The true purpose of education
Thursday, April 30, 2020 at 03:11PM
Our education system’s mission is not really about preparing grads for a vocation, cultivating well-rounded personalities, or helping individuals gain some sort of self-fulfillment. That's the cover story. The primary mission of education is to prevent - or at least slow - cultural change, thereby keeping society stable - keeping those in power, in power.
When my high-school-honors-student daughter returned from her first semester at the University of Minnesota, she complained that her classes lacked relevance to her intended vocational goals. Well, in so many words anyway. (I think she actually said "Why do I have to take all this crap?") While the U would probably say those "core" courses are there to make sure a student is well-rounded and culturally literate, I suggested to Carrie that this is simply society using education as a means of slowing cultural change by only allowing students who are willing to conform and delay gratification to gain positions of responsibility in society. "You play by our rules and jump through our hoops or you don't play at all." And it works very nicely. thank you.
I suggested to both my kids that they weigh the advantages and disadvantages of abiding by education's social contract. Play nice and you get a degree and you are qualified for entry level positions of a professional nature. "Yes, you may now be an accountant, a dentist, a teacher, a social worker, etc." In exchange for one's time and independence and obedience, one gets a large degree of safety and security. It's the deal most of us strike and it's not really a bad one.
Or don't follow the rules, quit or get kicked out of school, and get an early start inventing your own product/service/scheme or business. Or a 9-5 work job that pays the bills and pursue your passion outside of work - fishing or thieving or sculpting or smoking pot or complaining about the rest of society while living in your parents basement. It's the deal that seems to work either really, really well or very, very badly. Bill Gates and the guy with his life in a shopping cart down by the Salvation Army both took a non-academic route.
Graduating from school depends far more on a student's EQ than IQ, if EQ is the ability to conform to societal norms. And how much of EQ is knowing when to simply shut up, go with the flow, and keep on keeping on? Cramming for AP tests even knowing it's a waste of time in the grand scheme. I believe the current term du jour is "grit."
And I've been thinking about that.
I've always thought the statement "All children can learn" to be simplistic and obvious. All children DO learn by nature since learning is a means to empowerment and it's human nature to want to become more powerful. Now they may not learn what we want to teach or in ways we like to teach, but all humans do learn.
"All children will learn" sounds rather threatening to my ears. (Say it with a German accent and imagine a military officer with riding crop and monocle saying it.) It's also pretty easy to turn the statement snarky by adding "to avoid punishment. Or "to find school irrelevant." Or "to cheat on homework." You get the idea.
How about a more aspirational statement if one feels such a thing is needed for professional motivation? My vote goes to something like "All children will love to learn." That's a statement I can get behind.
Reader Comments (3)
SPOT ON. This articulates my thoughts about formal schooling. This description ALSO describes much of my time for masters degrees and my doctoral degree studies, where too often I was conscious of jumping through hoops in exchange for the credential.
Your phrasing makes the situation sound more hopeful than I have previously pondered: You make it a clear quid pro quo where one can consciously decide to make that exchange IF the credentials are worth it.
Education today is NOT about producing creative thinkers or problem solvers. Tony Wagner offers the vision, but our schools are just not "getting it."
Thanks, Janie, for your comment. I really appreciate since I was worried my post sounded too cynical. But then what did Lily Tomlin say? "You're never cynical enough to keep up!"
I have the same concern about creativity in schools. Why I wrote the book on creativity that I did. Not sure it made even a dent, but there you are.
Thanks again! Hope you surviving the pandemic.
Doug
Or perhaps even... "All children love to learn."
From the moment they are born, before they become a part of the system.
I remember the look of shock on the teachers face when I told her I’d taught my child to question everything, even authority.
I really enjoyed reading this article thank you.