is the school system educating or training?
This posting put me in mind of this posting. I haven’t been able to get my mind around the idea of ‘the learner is the product of education.’ It seems to me, the product of each grade (from k-11) is students. Each slightly more advanced than the last. The product of grade 12 is either a potential employee or another student, for university or college this time. After university, the product is another potential employee. Ideally, a wiser more capable employee, but an employee none-the-less. There are some students who are exceptions to this model, they’re exceptions. But that’s the point isn’t it? The fact that they are exceptions shows that they are not what the system is intended to produce.
What if the product of education were not a potential employee? How would that work? Our economic system wouldn’t function. Ok, but the result shouldn’t be just employees. They should be what? Trained for work, but educated too? Which gets to the heart of the matter: What does it mean to be educated? I think we understand what it means to be trained: You’re employable. Are potential employees sufficiently trained after grade 12? are they sufficiently educated? How do we know? A sufficient number of students become employed shows that they are sufficiently trained. A sufficient number of students become, or are …? What? What shows that they are sufficiently educated? Or conversely, what shows that they are insufficiently educated?
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February 9th, 2010 at 11:40 am
I’m a young teacher. I do my best not to train, though it occurs naturally due to the process of public education. What I mean is:
The consequences of lates, lowered marks (due to absences/wasting time/etc.) lead to a different streaming of courses to find the ‘ideal job’ for the citizen. This was the model created by the Prussians a couple hundred years ago which is the basis of our education model. It is also worth noting that training the students to work during the day 8-3 is a simulation of the workweek (in other countries such as Laos studies occur in the evening as it is cooler and most children work with their parents~much better for a stable family as well as sunlight health benefits…but I digress). Also significant is the techniques of segregation that are used on students (sometimes out of necessity of large class sizes) and classroom management. Classroom learning also teaches future citizens how to follow the leader and seek information from the authority instead of seeking it themselves.
So, all of this training occurs in public education with or without the teachers consent, a bit of it might be curbed but it is mostly ubiquitous. In terms of training, public education is fractured as well. Take a tyrannical model of education that we have (Prussian based see above) and then add hippie influence about learning for the purpose of self fulfillment. (More on this topic if you watch the 4 part bbc documentary called “The Century of the Self”) and there we have it. There are obvious conflicts between the two ideologies but generally speaking the idea seems to be that the student seek self fullfilment but only through the specific processes and rigorous regulations that we allow. Though particular teachers enjoy entrepeneurial skills the system of education often does not support or foster them. Grades are not assigned based on Jenny organizing the team (not after elementary grades at least).
I do not quite know where to stop as I can speak on this topic at length.
Final notes though.
-I’ve already seen articles in magazines teaching employers how to manage these new employees coming from families with 1 or 2 children instead of baby boomers from 7. Bosses need to do more hand holding and less bossing. The product is changing. There will always be a large percent of students acquiring employment after High School, but any employment numbers do not tell the story. The real numbers of interest might be GDP except those are subject to many variables far beyond the scope of this topic, and any numerical changes in productivity are only measurable some 5-10 years after any changes are made.
-If you found any of this interesting and wish to speak further on it, look me up and we’ll go for tea sometime as this topic is of particular interest to me.