What is Baldwin saying in the quote below? What do you think he means when he says “the world is larger?”
“I would try to make [the student] know that just as American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it, so is the world larger, more daring, more beautiful and more terrible, but principally larger – and that it belongs to him. I would teach him that he doesn’t have to be bound by the expediencies of any given administration, any given policy, any given morality; that he has the right and the necessity to examine everything.”
What do you think you have the “necessity” to examine, or the obligation to learn more about? Why? Alternatively, what do you wish had been taught to you in school that wasn’t? Or what was something you were taught in school that you have since begun to question? Why do you want to know about these topics? Â
Something I wish that wasn’t taught in school is complex math(algebra, precalculus, etc). I say this because requiring students to take his class is just unnecessary because they will never encounter these mathematical problems in real life. Teaching students length and width, perimeter, and area, multiplication and division is necessary because those skills will be used in the real world. Instead, schools should replace this content by teaching life mathematics or economics. That students will need for their everyday lives.
Something I wish was taught in school is how to do your taxes or how to fill out all applications that one as an adult we are working our way through. I did not have anyone inform me of credit or how to keep it up or even applying to colleges I had to figure fafsa out on my own and complete applications very confused because nobody was ever there in school to teach us or explain to us what we will be facing after graduating high school
I believe that geometry or any math that would not be used over the course of our lives should not have been required. Instead, I think that a class that should have been implemented and made mandatory to graduate that all 12th graders should have taken should have been finance, explaining credit and debit, and other important concepts. Some people have to learn this for the real world and are unprepared because the school does not prepare or acknowledge this as it should.
Baldwin ensures that he would teach more than what the structuralized education system teaches and talks about conscious and morals.
I think what he means when Baldwin says that the world is larger is that there is a lot more to the world that you currently live in than you think there is in your mind. I think you have the “necessity” to learn about almost everything that you’ve encountered in the world that you are curious about. The world you live in can develop further than what you know, and believing that you have learned everything you can is the greatest barrier to such developments.
I think when he says “this world is larger” I think he means that there’s so much to explore and so many new findings. People only discover a small portion of things and there is more out there so keep the learning & knowledge in one place could stop you from exploring more. I wish they could’ve taught me real world things in school like taxes and buying house and other things etc, because once I sit back and think about the things I learned in school has nothing to do with life. Only basic math and English had taken part but history and all the other subjects don’t really take an importance. The reason I say taxes and other things similar is because school is meant for learning and by showing us these things we’re not stuck in life wondering how to do it, many depend on parents but sometimes we don’t have that person in our life to teach us those things.
He’s saying school doesn’t teach everything whether it’s good or bad, we don’t know the full picture because they don’t teach us to grow and learn for ourselves. Also, we are like stuck in this stimulation where everyone learns the same thing and you can’t question or disobey this order of life. Something I questioned in school was when teachers said “There’s no wrong answer” but then stated our answer wasn’t correct but there’s “one correct answer” on opinion-based topics.
When James Baldwin said “the world is larger” I think he meant that there’s a lot that goes into it. There’s a lot of things that us as humans should pay very close attention to but we don’t because we always get easily distracted by other responsibilities & daily things that we have to take care. Where we don’t stop, step back & take a look at the bigger picture because there’s so much more around us. & there’s a lot of things that goes on behind the scenes that we probably don’t know much about.
Something that I wish that I would have been taught in school was learning about mental health & how important it is to take care of it. & most importantly, how to take care of it. Because if you don’t know what mental health is or how to take care of it then it affects you some time down the road if you don’t do anything about it. & that’s just something that they don’t often teach you in school.
A “necessity” that I have to examine would be the world itself because there’s so much going on around us, we often times than not pay any close attention to it & we should because we never know how those things can affect us some time down the line when we get older.
Something that is necessary to learn are things like simple math, like addition subtraction, multiplication and division. Also reading and writing are necessary because you can’t really function in your everyday life without having to do at least one of those every day. I wish they taught stuff that was important for overall life in school. Like taxes, buying a house a car or stuff that majority of the world is going to use one day. One thing I don’t think is necessary to learn are things like advanced math and science. Unless obviously you’re planning on working in that field.
I think Baldwin is trying to explain that there is much more to the world than you think since it is filled with many experiences that you have never experienced. It could change the way you view life based on what you have already experienced. A topic that I was and still am taught is different types of math, which I don’t understand why we have to know. Since it makes math way more complicated than it should be, in our lives, we aren’t going to have to know what x equals. Math is easier and simpler. I would have wanted to know more about life such as taxes or how it is living on our way, they say that want us to be more independent but they avoid the information we actually need to know.
I feel like I have the obligation to learn about how to save money and how to not piss people off, or at least learn their limits. I should learn how to save money because money makes the world turn, and without it, how is my world supposed to turn? And I should learn about people more so I can do things without annoying them a lot. Like at my job, it would be really bad for me if I annoyed a relatively calm customer.
I feel like some sciences aren’t fully necessary to teach in regular public school. Maybe just the basics for most, because without them, kids would be ignorant in the subject and believe other fake things they hear online and treat it like the truth.
When Baldwin says, “the world is larger” I think he is saying that some people limit themselves, not knowing that the world is bigger than what they think it to be, and when people limit themselves, it prevents them from realizing their full potential. Something I wish was taught in school was complex math. Some subjects I think are necessary would be basic math and English because you use basic math and English on a daily basis. Something I wish I had learned about in school was how to maintain a good credit score and how to file taxes because those things can help me out in the future.
In Baldwin’s perspective, he conveys that the world is far more expansive than one might initially perceive, filled with experiences that can significantly shape one’s outlook on life. This revelation suggests that limiting oneself to familiar experiences hinders personal growth and the realization of one’s full potential. The sentiment resonates with a desire for a more practical education, echoing the sentiment that certain subjects, like complex math, may seem unnecessary in the context of daily life.
The frustration expressed about the emphasis on abstract mathematical concepts in education is paralleled by a wish for more practical life skills to be taught, such as understanding taxes and managing finances. The narrative underscores the importance of providing knowledge that equips individuals to navigate real-world challenges, fostering a sense of independence by addressing pertinent aspects of life that extend beyond traditional academic subjects.