Modern Education Experts Profess Value Of Silence – Why Librarians Ignore

My unpleasant experiences in today’s libraries (both academic and public) have led me to seek out the supply of what I perceive as a critical issue in modern-day education. The issue is noise, specifically the noise of human vocal interactions in areas as soon as revered as sanctuaries of silence.

It may come as a surprise to some people that modern librarians no longer guarantee commonly quiet atmospheres for introspective finding out. Much more surprising would be the reality that these librarians shun silence, though they actively endorse what they consider livelier, far more engaging mastering environments.

From the perspective of an adult who understands understanding as a deeply individual affair, this relaxed attitude towards noise in libraries is disabling. The reality of excessive noise in once-quiet spaces, thus, raises the question, “What has gone wrong in the minds of educators who now lead the charge in a battle against traditional quiet?”

My Answer

Just as classical values in the visual arts fell out of favor under the forces of popular, nave revolts against perceived authority, so have classical values in education fallen out of favor under forces of similar nave revolts. The process seems to have taken a little longer in education, but the result is the same-a vacuous, relativist philosophy whose proponents denounce all authority by using authoritative arguments against the concept of authority itself.

Several visual artists now realize that this outdated, cyclical contradiction has gotten civilization nowhere, except lost and longing for meaning.

As both an artist and a dedicated library user, I see daily evidence of this civilization lost to itself. I see people desperately lost in their noises, sadly ignorant of their inner selves, and disturbingly inconsiderate of other people around them. I, therefore, suggest with confidence that the ideal of relaxed noise standards … Continue reading >>>

Noisy Libraries Embrace Blabbermouth Bias In Modern Education – Extra Evidence

The issue

The following paragraphs list citations of my most up-to-date sources, in addition to my interpretations of every source’s major points:

Educational discussions about silence appear to become erroneous and one-dimensional, treating the absence of talk because of the consequence of disciplinary action only. In modern discussions about multi-cultural education, educators ought to re-think the uncomplicated dichotomy of silence versus speech and challenge the primacy of speech. Technological advancements in modern industrial society are particularly strong lures that result in persons of developed nations to avoid silence and to justify intolerance of silence.

Mass media and computer-mediated communication systems consistently erode and destroy silent spaces at the public level, therefore creating it almost impossible for men and women to learn how you can appreciate silence, either by themselves or within the presence of other individuals. Americans are a nation of “space pluggers” and “gap fillers”, each in education and in life, as we obsessively fill what we assume are empty spaces and empty sound gaps with the perpetual flux of objects and decibels.

The idea of “cooperative learning” has grown to be the dominant idea in mainstream teacher education. When teachers, in classroom settings, use the notion of “participation” as a measure of student participation, they inevitably condition students in the belief that silent, active listening is just not a legitimate form of “participating.” The speech might be systematically distorted, consciously, or unconsciously, to offer some groups or people extra importance than other individuals. “… the dichotomization of silence and speech misleads us to devalue silence and privilege speech… I contact for recognition in the need to dismantle this false dichotomy and to create a pedagogical understanding of silences.” (p. 162)

Emphasizing speaking is a system of enforcing the “silencing of silence”, which perpetuates the false notion that speaking … Continue reading >>>