Zach,
Although I agree with you that the observations are by their nature ageist
and many students will know what many of the things on the list referred
to. I think the authors point is we can't count on it. Some of the things
on the list don't ring any bells in my head and I was there!
One memory I have along these lines is from about ten years ago, when one
of my descriptive astronomy students ask me seriously if we had really
visited the moon. I realized that we hadn't in his lifetime. Night before
last, my daughter ask me as a class assignment where was I and what did I
remembered about the Kennedy assassination. As an older parent, I do
remember it but it occurred to me at the time that her teacher's question
was becoming dated as I am sure that some of my daughter's contemporaries
parents probably weren't born yet.
One of the ways we identify ourselves as a member of a group is by our
common shared experiences, and in the modern world those common experiences
are getting harder and harder to find. A century ago among educated people
if I referred to a Greek philosopher, you would all know about him. Yet the
only reason I know anything about them is because I went out of my way to
learn about them. They were never even assigned in any class I took in
school. In this age of multiculturalism it is hard to find any commonality.
Note that many of the item on the list come out of television - the only
thing we have in common.
End of soapbox.
Gary
Gary Karshner
St. Mary's University
San Antonio, Texas
KARSHNER@STMARYTX.EDU