[April 10, 2020] My dad used to tell me stories about new military recruits training before they deployed to the Korean War. In 1950 and at the beginning of the war, the military was only drafting single men. But he knew many, and their stories upon returning from the war were part of what captivated me as a young child in the late 1950s. Many times he told me that the training for soldiers was designed not to make those men comfortable, but to push them to their limits.
“The more you sweat in peace, the less you bleed in war.” – Norman Schwarzkopf, U.S. Army General
I like this quote from Norman Schwarzkopf. Reading in between the words, we can see what has been the foundation of formal education since the first student sat with others to learn from an adult. Ancient Greek philosopher Socrates, for example, taught students by asking question after question. He sought to expose contradictions in student thinking and guide them to solid, tenable conclusions. The Socratic Method involved using a rapid-fire exchange that forces students to think critically under pressure.
U.S. combat training uses a similar style. All those destined for the battlefield are subject to this rapid-fire technique. Failure to think on their feet and to provide the ‘right’ answer would result in a rebuke. It helps master the art of talking in front of others; as an essential aspect of leadership. Quietly sitting back and listening in combat training does not work. But using the Socratic Method helps keep the combat soldiers focused on the instructor because of the constant possibility of being called upon in class.
My dad told me of stories of soldiers taught how to complete various tasks under enormous pressure. I remember him telling me the story of his best friend Johnny, who had to crawl under 100 yards in the mud and barbed-wire while a machinegun was firing live rounds only a few feet above his head. That must have been unnerving. If you panicked and stood up to run, you would be mowed down by a stream of bullets. This training scared me, and it made them better soldiers.
I still believe in the philosophy that education should not make us comfortable. New ideas and behaviors don’t come cheaply. It takes a special teacher to push us beyond what we think we can do (think and act) and get us to open up to new and different things. Such ideas and behavior should be debated, analyzed, and studied thoroughly. That way, we can formulate our thinking and either adopt or reject them.
Education that makes us comfortable is probably not worth the effort.
The title says it all.
Yep, that’s it. But today, our “expert” educators think this is wrong and evil; thus we “need” to change hundreds of years of successful education into something much much better. Thus, equality in outcomes and if you don’t believe it,then you are a racist! A little sarcasm there.
How very interesting of a leadership post !!
Good job here, Gen. Satterfield, well done and a topic that we are starting to see more about.
But this one takes on formal education from a different perspective.
Gen. Satterfield, I have to agree with you about education. That is the way it used to be in most of the world. You were forced to “think.” There was no getting around it. Either you got on board with your ideas and how to argue for them or you were shamed by the other students.
I agree. Gen. Satterfield wrote about this idea of ‘shame’ being a motivating factor and a good one. See his article linked here. https://www.theleadermaker.com/shame-is-there-enough-of-it/
The Socratic Method is a way of teaching that was rejected by modern teaching because it stressed out the students too much. I can understand it not being used on first graders but what about those in high school or beyond? Well, frankly, the method works. Rejecting it for the very reason it works is a non-starter in my book. We would be better off is we subjected students to MORE stress at a young age and that way they would be used to it. Now we have snowflakes for our educational failure.
Max, I think you hit onto something that has been bugging me for a long time. We all, I think, can say that our formal education system in the US is a failure (and getting worse). Yet, we spend more money on education per student than any other country in the world. So money is not the issue. Ideologies are the issue. Our teachers and univ. professors are simply neo-Marxists today and their goal is to destroy America or any western civilization.
Yes, gentlemen, I agree that our educ system is dead. The shortterm issue is what to do about it. Me? I would pull my kids out of school and homeschool them. My kids are grown and so I’ve made that recommendation to them.
Spot-on comments here. ?
Gen. Norman Schwarzkopf was a big-ass general with some huge balls.
https://www.biography.com/military-figure/norman-schwarzkopf
LOL, so true. I remember the Gulf War and him being on tv and radio telling us about what was going on. I think he would have been like another Gen. Patton if there had been a big war. That is they type of man we need in time of war — big, strong, resilient, and not afraid to tell you what he thinks. This is the very type of general that would not survive under a socialist president like Slo Joe Biden, Bernie Sanders, Hillary Clinton, or like under ‘led from behind’ Obama.
Thanks, Eva. Hard-hitting comment and right on target. Those socialists are terrible people, except for Joe Biden who is simply over his head. How can “Slo’ Joe” be elected as the US Pres when he doesn’t even know where he is or what day it is? Oh, he’s a democrat.
This is just too funny. Your comments, guys, should come with a ‘dont drink coffee’ warning.
Great article today General Satterfield. Once again, entertaining and educational.
Your dad must have been a hell of a guy. Telling stories from the ‘war days’ is something my dad never did. It mattered not to him what I learned about those terrible times in war but he did value those whom he served with.
Those men who served together in hard combat (and yes, they were men only) had some sort of mystical connection with one another. As a kid, I was never allowed to go to the VFW hall and see those men. It was like a black box. Nothing from the outside could see in. It was a different world that we were not allowed to be part of.
Yes, same here. They shared something that cannot be obtained except in war. Well, that’s what my uncle told me anyway. My uncle was in the Korean War and he had some thoughts about things and I could never change his mind about any idea anytime. He was a great patriot and flew the US flag at his home everyday.
Must have been a great man, your uncle.
You should be proud.
Yes I am, Thanks guys for your kind words.
Ouch, what a hit (albeit indirect) on our formal education system today.
Fred, our formal educ sys has been going downhill for a long time. The problem is that we can see it happening, folks everywhere admit it, and despite what we do to elect new schoolboard members and increase taxes, nothing seems to change. It gets worse! What did Einstein say? “Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results.”