Questions:
1) What alternatives exist to institutionalized learning? What alternatives could/should exist in the future?
2) Who decides what students learn, and for how long/how frequently they must attend school? Why don't parents get to decide all of this, if they are the ones with custody of their children?
3) Why does the United States rank so poorly in education, in comparison with it's financial status? If schools are supposed to give us the tools to change the world, why is more money being spent on war and weapons? I remember learning about the arms race, but not the education race...
Ideas:
1) School is a primer to being a "good" American worker, but not a leader or a revolutionary.
2) Homework is a way to build up work stamina. It gets the student used to working long hours, and thinking about their assignments even during hours when they are not present in the institution. This directly translates to the work skill of being productive during long work hours, and using time outside the job to think about or even work on the job, getting the employer the most bang for their buck.
3) People bitch too much about school. Yea, this whole post is bitching, but I think under it all, school was started with good intentions; to make sure that an entire population understands concepts in the same general areas, so that there is a basic mutual understanding. Kind of like the need for national languages. Granted, it became a lot more complicated and corrupted than that, but the initial idea was not an evil one.
Experiences:
1) I was a straight A student up until the 10th grade. If you want to know "what happened?", it's several factors that played into it. But I don't regret anything, I actually believe that as a result of my experiences I now have the guts to put in order the kind of life I want. I found my own personal goals, and I know what is and is not important to me.
2) My dad never got past elementary school, and my mom graduated at the top of her class in Colombia University.
3) Teachers have so much to learn from their students, but they rarely do. Teachers often enjoy going on some kind of power trip, where their sole goal is to prove that they are less insignificant than you the student. They kind of get this crazed drive, and look hungry for that validation. Which is weird, because honestly just like how teachers tell unmotivated students to find another place to hang out, these teachers should find another place to release their physiological traumas/ personal inferiority complexes.
Part B:
I wanted to continue writing about idea 1: "School is a primer to being a "good" American worker, but not a leader or a revolutionary."
Ali Jo asked in class today why is it that children attend school so young, and she suggested it's to keep them from rebelling against the system, and forming organized resistance. I agree with that completely, and that school is set up so that all students become used to linear power structures.
Then the few who are both exceptionally obedient, and exceptionally bright are the only ones who can really excel, and become "somebodies" in society. At that point, they are an asset to corporate America, because they have the mind that can be used, and the submissiveness to do all work without resistance.
If one is not bright, but is obedient, they will probably get a working class job, because their unresistive nature combined with lack of deeper thinking skills will guarantee their employers a life long worker; therefore they are also an asset to corporate America.
If one is however just bright, but not obedient, their success in society becomes a gamble, because even though their mind is an asset to corporate America, their willingness to resist is something to be wary of. These people can even be considered a threat to the capitalist society...."dangerous" because they might spread their thoughts to others and cause some type of movement, or at least disturbance. So these people can either become big somebodies or big nobodies.
And lastly if one is neither bright or obedient, they are a "deviant" and usually end up in poverty due to the lack of jobs available to them. This can be frustrating, and it's no wonder many turn to drugs or violence as an outlet.
All this suggests that in order to produce assets to the work force, one must either be obedient-bright or obedient-not so bright. Maybe this is why our school systems often seem to leave intelligence out of the equation; of course it is an added benefit, but if it is not there, there is no need to develop it. As long as obedience is instilled, the student can become a sucesfull member of capitalist society. Maybe this is also why school doesn't seem to actually prepare students to "change the world"...because that's not the goal at all, the signle most important skill that can be aquired is obidence. Probably followed up by work stamina, conditioned by homework (see ideas).
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