Orphans of Education

ISBN-13: 9781425748555 / Angielski / Miękka / 2007 / 320 str.

Ruth Condon Taylor

Opis

In 1994, I read a book by the title of The Bell Curve, the premise of which was that African Americans could not pass IQ tests because they were black. It was featured prominently in all book stores in the Denver area where I was living at the time. I had no real interest in the subject other than the fact that I knew the premise to be wrong. I promptly forgot it. About two years later, I heard of the right-brain/left-brain theory and knew that was the answer to the fact that African Americans scored low on IQ tests. It was one of those "aha" moments we sometimes get - the light bulb effect.
As I had no interest in the subject, I promptly forgot it, or thought I had. The idea would not leave me alone, and pages began writing themselves in my mind. If I was driving the car, walking my dogs, swimming, etc. pages of text began to form in my mind. Trying to fall asleep each night became a problem because it would not go away.
Finally one day, I said, "All right. If I'm supposed to write what is filling my mind, I had better start. I did not even own a typewriter, let alone a computer. I began using the computer at the local library, and as soon as I had typed everything I was thinking, something new would appear. This went on for about four months, and it ended.
By that time, I had a lot of material and knew that if I were going to be of any help to anyone with the material I had just written, I had better get busy with research. I believed I would disprove all or most of what I had committed to paper.
I began driving to the University of California Riverside library every other week. I checked out a copy of The Bell Curve and began reading. It was obvious that, while the authors had dozens of charts and graphs supposedly proving their point, neither of them had asked why. How was it possible that an entire ethnic race could be incapable of passing IQ tests with grades as high as Caucasians and Asians. I believed it was not possible and that there had to be a basic reason. A few members might test low, but not an entire ethnic race.
I found almost nothing of help at UCR, so began haunting book stores and purchasing my own research library. The further I delved into the subject, the more the direction of my research led me to the subject of education. I totally rejected the premise of environment, family life, and inheritance because they had all been largely disproven, but no one had found the answer. As I read thousand of pages, I realized that African Americans, like many Caucasians, were right-brain thinkers. I am so right-brain that computers are a mystery to me. Tell me what to do to accomplish certain tasks, and I can follow directions toward a predetermined goal, but don't ask me anything else about them. Also, as far as math goes, if there is something I can memorize - fine - just don't ask me to find the correct answer to a written hypothesis.
I was a piano major in college, am what would constitute a professional artist, and now, I have written a book that I believe will be beneficial to all right-brain thinkers and all educators who are faced with the sometimes daunting task of teaching students to learn math, chemistry, engineering, or any other subjects that require linear thinking.
This book is offered as a theory, as I have stated in the book, to be considered and possibly rejected, but please don't reject it out-of-hand. I sincerely believe it can be of immeasurable assistance in training our right-brain thinkers to think linearly so they can more competently function in our technological society.