When one is teaching a child to talk, he does not sit the little one down with a dictionary. He does not merely read off words and definitions. Unfortunately, to a large degree, that is what text books are—subject dictionaries. Everything learned should be enlightening, but that enlightenment is stifled if things are condensed into sterile facts—word, definition; date, occurrence; name, accomplishment. Learning should not be an amassing of information, but a process of self-discovery. When a baby learns to talk, it is a milestone more significant than any standardized test score and it is most often achieved without the help of the public education system. An opportunity is being missed when schools do not tap into that natural intuition. Somewhere along the line, we lost sight of a child’s ability to make up intricate stories, and to circumvent any parental precaution, and to manipulate any positive reinforcement method. The goal of education is not a product; the goal of education should be a self-aware, self-sustaining collection of potentialities.
For the past century, schools have followed the model of the assembly line. Everything is compartmentalized. Kindergarten through Post-Graduate school is essentially a conveyor belt, moving everyone along in equal intervals of time with the purpose of producing viable societal cogs. Sir Ken Robinson also came to this conclusion, recognizing that there is very little concern for anything outside the preapproved, scheduled, operating procedures. Individuality is paid lip service, but there is a rigid definition of intelligence which forces nonlinear thinkers to be left by the wayside. Everything is standardized, even though there is nothing standard about the human mind—Sir Robinson made the observation that there is a correlation between the increase in standardized tests and the incidents of ADHD. Everything is centered on a statistical average, essentially relegating human achievement to an impersonal equation. Those who meet this mechanistic average are given a passing grade, much like the FDA approving a side of beef; while those that do not meet this average, are rejected and held back to be “fixed” like a defective iPod. The whole system was developed to produce workers and a college degree became an employment guarantee—this, however, is no longer the case. This Industrial Revolution method is beginning to implode with the absence of viable jobs for the “educated”. Between the depreciation of education and the failing economy, going to college is scarcely worth the money.
Neil Postman remarks in his book, Amusing Ourselves to Death, that before there was a public education system, in the 1600’s, during the early years of the colonies, the only compulsory schools were designed to teach students to read. Roughly ninety-five percent of white males and sixty-two percent of females were effectively literate; this number, however, has not increased, it has, in fact, decreased significantly. Literacy was the basis by which intelligence was measured. The one thing that used to be the only compulsory subject, literacy, now seems to have become an afterthought or not a thought at all; this is made clear, not only by the increasing number of illiterate students, but also by the increasing number of literate students who disdain reading. Granted, the mode of communication has changed since then—it has gone from literary to visual—however, what truly makes that time stand out, is that Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was one of the most widely read pieces of literature; the average person not only read, but understood a work that most college students have trouble with now.
“And it’s important to retreat from the hoopla on television, and what television says matters and what we’re all supposed to talk about. And of course literature is the only art that requires our audience to be performers. You have to be able to read and you have to be able to read awfully well. You have to read so well that you get irony! I’ll say one thing meaning another, and you’ll get it. Expecting a large number of people to be literate is like expecting everybody to play the French horn. It is extremely difficult. And as I’ve said in this book here [Timequake], when we think about what reading is…it’s impossible. Literature is idiosyncratic arrangements in horizontal lines in only twenty-six phonetic symbols, ten Arabic numbers, and about eight punctuation marks. And yet there are people like you who can look at a printed page and put on shows in your head—the battle of Waterloo, for God’s sake. The New York Times says that there are forty million people in the United States who can’t read well enough to fill out an application for a driver’s license. So our audience cannot be large, because we need a highly skilled audience, unbelievably skilled…Thank you for learning how to do this virtually impossible thing.” (Kurt Vonnegut, Like Shaking Hands With God, page 16)
Nearly ninety-fiver percent of men, at one time could adequately perform the “impossible” task of reading well enough to understand; this was without the help of standardized tests, pop-quizzes, flashcards or worksheets. Thomas Paine, himself, was a self-educated man; his ability to read and write opened up his limitless potential.
The American education system, as it exists now, is in dire need of help. Over the past several years America’s education ranking has ranged from sixteenth to twenty-second out of the twenty-three most industrialized nations. It does not seem that money is the answer; charter schools are producing more competent students at a fraction of the annual income and, in some cases, thousands of dollars less per student. The system of today is the system that has allowed nearly fifty percent of a senior class from New Jersey to graduate with a third grade or lower reading level. The system of today is the system that allowed a teacher in California to teach high school English while being illiterate (The Cartel a film by Bob Bowdon). One of the biggest problems with the American education system is that it is trying to enforce an educational philosophy that, in order for it to be effective, requires a large degree of discipline. China and Japan have the cultural philosophy of discipline necessary to make the American system work. America’s cultural philosophy, however, is one of postmodernism and nihilism; a new education method should be considered in light of the cultural ideals. There is no one system that embodies perfection; instead one must find that system which works within his culture.
As far as alternative education as it exists today, it is still in many cases considered to be fringe; many people are unaware of the number of choices they actually have. Home schooling has been demonized, and realistically, most parents do not have the time to supervise their children anyway. Private schools are too expensive for most families. And there are many people who do not even know what a charter school is. Unschooling is, for the most part, relegated to those people who have studied education itself; those people are few and far between. There have been, however, some positive growths of curiosity springing up among college campuses; the resurgence of Neil Postman book sales for instance.
Education has changed a great deal throughout the centuries. Part of that, of course, has to do with prevalent mediums of communication. Before English had a set dictionary, spelling was not a subject covered in schools. There are also cultures that do not have written languages; these cultures tend to value one’s ability to recall and recite parables and stories. The first universities were little more than libraries; they were places where men would gather to read then discuss and debate with the other attendees. There were no set subjects. There were no deadlines; one could come and go of his own volition.
Education shapes the people just as the people shape the education. Education, self-education, forms personhood no matter what culture, because of this universal truth, formal education should make all of its choices based on the idea that education’s purpose is to form a competent individual, and subsequently a competent society, by way of personal and communal discovery. Regardless of the method of education, the act of learning is imprinted on the human mind immediately; education is part of humanity, culture, and perception.
“When men lack a sense of awe, there will be disaster.” (Tao Te Ching by Lao Tzu) The endeavor is to maintain one’s childlike awe throughout his or her life—this not to be confused with childlike ignorance or immaturity. How is this accomplished? By not confining the young to a rigid structure that lends itself more to stifling the questioning mind than encouraging inquisitiveness. Children are naturally gifted at the Socratic Method, the basis for all modern education. The question must be asked, “Is willful ignorance inherent or learned?” Are children taught that some things matter and others do not? Perhaps not specifically, but basically, that is what exams do; nothing matters but the things that instructors deem important enough to put on a test. Draw from your own experience, how many times in the course of your education did something that interested you get trivialized by a teacher or a class?
The last thing a child needs in a school environment is a disregard for his questions. The last thing a teen needs in a high school setting is exams that encourage little more than fact regurgitation. The last thing a college student needs is a never ending sea of busy work designed to be little more than a hedge protecting the required reading.
There will be a cyclical back and forth for as long as this country exists. Nothing is new; everything is just a rehash of an old idea—if one knows history he knows not only the past, but the present and the future.
“All truth is one. In this light, may science and religion endeavor here for the steady evolution of mankind; from darkness to light; from narrowness to broadmindedness; from prejudice to tolerance. It is the voice of life which calls us to come and learn.” (Inscription on the bells atop Hayes Hall)
Works Cited
Bowdon, Bob. The Cartel Movie Goldman & McCormick PR, n.d. Web. 5 Dec. 2011. http://www.thecartelmovie.com
Tyler, Ralph W. Basic Principles of Curriculum and Instruction. London: University of Chicago Press, 1949. Print.
Postman, Neil. Amusing Ourselves to Death. 20th Anniversary Editionth ed. New York, New York: The Penguin Group, 2006. Print.
Vonnegut, Kurt, and Lee Stringer. Like Shaking Hands With God. Trade Paperback ed. New York, New York: Seven Stories Press, 2010. N. pag. Print.
