What is the purpose of public education?
I have heard a lot of discussion over the years. Somewhere in my past I remember public education being criticized because it was designed in response to the industrial revolution. It was to provide adults who were conditioned for work in factories and conforming to an American idea of civic culture. The emphasis was on the melting pot and E Pluribus Unum. Thus you had children being taught by rote, sitting in rows and following the rules. I guess you could call that the Three “R’s” of American Capitalism.
At the time it seemed to work. We became the powerhouse of industry and a model of stability.
Times have changed and the model has changed. Now we expect kids to learn by feelings, sit in circles to share and ignore the rules. They are being taught for a different kind of conformity. This is the conformity of the group mind, the socialist or communist way of saying that all must conform to the expectations of the state. We emphasize their ethnic differences while claiming that everyone is equal.
What is this producing? We have a generation that is very in touch with their feelings. Facts and truth are not important. All that matters is how they feel. They only feel right when they get their way. The main emphasis of education today is getting the students to enjoy learning because it relates to how they feel about themselves. National narcissism seems to be the goal.
We have a generation that is being taught to strive for the mediocre. Those who have the ability to excel are being taught that there main role in life is to do the work for those who are unwilling or unable. We mix classes with people who are truly gifted and children who cannot read. It is a travesty to watch children get frustrated because others are staring at the wall instead of getting out their books.
We have a generation that is being taught that there are no rules. The philosophy is post-modernism that seems to believe that the inner man is benevolent and will do what is right if not restricted by rules. What really happens is a level of chaos that forces the introduction of extreme restrictions and the imposition of a police state.
Public education is on the cutting edge. It will lead to death by a thousand cuts.
homo unius libri
The old system had it's flaws, but the new system has far more.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that the Progressives think they are wiser than we are. They refuse to see or acknowledge their own mistakes.
DeleteGrace and peace.