János Máth University of Debrecen, Institute of Psychology Hungary janosmath@gmail.com The Finns and the medieval teaching protocol The news: Finland plans to abolish (at least partially) traditional subjects in schools. In its place, students will study topics and through these activities they will learn the mathematical and other abstract knowledge that is necessary for a deeper understanding of the topics. It is of course understandable if this surprises many people, but this plan and its ongoing implementation by the Finns is entirely logical, and also means a leap forward in the quality of public education. It hints that the representatives of science, education and politics have all understood the changes brought by the digital age, and their consequences. It could be compared to the effects of the Reformation, when people could finally read the Bible in their mother tongue. People who could only access the scriptures in latin, while they could not speak latin themselves. The church of knowledge Moreover, this action by the Finns can not only be compared to the Reformation but it shares many similarities with it. The key concept is the church of knowledge, which in the old days was not really separated from the church of faith, since both knowledge was guarded by the adepts and insiders, men of the church. And even though the image of the secular sciences has changed a lot, many things remind us to the old days. The problem of language is - among other things - is also present in the church of knowledge, the only difference being that the language spoken there is not latin, but abstract, scientific language full of formulas, foreign expressions and abstract definitions. This is not a problem in itself, since this is the language of serious science, which can be learned with
appropriate abilities and some work. Around the altar one is supposed to speak this, but towards the back in the audience, an entirely different language should be used. In the old days it was natural that only the insiders, the people speaking the abstract language did science, and the others working in the world conversed in their own language, and everyone was authentic in their own role. Later - around 50-60 years ago - the accomplishments of science have subverted the world a bit, for example, the first satellite (Sputnik in Russian) was placed into orbit, DNA was discovered and lasers were created. This was a triumph of science and the scientists were thrilled to share their discoveries with everyone. This was carried out: the whole population was shepherded into the church of knowledge, even children. The cause was a noble one, but the expected results did not occur, since the sermons were in the abstract language. People had to memorize definitions and formulas, substitute numbers for letters, and the truth of the formulas were generally proved by other formulas. The size of the curriculum also grew continuously as the representatives of different sciences were competing (are competing) to squeeze more out of class time. In addition, most of the material is held dear by scientists, but is of little to no practical use for everyday people. As a result of this policy the population felt sufficiently stupid, but has served its time diligently in school, then aired its head out and looked for a real job outside in the world.
Nevertheless, the resupply of insiders was secured, and the fate of the others did not really interest anyone. Nobody asked what they were going to do with this all, or what they need instead of it. We are not in the rabbit People have been sitting quietly in the back, but then everything changed: the main square where the gate of the church stands, the circus and amusement park known as INTERNET has arrived, whose inviting noises can be heard in the church, and it finds those who were standing around the door anyway. Almost everyone is listening to this at least partially. On top of this, people understand what they are saying, and this makes the pointlessness of memorizing formulas and definitions even more apparent. So even though their bodies are still inside, their souls have long departed from the church of knowledge. In this spiritual dimension, the church of knowledge looks entirely different: only a handful of aristocrats are sitting near the altar. The newcomers come in, listen to the abstract sermons for a while, and then almost all of them leave. The church aristocracy feels distraught by this, but they can not really tell what bothers them more: the ignorance of those who come in, or the empty seats in the church, the lack of reinforcements. Sometimes they brainstorm to come up with something, but they always reach the same conclusion: they must tighten the regulations to get near the altar. When they themselves are so few already. I am reminded to the movie: Monty Python and the Holy Grail, when the knights of King Arthur leave a gigantic Trojan rabbit in front of the castle of the French, in order to break out of the rabbit at night and conquer the castle. There is a small problem however, which they only realize later: unlike the Greeks at the siege of Troy, they are NOT IN THE RABBIT.
In the church of knowledge - just like in the church of faith - the workers always had two main tasks: safeguard the knowledge and secure the resupply of the insiders. To do this, they have the old recipe from the Middle Ages: sift the applicants well, and subjects the remaining ones to intense training. Those people who will do this willingly endure this torture, since they are happy to leave physical labor behind. The problem is that there is no one left to sift now. In order for that to be the case, people would need to be enticed to enter the church of knowledge, and to do this, the reasons for them not coming in, what changed in the heads and the world would have to be understood. Maybe the church should be renovated a little. Instead, the scientists stand at the gates of the church, with an empty sifter and a stick ready to strike, clueless. With these instruments in their hands, they get ideas like these: The sermons in the abstract language must be lengthened: now high school students should learn physics and chemistry for three years instead of two, but still following the old way. They will of course still not understand it, it only lasts longer, so they will just hate these subjects even more, and there will not be more people inside the church, rather, there will be even fewer. Or that the science subjects should be mandatory for the graduation exam in high school: that the people to save the sciences would be the ones who feel so alienated by them that they themselves would never even go near them. It seems that the clerics of the sciences do not see that they are NOT IN THE RABBIT! The medieval protocol It is apparent that there is something in the minds what prevents rational thinking. Something that does not allow people to look at the questions in education with an open mind. Something that we could call the medieval teaching protocol.
Even though the principles of this protocol are (probably) not in writing, they can be felt and more or less summarized as: - The main goal is guarding KNOWLEDGE and securing reinforcements for the guardians. The task of education it to accomplish the above goal. - The job of the population is to produce a sufficient number of applicants. The ones who are sifted out are the WASTE of the system. - Motivating the successful applicants is (fundamentally) not the job of the protocol. Instead of motivation there are expectations and rigor, and on the other end, duties and obedience. Excellent teachers motivate of course, but the protocol does not require them to do so, and does not sanction its absence. - Understanding the new material and putting it into context within their existing knowledge is primarily the responsibility of the student. Excellent teachers usually help with this, but the protocol does not require them to do so, and does not sanction its absence. - The curriculum and its structure is designed by the GUARDIANS based on their supposed needs. Because of this the material is based on abstractions, and its quantity increases with scientific progress. - While designing the curriculum, considering the needs of the WASTE would be the same as decreasing the quality, so it is undesirable. - The utility of knowledge obtained by the WASTE, necessarily incomplete, is not considered by the protocol, so therefore it is not guaranteed. The WASTE When, after World War II., everyone was herded into the modern science-centered public education, the waste of the to-be-scientists has increased a lot (to about 90%), but the digital age further increased this, and by today, only 2-3% of the applicants remain. Others do not find their places in traditional classes, to them, most of the time the material is incomprehensible (since it is too abstract), useless (because they can not connect it to anything) and too much (since it is needlessly, self-servingly detailed).
In addition, the modern age also resulted in young people becoming more self-conscious, and more unwilling to learn material that they do not understand and will obviously be of little use to them. And sadly - as another consequence of the digital age - they are less and less capable of doing so. Their brains work differently, they have different skills. This is not necessarily a joyous thing, but certainly they can not be returned to the old tracks by force and old methods. They have no chance with the current curriculum and teaching technology. Almost everything needs to be rethought in education. If this does not happen, then the waste will slowly rise, and turn its back to the abstract obscurantism, and will become a fugitive. The fugitives The church pictures are from Zeffirelli's famous movie, Brother sun, Sister moon, which introduces the life of Saint Francis of Assisi. In this movie the poor (the fugitives of that age) have gone from the traditional churches to Francis one (on the left, below), where they are not just tolerated accessories, but they are valued, their language is used, they are the point of the whole ceremony. On the right, we can see young people today, with strange machines in their hands. Most of them are also fugitives. Now they should be persuaded to enter the church of knowledge, because otherwise there cannot be progress. How can they be addressed, invited again? This is also what the Finnish experiment is about. About what needs to be taught so that attending school is worthwhile for not just the top 2-3% of students. This is the most important question to which a 21st century answer needs to be given. This question should have been asked at least 50 years ago because of the 90% at the time who did not really benefit from education at the time. Now the answer must be given because of today s 97% since the layer of students who are able to learn using the medieval protocol has become very thin. So much that reinforcements for not only scientists, but of intellectuals in the broader sense are in danger. A completely new situation has arisen. The problem s nature has changed, it has become much more complex, while even the earlier, simpler problem has not been solved. Moreover, many do not understand even the old problems. The Finns replace the medieval protocol Returning to the reform of the Finns, why is this such a revolutionary action? At first sight it might not seem so. The quotation below is about the reforms there:
Students are going to study topics and through these activities they will learn the mathematical and other abstract knowledge that is necessary for a deeper understanding of the topics. This method was introduced for sixteen years old students two years ago in Helsinki, and the schools in the rest of Finland have to use the phenomenon-based teaching for some weeks in each year. Such a topic is restaurant services, and in connection with it, student learn about math, languages and communication. It is worthwhile to think through what this means in practice, and how much this changes. When knowledge is connected to reality, teachers can no longer equivocate, and flood abstract definitions on students. They can not do that, for example, in restaurant services class they explain about our communication that there are senders, receivers and a communication channel. They can not accomplish anything with book-smelling banter like this if they have to analyze the communication between the waiter and the customer. The Finns therefore accept that connecting the new curriculum to the reality (as it exists in the student s minds) can not be just a side-product of the enthusiasm of the teacher: this is the basic principle of education. Firstly because this makes it obvious that the material is not useless, secondly, because it sticks better this way. And mainly, because the most student can t do that alone. This also means that they accept: the education of those who will not become scientists, or even college graduates, is also a task of the school. Therefore designing the curriculum can not be a privilege of the scientific elites. The Finns therefore harshly violate the medieval protocol.