give our children a better life, nor even plan on leaving them at least with the benefits we received from our parents.

We must provide our children with a good grounding in history. And we adults need to maintain a life of learning, constantly adding to our knowledge of the story of humanity, growing in wisdom as an example to our children.

Robert Canright

Math Should be Valued

The New York Times on Friday, October 10, 2008 on pages A15 & A19, published and article, "Math Skills Suffer in US, Study Finds" by Sara Rimer.

Here is a quote from this article, "'We're living in a culture that is telling girls you can't do math -- that's telling everyone that only Asians and nerds do math,' said the study's lead author, Janet E. Mertz."

This is a well written article that touches on one of the great failings in America education: the poor attitude within our culture towards mathematics. I remember reading an op-ed writer in a national newspaper, the Washington Post I think, writing that he never learned algebra and that did not hurt him, so he felt no one needed to learn algebra.

There are a lot of negative attitudes towards math, even amongst school teachers and college professors in the colleges of education. I have most certainly run across parents who had a poor attitude towards algebra and passed that bad attitude on to their children.

I heartily recommend the article by Ms Sara Rimer and I suggest we need a greater effort to promote valuing mathematics.

Robert Canright

The title of this article in the print edition was "U.S. Failing to Promote Math Skills, Study Finds - Citing Lack of Value for Talent in Culture." Sometimes the print edition and the online editions have different titles.

Economics Should be the New Science

When the Russians launched Sputnik, the USA increased its commitment to science education because the satellite launch raised fears of intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM's).

The recent economic meltdown is a greater threat to America that Sputnik was. We need a national focus on economics and finance. We need to reduce the emphasis on science and start adding the study of economics and finance to public education. Banking deregulation and irresponsible monetary policy is a greater threat to America than Al Queda.

Economics and finance should be the new science.

Robert Canright

Education and V for Vendatta

A man I respect had this to say about the 700 billion dollar bailout our Congressmen voted on October 4, 2008: "The treason of our politicians had put me in a very sour and depressed mood. To Lift my spirits and regain some inspiration - tonight I am again watching "V For Vendetta". It always seems to lift my spirits and give me hope."

Many Americans are worried by how irresponsible our leadership is in handling money. But I see bigger problems than the money and I see a connection between our problems and education.

The failure of banks in America, year after year, is a symptom of big problems. The problems are (1) our leaders are incompetent, (2) our leaders deceive and manipulate us, and (3) too many people go along with the manipulation and deception.

Regarding Manipulation

Besides the movie V for Vendetta, featuring government deception, there have been movies with a similar theme for many years, like The Parallax View (1974). Even the movie 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968) had the AI computer, HAL, go crazy because it was forced to lie to its crew.

In the movie, The Matrix, the character Morpheus says, "...there's something wrong with the world. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad." That "something" is the deception and manipulation practiced by our leaders,

On the large scale, our deception has been documented in Manufacturing Consent. On a smaller scale, an article in the Saturday August 30, 2008 Wall Street Journal, "Machiavelli's Daring Gift" by William Amelia says Lee Atwater has read The Prince 23 times.

Karl Rove has been described as a Machiavellian in Machiavelli's Shadow by Paul Alexander. Scott McClellan wrote What Happened: Inside the Bush White House and Washington's Culture of Deception and was pilloried in the press for being disloyal.

Competence

One critique I have heard of The Prince said that the manipulation and deception encouraged by The Prince is most helpful to mediocre people, so a Machiavellian system is riddled with mediocrity and incompetence. This goes a long way towards explaining the incompetence of the current Bush administration. Lee Atwater was important to George H.W. Bush and this Machiavellian presence in the 1st Bush administration had to influence the 2nd Bush administration.

To Be or Not to Be, a Sheep

The frustration of the American people with our corrupt leaders is finding voice in artistic works besides V for Vendetta. The book Black Friday by James Patterson describes disgruntled veterans blowing up Wall Street and assassinating the Secret Government. The short story, Sergeant Chip by Bradley Denton in Year's Best SF 10 depicts our government murdering its own soldiers in order to give the government an excuse to continue an unpopular war. There is a growing sentiment that our government cannot be trusted.

Cicero said it is dishonorable to be deceived. So it is our responsibility to be well enough informed that we are not easily deceived. Once we perceive the deception, some people think violence is an answer, or at least enjoy fantasies or movies about a heroically violent struggle. Yet, non-violence has been an effective form of resistence.

The Wall Street Journal, Saturday September 13, 2008, ran a story on page 1, American Revolutionary by Philip Shishkin about Gene Sharp. Gene Sharp started The Albert Einstein Institution to promote non-violence in the defense of freedom and democracy.

Gene Sharp wrote a handbook, From Dictatorship to Democracy, that is available as free PDF document. Gene Sharp promotes non-violence and the techniques he describes have been proven to work around the world.

Education is the Real Solution

We must avoid slipping into an outright dictatorship. The key to preserving our freedom is to educate our children for liberty to they can preserve their freedoms.

Ideally, we should educate our children so they can become tomorrow's leaders. We do not need to accept the existing ruling class. We can educate our children to rise to the top and restore competency, rationality, and morality to our nation's leadership. This is one of the goals of the Timeless Way Foundation.

Robert Canright

TLR: the Texas Leadership Revolution

Texas will experience a revolution in leadership. Texas Congressman Ron Paul is just the beginning of the revolution.

I said back in May 2007 that Texas was going to experience a renaissance in politics. Instead of referring to this political renaissance as the Texas Leadership Renaissance, as I had planned, I will refer to it as the Texas Leadership Revolution (TLR) in honor of Ron Paul's book, The Revolution: a Manifesto.

The struggle to restore America to greatness and secure our liberties will take generations. Forty years after the civil rights movement was in full swing we have an African American running for President. We will succeed in the long run if we don't lose hope.

America needs better leaders and education is the key. We must educate our children for liberty. The citizens of a free society cannot be ignorant of history and remain free. This is why I have run repeatedly for the Board of Trustees of the Plano ISD: to prepare our children for a life of freedom and prosperity, to empower them to meet the difficult challenges awaiting them in a competitive and troubled world.

Robert Canright

TBAR, Rooster Teeth in Austin

Good education should lead to improvements in the arts and in business. But this is not like the law of gravity. We need to make sure we nurture the arts and support local businesses. Today we will look more at computer animation and its impact on business and the arts in Texas.

The July 2008 issue of IEEE Spectrum ran an article, Machinima's Movie Moguls By David Kushner, describing a company in Austin named Rooster Teeth Productions.

Rooster Teeth publishes a show called Red vs. Blue (RvB). The type of show is called Machinima, a blend of Machine and animation.

This is an example of what Texas needs to cultivate in pursuit of a Texas Business and Arts Renaissance (TBAR).

Robert

PS: here is more about Machination.

TBAR, Venture Capital and Economic Growth

TBAR, the Texas Business and Arts Renaissance, is not just about the arts. We should expect a renaissance in business as a result of our investments in education. But what we want and what we expect will not fall into our laps, we need to reach out and get it. A renewed focus in venture capital can help the Texas economy grow.

The New York Times, on Sunday June 1, 2008, ran an article, Venture Capital, Before High Tech, by Stephen Kotkin. The article is about a book, Creative Capital by Spencer E. Ante, that is about Georges F. Doriot.

There are books and articles, to be sure, about venture capital, but this quote from Doriot is why I mention this book: "I am building men and companies." Building something that lasts is what is missing in today's economy. If we increase the prosperity of Texas, it should be a lasting achievement, not a fly-by-night boom and bust like Enron.

There are several things we might surmise from the sub-prime mortgage meltdown on Wall Street. (1) There are a lot of investors who have trouble finding good investments for their money. (2) There appears to be a shortage of startups: Texas and America need more growing businesses that can blossom with investment. (3) If there is not a shortage of businesses that could benefit from investment, then perhaps there is a shortage of wise men, like Doriot, who know what businesses and people are worth backing.

Texas needs to work harder at encouraging its citizens to start businesses. Texas needs better ways to connect wealth to promising businesses.

Texas can have a renaissance in business, and a better venture capital infrastructure might be part of our success story.

Robert

PS: I have heard the theory that the lack of good investments was due to the presence of too much money in the system after Alan Greenspan drove the interest rate from the Federal Reserve down to essentially zero. Nevertheless, the money was there, but good investments were not.

Moral Instruction and Story Telling

Stories are an excellent way to convey moral lessons. Movies are a good way to tell stories. I have shown The Keys of the Kingdom with Gregory Peck and The Inn of the Sixth Happiness with Ingrid Bergman in my home for moral instruction.

Upon a friend's recommendation I bought The Emperors Club in DVD. Because I was not personally familiar with it, I was watching it without requesting my son to join me. He wandered into the room, found the story interesting and stayed to watch it. I'm glad he did because it was a movie that conveyed moral instruction while entertaining us.

A good show or story is captivating and has full bodied, complex characters in challenging circumstances. They make an impression.

When I ran for the local school board I recommended Plutarch's Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans be incorporated into the curriculum, particularly in history. Plutarch's biographies are like stories, bringing to life famous and important people and giving insight into their characters. My 4th grade boy and I are presently going through the life of Alexander the Great. I ran for the school board because I wanted all the children of Plano, Texas, to have the same quality education as the Plano children whose parents provide tutoring.

The philosopher Richard Rorty has said that moral education is best taught by works of fiction that help us understand and sympathize with other people. The philosopher David Hume, in his work, Inquiry Concerning the Principles of Morals, has also said that stories are a good way to provide moral instruction. But if we use stories for moral instruction in the schools we must be very careful.

A friend brought to my attention an article, Little Manchurian Candidates by Matt James, that describes a badly botched attempt by a school to provide moral instruction for the students through stories.

I have for a long time felt that moral education is the purview of the parents and the schools should stay away from that topic. Yet, the staggering amount of corruption in contemporary society indicates a lack of moral instruction in many households.

Education is an important ingredient in the glue that holds society together, so moral instruction should be included in education. Yet, we cannot depend on professional educators to assemble that part of the curriculum. Only the involvement of the parents will provide a system of moral instruction with community support and representative of community standards.

We parents must be more involved in the school curriculum.

Robert

TBAR, Virtual Reality, the Arts, and the Public Schools

TBAR, the Texas Business and Arts Renaissance, is very much related to the public schools. We have forgotten that education is not all about standardized testing. We forget there are real benefits to education. I believe education can ignite a renaissance in business and in the arts.

Here is a proposal for a project that can tie together education, business, and the arts: multi-media / virtual reality projects for students that are based on the classics of literature.

The epic poems of Homer: the Iliad and the Odyssey are fabulous when you hear them spoken. These are crying to be turned into animated films. This is something high school students can do. There are translations old enough to be in the public domain, so students have a script. It is also good for students to learn about copyrights and the public domain. Intellectual property is an important part of business in a knowledge based economy.

Students can plan and manage the production of animated films of the Iliad and the Odyssey. Theater students can do the voices. Orchestra students can write and perform the sound track. The techies and the artists can both work on the animation.

There is a 3D programming tool, free from Carnegie Mellon University, called Alice. It is intended for high school students. They have a program for middle school students called Storytelling Alice. Money for software is not a problem.

Plano (my home town) can teach high quality animation in its public schools. Lack of will power and vision are the only obstacles.

Animation is an important part of the new economy. Texas can have an important part in the business of animated movies, and we can start with our public schools.

The works of Shakespeare are in the public domain. Besides learning animation, our theater students would have more opportunities to perform. The orchestra students would understand soundtracks and see how they can be opportunities for creativity. When the projects are finished, the animated versions of the Iliad and the Odyssey can be used for instruction, along with works by Shakespeare.

Students can learn the classics.

Students can learn hi-tech skills.

Students can learn important business skills.

Our children have great opportunities. Texas needs visionary leadership to enable our children to excel. This is a great opportunity for all the children of Texas, not just Plano.

Robert Canright

TBAR and Summer Festivals

I mentioned earlier the goal of a Texas Business and Arts Renaissance, TBAR. The New York Times, Sunday May 11, 2008, had a series of articles on arts festivals. Texas was mentioned in "Summer Stages Pop/Jazz" by Ben Sasario. This article mentioned the Austin City Limits Music Festival.

A related article, "Summer Stages" by Vivien Schweitzer, looking at classical music, mentioned the International Festival at Round Top. This is great.

It's great to see the arts in Texas being mentioned in a national newspaper. That series of articles did not mention any dance or theater festivals in Texas, so there is room for improvement, or maybe there are dance and theater festivals this Summer in Texas and the NY Times did not mention them.

We need to support the arts in Texas, so one day the arts in Texas can help support our children!

The arts are ennobling and uplifting, but if done right they can increase prosperity in Texas.

Robert

TBAR, the Texas Business and Arts Renaissance

Texas needs a renaissance in business and the arts, and the two are related. A renaissance in the arts will be most successful if it is self-sustaining, which makes it a business. I've said this before, both in this blog and when I campaigned for the local school board.

Dallas, in March and April, 2008, had an AFI Dallas International Film Festival. It is important that we have events like this, that we support them, and that we build upon them.

The Texas needs to become a new center for film, publishing, and news production. Texas already has a toe-hold in the film industry. There is nothing magical about New York city or the West coast for publishing. No one really knows how to predict the next best-seller. Texans have the same capabilities as New Yorkers or Californians, but we lack the interest.

If you go a book fair in Texas, the books people buy most frequently are about Texas or the Old West. As Texans become better educated, there will be a natural progression to better quality books and films, but we can hasten the pace of progress. The Texas Film Commission, a government office, already promotes films. We also need to promote book publishing, script writing, and play writing.

There is money to be made in publishing, not just in film making. This is part of the business renaissance in Texas (yes, there is much more, but that is for another day).

I'm using the name "TBAR, the Texas Business and Arts Renaissance," because if you google "Texas Renaissance" you will flooded with hits related to the renaissance festival. There are a number of organizations and websites with "TBAR", but not too many to hide this idea.

I've also said that Texas needs a renaissance in politics, and I still believe that, but will have to be a separate thread, which I plan to call the "Texas Leadership Revolution."

Let's aim high for our children's sake. They deserve the best we can do for them.

Robert Canright

Here are subsequent posts on this topic
Summer Festivals
Virtual Reality, the Arts, and the Public Schools
Venture Capital and Economic Growth
Rooster Teeth in Austin, Machinima

Character Education, the Love of Learning, and the Five Virtues

A lot has been said about character education. Schools and parents need to work together to teach good character. Here is a link to a nice article from the Mercury News in San Jose, "For success in schools, teach character first, then content," by Robert Freeman, March 3, 2008.

One thing missed in contemporary efforts to teach character in the schools is identifying the love of learning as a virtue. This is a Confucian virtue, which helps explain why the Chinese are so successful in scholarship.

Here is how James Legge translated Book XVII, Chapter VIII, of the Analects of Confucius:

1. The Master said, 'Yu, have you heard the six words to which are attached six becloudings?' Yu replied, 'I have not.'
2. 'Sit down, and I will tell them to you.
3. 'There is the love of being benevolent without the love of learning;-- the beclouding here leads to a foolish simplicity. There is the love of knowing without the love of learning;-- the beclouding here leads to dissipation of mind. There is the love of being sincere without the love of learning;-- the beclouding here leads to an injurious disregard of consequences. There is the love of straightforwardness without the love of learning;-- the beclouding here leads to rudeness. There is the love of boldness without the love of learning;-- the beclouding here leads to insubordination. There is the love of firmness without the love of learning;-- the
beclouding here leads to extravagant conduct.'

Obviously, newer translations read more smoothly, but you can see that the love of learning is important in Confucianism, yet missing from the lists of virtues used to teach character.

This link will lead you to the Six Pillars of Character. See how the Six Pillars compare to the Five Virtues of Confucianism.
Confucius -> 6 Pillars
---------------------------
Respectfulness -> Respect
Generosity -> Fairness
Sincerity -> Trustworthiness
Earnestness -> Responsibility
Kindness -> Caring

The 6 Pillars of Character includes Citizenship, but that is such a big deal to Confucians that they have lists of relationships and principles relating the individual to society.

The love of learning was not in Confucius' short list of virtues, but he spoke often about learning. To better understand the importance of learning in the Confucian tradition, contrast how the Christian Bible starts to how the Analects of Confucius starts.

Genesis 1:1 "In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth."

Analect 1:1 "Is it not pleasant to learn with a constant perseverance and application?"

If our children are to become successful students, it would help to inculcate the love of learning.

Robert

The Parents Duty to Teach Phonics

I believe it is the parents' responsibility to ensure their child is getting a good education. That means the parents need to know if the schools are falling short and to make up for the failure. Phonics is a perfect example. Many schools are stuck with the "look-say" approach, which is now called "whole language". It is the parents' responsibility to teach their child phonics. I've mentioned elsewhere how I taught my son phonics. Now I want to give an example of parents who did not teach their child phonics.

A bunch of families were together for a Bible study. A 12 year old boy (a sixth grader) is reading a section but stops when he gets to the word "gentiles". He comes to a dead stop, sits in silence for a long time, then says he does not know the word. He did not try to sound out the word, which means his school, like so many, did not teach him phonics. After he says he does not know the word, his mother tells him to skip it and move on. She did not tell him to sound it out, which means neither she nor her husband taught their child phonics.

My children can sound out words they do not know because I taught them. They have an advantage over kids whose parents blindly trusted the schools.

If you want your child to have a good education, you must be involved and fill in the gaps the schools leave.

Robert

Maslow and the Good Society

Educators love Abraham Maslow for his hierarchy of needs. Maslow wrote a book, Religions, Values, and Peak Experiences, that has this line in it:

"Education must be seen as at least partially an effort to produce the good human being, to foster the good life and the good society."

I've said earlier that morality is the root of education, according to Chu Hsi. Maslow in the 20th century echoed what Chu said in the 12th century.

We can learn much about education from the ancient Chinese.

Robert

Education and the Arts

Dana Gioia, Chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts, delivered this commencement speech at Stanford on June 17, 2007: "Trade easy pleasures for more complex and challenging ones."

Here are a few quotes to whet your appetite:

"What is the defining difference between passive and active citizens? Curiously, it isn't income, geography, or even education. It depends on whether or not they read for pleasure and participate in the arts. These cultural activities seem to awaken a heightened sense of individual awareness and social responsibility."

"Art delights, instructs, consoles. It educates our emotions."

and

"Art awakens, enlarges, refines, and restores our humanity."

I highly recommend you read his entire speech. It is relatively short and and very thoughtful. You cannot be interested in education without being interested in culture: both nurture our humanity.

Robert

Educational Philosophy

At a political meeting when I ran for school board last year I was asked to describe my educational philosophy in 2 minutes or less. I have a very detailed description of my educational philosophy at my website dedicated to education.

Two minutes? That's just a bullet. I had not thought to boil down my educational philosophy to a bullet or two. What I said extemporaneously at the meeting was, "morality is the root of education." That is a quote from Chu Hsi.

Lately I've thought of elaborating the plant analogy. Confucius said we should study for our own sake, which means to fulfill our potential. I've also thought about the qualities in society that are valued by Confucianism. Here is a fuller bulletized version of my educational philosophy:

Morality is the root of education.
Developing citizens to their full potential is the body of education.
And the fruits of education are culture, justice, peace, and prosperity.

Education is less about skills and knowledge than about people and society. Skills and knowledge are indispensible. They might be milestones on the journey of life, but a milestone is not a destination.

With this as an educational philosophy we can see our education is never finished.

Robert

When Will the Experts Learn?

The New York Times Magazine ran an article by Ann Hulbert, "What Every Child Needs." The article presents another way to spend money on education: universal pre-kindergarten education.

The idea is not new. Rob Reiner has pushed it for years. Here's a link to an article about how he was in Pennsylvania back in 2001 promoting it.

I keep hoping that the so-called experts will one day stumble across the solution to the education problem. Here is the solution, in a simple 3 point plan: family, family, and family.

1. The family needs to make it clear to the children that their education is important.

2. The family needs to actively help the children with school work and scholastic activities: helping them learn math facts and reading, for example.

3. The family needs to work with the teachers in a team effort to help their children succeed in school. Parents must be supportive of the teachers.

You could spend a million dollars in one year to educate a child, but if that child knows the parents do not believe in education, that money will accomplish nothing.

I keep hoping that some day the experts will wise up.

Robert
the article was in the Oct. 28, 2007 issue, page 11

How Do We Measure Progress in Education?

The Wall Street Journal, 11/7/07, ran an Op-Ed piece entitled, "Educational Rewards." I was surprised and disturbed. The authors were declaring a for-profit school superior to non-profit schools by saying the students were 6 months ahead of the public schools in Math and 2 months ahead in Reading. Interpreting these numbers as a success is over reaching.

What if the public schools are 2 years behind of where they ought to be? Then the for-profit schools are 18 months behind. And how do you measure exactly where students should be on a month by month basis? Do they all work from the exact same curriculum? And who says the curriculum is any good anyway? The conclusions endorsed by these alleged experts are highly suspect.

The attitude of the authors makes them appear to have started with a conclusion, for-profit schools produce the best results, and then to have sifted data until they found some data, any data, to support their opinion.

The authors wrote, "...for-profit management will work anytime, and anywhere." The authors are biased. Who are they? Paul E. Peterson, senior fellow at the Hoover Institute, and Matthew M. Chingos, a research fellow at the Harvard Program on Education Policy and Governance. They sound like paid spokesmen for big business. I would say we cannot trust people from the Hoover Institute and from Harvard.

When I ran for school board I was disappointed that the people most interested in the election were people who hoped to get money from the school district (jobs or higher pay). American business is staggering from unbridled corruption that is costing the country untold billions in bankruptcies and losses from swindles. The last thing we all need is for crooks to get their hooks into the money intended for education.

We must be careful on how alleged experts measure progress in education. We must have the right goals for education. Making great progress in something meaningless is not real progress.

Robert

Bill Cosby's Book

Here's an article by Nancy Kruh in the Dallas Morning News: Kudos for Cosby. Cosby has a book out, "Come on People, on the Path from Victims to Victors". Ms. Kruh describes the book in her article.

There is a strong link between education and community support. I haven't read the book yet, but I have ordered it.

If you wonder why I have not posted in a while, that is because I've been going to a lot of base ball games and practices during my son's Fall base ball.

Robert

Educating our Children to be Better Leaders

Better leadership will be a by-product of the Winding Spring Process of Education. We have so many bad leaders now that America is in a Leadership Crisis. We do have some examples of good leaders: Army Lt. Col. Paul Yingling and Lynn Turner, and they exhibit Confucian leadership principles. Read more in this blog posting: "Paul Yingling, Lynn Turner, and Confucian Leadership"

Robert