The more years since your schooling, the less you remember what you studied. The book The Unschooled Mind by Gardner tells of studies where students in college were given the final they had aced just 30 days before. The students often were unable to even pass the exam that 2nd time. Many of us had units in 3rd and 4th grade on foreign nations or the nature of the US state we lived in. We may have done a report on the imports or exports or the state flower or bird. But now, we may not even recall if we did such studies, much less the material we knew then. This situation, where we have little or no recall of previous studies is usually excused and accepted as natural and normal.
But it does present a puzzle. If it is ok to forget the content of our courses and books, how long do we have to remember a passing percentage to be acceptable citizens. Of course, if it is not ok to forget the content, we are in trouble. What if the education police show up at your door to re-administer that 7th grade exam on how a bill becomes law? What if you don't know squat about the "correct" answers nowadays? Will you be sentenced to return to Mrs. Dooley's class to note what she is saying all over again? Don't thank your stars that the old lady is long deceased. A new incarnation is even now ready to administer an even more detailed test.
No, that is ridiculous, right? Tell that to your 7th grader, that it is ok not to know "in a while" but for test day, knowledge is required. The child or her friends will quickly ask how long they must know the content. And, if it is not needed later, in "real" life, why is it needed now? I think the police and some other occupations are re-examined for their marksmanship or something on a periodic basis. Some teachers and lawyers merely have to show they are study new material -- even though it too will soon be placed in the "can be looked up if needed" category.
It's a puzzle.
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One reader wrote:
This fits with a conversation I had this weekend. I do alot of my presentations with a gal married to a Northwest pilot. We were together at a conference this weekend. She was telling me about the rigorous re-training the pilots MUST do every year to maintain their license. It is so stressful, that my friend's husband has nightmares during the weeks before the training and testing. for part of the testing, the pilots are placed in various disasters and must respond to them in a manner that will save the lives of their passengers. As my colleague said, it is a stressful time for her husband, but it is a good thing to know that our pilots are kept 'fresh'.
One reader wrote:
This fits with a conversation I had this weekend. I do alot of my presentations with a gal married to a Northwest pilot. We were together at a conference this weekend. She was telling me about the rigorous re-training the pilots MUST do every year to maintain their license. It is so stressful, that my friend's husband has nightmares during the weeks before the training and testing. for part of the testing, the pilots are placed in various disasters and must respond to them in a manner that will save the lives of their passengers. As my colleague said, it is a stressful time for her husband, but it is a good thing to know that our pilots are kept 'fresh'.
