"I’ve noticed a fascinating phenomenon in my thirty years of teaching: schools and schooling are increasingly irrelevant to the great enterprises of the planet. No one believes anymore that scientists are trained in science classes or politicians in civics classes or poets in English classes. The truth is that schools don’t really teach anything except how to obey orders. This is a great mystery to me because thousands of humane, caring people work in schools as teachers and aides and administrators, but the abstract logic of the institution overwhelms their individual contributions. Although teachers do care and do work very, very hard, the institution is psychopathic—it has no conscience." - John Taylor Gatto, Dumbing Us Down
Discussion
I have a friend who is a high school science 'teacher' who is one of most scientifically illiterate people I have ever met. We has a slight falling out in summer 2020 because he told me a study of mask ineffectiveness that I sent him was too long to read. It was a mere 10 pages long, and the pertinent part was one whole paragraph. This 'science teacher' told me that he believes they work so the study didnt matter.
Those who can do, do. Those who can't...
Agreed. Part of the world I live I assume 90% if not more is subsidized by the state. More and more I get the impression that education is showing similarities towards a kind of corporate business view to utilize everything to ensure shareholders net growth. Where the state is the sole shareholder.
Looking at my personal experience regarding economics for instance I was told a mono narrative like probably the most of us. That changed when I got in contact with #bitcoin and started reading and listening to podcasts such as yours.
Where we have mainstream media maybe we have mainstream education as well? Where as with the mainstream media formula isn't working properly any longer the same is happening with education?
My kids enjoy school enormously. I think the benifit is predominantly socializing, but I can't deny there is some truth to this, especially the highly outdated/non relevant stuff that is thought. That being said, we are not prepared or in the circumference to just leave work and home school. Taking all into account, I would say homeschooling in w
Western Europe is a net negative.
And even the social benefits got fucked up for a generation thanks to lockdowns!
“I urge you to examine in your own mind the assumptions which must lay behind using the police power to insist that once-sovereign spirits have no choice but to submit to being schooled by strangers. Surely this is one of the most radical acts in human history, not the least of its breathtakingly radical assertions being that you must attend for your own good!”
Weapons of mass instruction was one of my favorite books that shattered the way I looked at schooling.
Nice
I can confirm the above from experience for both Dutch and French public school. Unfortunately.
Real experience, knowledge is only acquired by doing things, but not attending school...
This is silly. My daughter learns English, math, science, etc. at school.
Genuine question. Is she taught constructively to master those subjects or merely taught how to pass the exams for them?
In my experience the latter is overwhelmingly the norm.
She’s taught them well. She’s in a private Christian school, so there may be a difference with public schools.
Yup they just taught me how to pass an exam and absolutely nothing of any practical value at all. I learnt more on the internet than school. Even as a kid. Was writing HTML and JS at 10 years old while my IT teacher asked me how to use the software they were meant to be teaching us 🙄