Teaching to Forget

I recently asked my newly-graduated son a question: "Why do ice cubes melt?" I had been thinking about my 9th grade science students working on a project that involved designing a container that would maintain an ice cube in its frozen state for as long as possible.

My son thought a moment, then said with a laugh, "Because of the heat."

"Yes, I know," I replied, "But how does heat make ice melt?"

Now, keep in mind that my son was in the top 1% of his high school class, having taken a dozen or so AP courses, and last week graduated summa cum laude from his university's college of Engineering, Aeronautics and Technology. He smiled and replied, "Well, I used to know. I just haven't needed that information for about seven years."

Bingo. This was further confirmation of my assertion that most of what we teach kids after helping them learn the basics is a waste of time and effort. Unless it is meaningful to them and important in everyday life, they will quickly forget it.

We pocket the salary and move on, readying the same lecture for next year's crop of victims. My son once admitted that most of what he was subjected to (I hesitate to say "learned") in high school he promptly forgot. Who among us cannot relate?

I am fairly confident that none of his high school coursework was in any way relevant or important to his college studies, which did prepare him for his career in aviation. High School trivial pursuit gave way to meani