Symbols, What are they Good For?: the 2nd commonality

The Use of Symbols the second Commonality:

The objective of this second commonality in the “Basic School” is that all students understand that all humans communicate through symbol systems. First they look at the genesis of language. They come to understand the reasons for communicating. There is the technology that moves this communication along; and sometimes degrades its purpose but other times enhances it. In the end kids realize that integrity is of the most importance in human interaction.

Well, following the commonality of life, communication and language naturally follows – as kind of a secondary miracle, if you will. Grade school kids are taught the mechanics and the windings of the different parts, grammar, spelling, parts of speech and writing in blocks of sentences and finally paragraphs. However, not often are they asked to step back and make connections as in a social setting, and how language connects us to others. This is very important.

In this commonality it is important that language history in its many different forms and cultures are touched upon. The who, what, when and where. How many languages are there? Where did they come from? How did I learn to speak? When did writing begin, what symbols did people use back in history? Do languages change? - How do I know if someone is being truthful? Are the impressions I’m being bombarded with real?

Younger students focus on the other materials used to make symbols in other times and cultures; smoke, drums, primitive paper etc., and realize that other life forms use their own symbols to communicate. The dolphins, bees, birds all send messages to each other.
The older students get higher learning exposure and questions such as what are the reasons for communicating, as in, to inform, persuade, entertain and inspire! They think about how words can heal and hurt. They consider different dialects, idioms, and colloquial expressions.

Before kids leave the Basic School they are exposed to Mass Communication and how mass media of all types effects their own lives, and begin to distinguish between the “Good, the Bad and the Ugly”. When the Basic School education is complete, students will have learned not only how to use words, but how to think about them. They’ll have an understanding of the history, social significance and the ethics of language.

The Basic School, Ernest Boyer - Excerpts by Matt Emery