iile 2en rid als lue her you is ive to you of rly ve, ing bly it’s erthe ind the ind ind ost 0l, till too re- en the > ind _ brain development. Learning that two plus two equals four does not actually involve the functioning of the mind, but merely that ready servant of the mind, the memory. Most of what we have been accustomed to call education has been chiefly the use of the memory. Bornaro and Harry Overstreet seemed to sense the need for the balance between the two Ui minds when they state in “‘Mature Mind”’: “Children learn, after a fashion, to read and write, to spell, to add, sub- tract, multiply and divide; to recite facts of geography, history, and science. They learn facts about economics, politics, and civics; facts about their bodily processes. All these are useful, but as taught in the average school they come far short of building minds capable, in the end, of understanding a mature, creative, responsible adult role. The mature adult is a thinking adult who meditates, values, tries to foresee imagines consequences better ways of and doing " things—‘Seek first the building of the mind.””’ Neither avoiding issues nor the handing out of pat answers will develop minds, even though it _ might satisfy the public or elected politicians. During a meeting of professors and students involved in the UPSTEP Program at Weber State College, (an interdisciplinary program in Social Studies and Teacher Education), a frustrated sophomore said, ‘‘I have been in school fourteen years and this is the first time I have had to deal _ with a problem-solving method.”’ red as or th tio and | rmaturity exploratory avelitude toward coum inquiring, -alinds... 99 couraged to develop inquiring minds rather than merely acceptive and responding minds, critical minds rather than merely passive and credulous. Practice in bridging the gap between theory and reality is often neglected. In using both brains, the student can develop the ability to see both the reality and the dream and develop values— for it is on values that the dreams are based; “‘It is values, ultimately, which give man we start by which he steers his ife.”’ The knowledge explosion has tested our value system to the breaking point and left us com- pletely confused! Why? Because we have not learned to clarify our values and use both brains effectively and in balance. Values education is currently the most ex- citing and explosive new development in education. Increased interest and activity in this area has been widespread throughout the educational system including higher education and graduate education. In keeping with the fantastic knowlege explosion and our tremendous technological gains vs. values education, or education of right brain vs education of left brain, it should be stated, “‘The test of intelligence is not how much we know how to do, but how we behave when we don’t know what to do.’ Today’s and future education should increase ‘‘copeability’—the speed and economy with which a person can adapt to continual change; this can not be done by education of only the left side of the brain. There must be a balance between the two brains. Wm. Rayney Harper, once president of the University of Chicago said, “‘Because too much emphasis was placed on fact and not enough on belief, we were once characterized as the ‘best halfeducated people in the world.’ The basic problems we face in the world today are in the realm of the spirit.”’ J. Martin Klotche, in his book “For What Do We Educate,’» says, “For on the one hand we are technically superb, but on the other we are humanistically illiterate. We seem to be capable of any scien- which grow out of one which a ite alee lll mae een te is getimmmen:s mataaa critical principles such as moral responsibility, devotion to truth the brotherhood of man, all of basic to them all—recognition of the worth and dignity of the individual. < of phasis on Re-entry (continued from page 3) older and taking freshman classes. Karryn has found she has just as many young friends as older ones and they are very accepting. One young man who has taken a number of classes with her came upon her in one of the rooms and said “What are you doing here little. girl?”’ ‘Mary Jo, in counseling, has been able to anticipate and give direction that is helpful, often relieving pressures I was even unaware I had,” Karryn said. Tony Spanos, foreign student advisor, also gives a ‘“‘personalized touch” by calling her Karryn. The main concern Karryn had was coinciding her class hours with those of her children, especially her youngest five-year-old son and also having a block of time to se Lys development analytical thinking are ignoring the new research on right-brain, left- Conference on Children and Youth states that education will have a struggle “‘to place man in command rather than subservient to the wondrous technology he is creating.”’ This will necessitate the education of both brains with em- study. By careful planning she is able to work around her son’s schedule with a study block on Friday mornings and one after the children are in bed. Her oldest son is a freshman at Ricks College. They have both been astonished at her success. She won a scholarship and made the honor roll. He didn’t. “The children are very supportative and have taken on extra chores to help me out. More respon- sibility for them has helped all of us,” Karryn said. In response to the question, ‘“‘What has college done for you?”’ Karryn laughed. “There are not enough pages to tell it in, but several are— I had to have 10-12 hours of sleep and often took naps, while watching TV. Now I’m up at 5:30 and in class by 7 a.m. accomplishing something, and I feel great. Often I only get five hours sleep. “Finding I can learn and make new friends has been good for my ego.”’ Karryn summed up the aim of the re-entry program in a few succinct words. “T have discovered that most of the worries about re-entry were r-~ own fears rather than realitv.”” am anind nto People who interpret learning simply as the acquisition of facts and do not seek to foster the The report of the last White House a phasis on reading is understandable,’’ Hock says, tific miracle, but we are unable to fathom its moral consequences.”’ Ng tary teachers should let children do creative work, “listen more to music and be taken outside to look at nature.”’ ‘The traditional em- Her frustrating inability to use cognitive learning of the left brain coupled to the use of ideas as analytical tools to solve social problems is not unusual in lowerdivision students in college. This ability to relate the fundamental ideas of the social sciences to real life should begin early in the elementary schooling of children at succeeding levels of greater depth as his world of experience expands. Students waste most of their formative years in mere fact gathering, Education for maturity should require an exploratory and creative attitude toward life. It should ask that children be en- Ri, : Rather than emphasizing reading, pre-school and elemen- “because it creates an orderly, predictable atmosphere in the classroom. If emphasis were put on creativity, it would make the teacher’s job more difficult.”’ for Page 5 COMMENT June 1979 ng fest the d. for of anbe | — 1979 ‘ ‘