Zone of Proximal Development | Writing to learn and learning about learning.

Someone at work asked the question: what do you think would be the result of the end of compulsory schooling?  To which I responded:

I predict that there will not be an end to compulsory schooling. Schooling serves some very useful purposes outside of education. It used to be that kids were needed for chores around the house. It used to be that kids could be put to productive work at an early age. It used to be that kids could be put outside unsupervised for hours at a time. It used to be that one could learn a job by watching someone else do it. Today parents are spending less time at home. Today the knowledge and skills required for productive contribution to society, for all but the simplest tasks, are increasing. Today the world is a much more complicated and dangerous place than it used to be. Today, parents don’t know what their kids are going to need to know.

Schools will be with us for a long time yet.