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| Zoidberg: Why? Why? Why? | | | |
What do you want to get out of school?
What do you want your Democracy to do for you?
You're here to learn. What questions do you want the answers to before you graduate?
How do you find the answer?
What do you do to get it?
How do you know the answer is yours? Or is it? Is it someone else's?
Columbus discovered America
Or did he? what did he do?
Is having the answer for the test the same as learning?
In science discovery is made through asking questions, accumulating evidence, and making determinations.
Are high school and college students qualified to question the way their (your) communities work? What are your communities?
What level of participation in your community do you have?
Is being a consumer of information or goods the same as being a participant?
When you think about these issues:
- climate change
- globalization of our economy vs national interest
- health care
- poverty
What should be done about them? How do we find the right solution? Or do we just find the right person to come and fix them? Who knows all about these issues? Or everything about just one of them?
Does knowledge change over time?
In order for our Democracy to work, for any social or political or economic construct to work, it must be constantly re-examined and everyone (!) must be prepared to ask the questions that will force this re-examination.
No matter how web savvy you are you can't get critical thinking skills through
memorization, ideology or groupthink
Answers can not be retrieved. they must be constructed.
Your questions must be new and they must be yours
Does our society value questions or answers?
What does it mean when people seem more comfortable to live only among those with whom they agree.
(you don't have to question if every one of your FB friends already agrees on a topic that's important to you)
When have you been afraid to ask questions? There are certain types of situations that make us reluctant to ask questions. Try to think of one.
Suggested CEC:
Proposal Due next Thursday Select one of these and refine it to a specific meeting and date.
- Attend a board of trustees meeting here at Ramapo or at BCC or somewhere else
Attend a HS school board meeting at your old HS
- Find out who your student govt reps are and attend one of their meetings
- Attend a local municipal board meeting where decisions are being made about parks, environmental issues, public safety, social services.
Take notes and come up with questions to ask while at the meeting. If you're not comfortable asking during the meeting, email your question to one of the board members afterward.
