The Death of Education
Wednesday, May 28, 2008 at 05:23PM Education in the United States appears to no longer be a tool for the benefit of uplifting the minds of the populace, for creating an advanced nation if it ever was. Essentially government education, commonly referred to as public education, is failing if we are to judge the society by the academic advancement of the populace. The United States is leading the world in the incarceration of its citizens, more than any other nation on Earth at this time. And yet, there is a direct correlation between those that are imprisoned and those that cannot read. However, the government has moved forward in placing tethers on school systems by forcing the students to take yearly testing that’s been shown to have little to do with their actual studies and is causing high levels of anxiety in the already Ritalin dosed students, to pass these useless test to move on to the next grade or graduate.
But what about those that graduate and move into the working ranks of the economy? There seems to be a shift in the corporate world concerning the “new” supervisors coming into the work force. These “new” supervisors tend to be in the age range of 29 to 35 years of age, many have college degrees from Bachelors, to Masters, to holding a CPA. Yet, their use of imagination, the ability to offer suggestions, or move their teams into a different realm to accomplish the company goals, are much less creative. The “new” supervisor tends to be more of a parrot, one that is more likely to go along to keep their positions rather than offer real opposition to a plan by upper management should the plan not truly be beneficial for the team or the department. This is what makes me question what education really is.
Albert Einstein said “The ruling class has the schools and press under its thumb. This enables it to sway the emotions of the masses.” I am beginning to believe this may be the case. It appears the ability to think critically is lacking. The actions of our youth are truly reactions and not a response in a fashion where one has thought out the consequences of possible actions if they take certain steps at any given moment. These same symptoms appear in the population of the U.S. when the emphasis is to run and vote for a person without great scrutiny after living in the aftermath of the past two elections and the reign of Bush. What does it really mean to be educated today?
I will offer this from Frederick Gates the Director of Charity for the Rockefeller Foundation 1913. “In dreams, we have limitless resources, and the people yield themselves with perfect docility to our molding hand. The present educational conventions fade from our minds; and, unhampered by tradition, we work our own good will upon a grateful and responsive folk. We shall not try to make these people or any of their children into philosophers or men of learning or science. We are not to raise up from among them authors, orators, poets, or men of letters. We shall not search for embryo great artists, painters, musicians. Nor will we cherish even the humbler ambition to raise up from among them lawyers, doctors, preachers, politicians, statesmen, of whom we now have ample supply.” “The economic well being of a nation depends on the presence of a large number of men who are content to labor hard all day long. Because men are naturally lazy they will not work unless forced by necessity to do so. The education of the poor THREATENS (my emphasis) to rob the nation of their productivity…Every hour those poor people spend at their books is so much time lost to society. Going to school in comparison to working is idleness.” Bernard De Mandeville, The fable of the Bees, 1714.
Reader Comments (8)
i like the new look of your blog. good job!
great post. i could not agree more. for this reason it has become my mantra...think!
blessings,
focusedpurpose
If we can't make any headway with a totally free public school system, where on this planet can we make it?
The other thing that colors my view of this issue is that I've seen the long-term damage that parent-activists have done to the schools in my former city. For many years, Black parent-activists in Chicago were screaming for the Board of Education to implement "social promotion." Social promotion is the practice of passing children onto the next grade level even though they haven't learned the material in their current grade.
You see, the parent-activists were saying that it was just too damaging to Black children's self-esteem to be flunked & held back in the same grade for a year. Years ago, the Board of Education caved in & started implementing social promotion.
After the damage was done by complying with their demands, parent-activists later complained that their children were allowed to graduate from high school without knowing how to read! Well, isn't that the logical outcome of social promotion?
In earlier decades, we did so much more with so much less in terms of available educational resources. At some point, we as a people are going to have to assume some responsibility for taking advantage of the totally free public education that is available to us.
Peace, blessings & solidarity.
Respect!
This sister said something which I've never forgotten: "To understand the intent, look at the affect." Fuck what they say education is for, what does it actually do...To be educated is to be trained, dummed down, reduced. Some of the most "educated" people that I know are some of the most closeminded, ignorant, limited.
This is a great article and has provide tramendous insight regarding the issue of education. Being a recent graduate I certainly concur on the learning aspect of things. As a student I was not even expected to think critically for myself. It's more like programmed thought. I had to make the decision to take my thought further and to implement my own creative thinking into what I was being taught by the instructor from the book.
@Betrue2U, you are bringing a recent experience into view here. You are so correct, you are asked to think along a pre-determined line and you must respond accordingly...Thank you for coming and touching my space.