by Tim Middleton
What follows is a load of garbage! We will be familiar with the concept of GIGO (garbage in, garbage out) that is common to IT and mathematics: the quality of output is determined by the quality of the input. In other words, if a mathematical equation is improperly stated, the answer is unlikely to be correct; if our premises are flawed, then our arguments will be unsound. If we start in the wrong place, it does not matter whether we have followed instructions to the letter, we will end up in the wrong place. It will not matter if we tried incredibly hard, if we did more than others, if we genuinely believed it. If we plant the wrong thing in the wrong place, we will not get the results we want.
It is an indisputable fact that in all areas of life what we get out depends on what we put in. We reap what we sow. If we plant mealies, we cannot expect onions; if we plant a fig tree, we will not grow strawberries. Well did Samuel Butler advise us to, “Look before you leap for as you sow ye are like to reap.” If we sow to the wind, we will reap the whirlwind: if we start trouble, we will incur negative consequences. A piece attributed to Alberto Casing expands on that, saying that, “If you plant dishonesty, you will reap distrust. If you plant selfishness, you will reap loneliness. If you plant pride, you will reap destruction. If you plant envy, you will reap trouble. If you plant laziness, you will reap stagnation. If you plant bitterness, you will reap isolation. If you plant greed, you will reap loss. If you plant gossip, you will reap enemies. If you plant worries, you will reap wrinkles. If you plant sin, you will reap guilt.” We reap what we sow; garbage in, garbage out.
However, the same piece goes on to point out that, “If you plant honesty, you will reap trust. If you plant goodness, you will reap friends. If you plant humility, you will reap greatness. If you plant perseverance, you will reap victory. If you plant consideration, you will reap harmony. If you plant hard work, you will reap success. If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation. If you plant openness, you will reap intimacy. If you plant patience, you will reap improvements. If you plant faith, you will reap miracles.” We reap what we sow; goodness in, there is more chance (but no guarantee — that is another story) of goodness coming out.
It should be no surprise that the same principle applies to education. If we are not happy about what is coming out of education, then we cannot be happy with what is going into it. If the end product is not pleasing, we should not be surprised. If we are not happy with the results that are coming out, we may well be starting off in the wrong place with the wrong thing. If we are not happy with the type of people that are coming out of schools, then education has failed — garbage in, garbage out. If we are producing poor leaders, we must be starting out incorrectly. Yet it would seem that we are following the line of thinking often attributed to Einstein which states that, “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.” Garbage in, garbage out; what we sow, we reap. When we do to others what others did to us, and what they did was wrong, we will never progress or improve.
As long as we have a system of seniority at schools, with its emphasis on demands for privileges and respect, we will have a system of seniority in society, business and politics, with similar unhelpful demands and expectations. Furthermore, we will never develop the concept of service, however much we may try. We reap what we sow; if we give, we will receive, but if we grab, we will recede. If we spend all our time and thoughts inspecting, we will not inspire. If there is no money, there will be no motivation; if there is no proper training, there will be no proper teaching; if there is no proper teaching, there will be no proper learning.
It is a fairly typical trend that while we may try to mend our fading, ageing clothes by sewing them up, we discover it does not really work — we rip what we sew. What is needed is new clothes, as per the old adage that new wine needs new wineskins. In a similar way, we reap what we sow. Garbage in, garbage out. We need to stop the rot, putting garbage in. There is a similar acronym to GIGO, that being YOLO — you only live once. That makes it even more necessary that we do things correctly, that we take care what we sow. We need to look carefully at where we are leaping. We reap what we sow; we rip what we sew — let it not be said, RIP Education. Garbage, you think?
