The system by which we “educate” our citizenry in this country must be eradicated. I say this not because the system is a failure. On the contrary, our public education system does exactly what it was meant to do: prepare people for an automaton-like life in a world of capitalistic industry.
Current cycle of education:
- Critical thinking citizens are not easily employable in typical industrio-economy jobs: “why” and “how” do not fit into the workaday world
- Owners within the industrio-economy cry out that education is failing since students are not “employable”
- Government and “concerned” members of the business community develop national “standards” that ensure a student’s “success”, ie employability
- Students leave school with the ability to take tests, cram top-level knowledge into their heads, and follow the rules laid out by authorities but with very little ability to truly understand the “why” and “how” of what they do
- The industrio-economy is sustained with easily employable citizens
No matter how much money, time, thought, or positive energy we dump into it, what it will produce is a mass of children who are good at one thing: taking orders from their employer/masters. This is, of course, exactly what it supposed to happen.
The fix? Break out of this mode of thinking. Educate in order that critical thinking skills are preserved; in order that each student has a thorough understanding of civics, economics, art, literature; ensure that educational facilities are not tied down to business interests by refusing to accept finances from corporate interests.
