Posted by:
exminion
(
)
Date: March 22, 2019 04:27PM
So, Nelson's an educator, now? Oh, that's right, this comes as a revelation from God. It makes no sense, because God created the human mind to to curious, and to respond to variety and new knowledge.
All of that repetition would be intolerable, on any subject, even one you liked. Besides, the student would learn only the same handful of facts, repeated over and over. I guess monotonous repetition is part of brainwashing, rather than learning.
Anyway, it is obvious to me that Expanding Knowledge is NOT the goal of the Mormon cult right now. Quite the opposite--the less the members know, the better!
Most of the Mormons I have known over the years in Sunday school and Primary, don't understand that humans WANT to learn. Learning is one of life's greatest pleasures! But not so for the Mormons. We Mormon-called teachers were instructed to NOT encourage questions, group discussions, or outside sources. WHAT? I was told that, after correlation happened. At the time, I had the "delinquent" class of difficult 15-16-year-old high school students, and the best way to keep them in line was to keep them interested. Every year, these actually were wonderful kids, bright, inquisitive, with personality and a sense of humor. They had acted out in previous classes, mainly because they had been bored to death. I let them do a lot of the talking, and even some of the teaching. They had already learned the manual stuff, repeated for all their years in the cult, and in seminary, besides. We had lively and informative class discussions. They related their own learning experiences, and those of their relatives and friends. The Mormons thought these kids had nothing to offer, and should only be "molded." I encouraged questions, and helped them find answers--the canned Mormon answers, but also the contradictory answers. I helped them make their own sense of things, or just grapple with it, the best way they could. I brought in guest speakers, who knew more than what the manual said. We had variety. In those days, we were allowed to have class on the lawn, if the kids behaved. We had class parties, and sometimes classes at my house, when there was an approved movie to see.
With all this, the kids seemed to like more discipline in the classroom, and less chaos. This enabled them to them to take turns, so everyone could have their say. They had to be polite, accept the opinions of others, think carefully, instead of react and spout-off. The classroom was no longer too noisy for the other classes. The kids liked to come, so attendance was up, and no ditching. I was an experienced teacher, with a certificate that I kept renewed. The Mormon leaders couldn't understand why these "delinquents" (who were great kids) were suddenly quiet and cooperative, without my threatening any violence against them, as the previous teachers had. After that correlated "teacher-training seminar" given by a Mormon bigwig, who had never been a professional teacher or educator, I decided that I couldn't teach like the Mormons wanted me to, so I quit the calling.
It makes me sad to think that lovely young minds are missing out on the advantages of a class of peers and a caring teacher. (Well, maybe not, because Mormonism no longer resonates with them, and they're more likely to leave). Now, it's just a cold, boring manual of stale, old lies, and an authoritarian father with a stick over their heads, making them sit still and shut up.
Thank goodness there are good daily schools and teachers for these kids! But, then, there are parents who home-school their kids....