Breaking the Cycle of Cynical Manipulation
(Part 3 of a series; see Part 1 and Part 2)
"Presumably, one of the great general goals of education is the promotion of critical thinking. But despite all the lip service that educators devote to that goal, most students–including most 'honors students'–learn to avoid thinking critically about their schoolwork. They learn that their job in school is to get high marks on tests and that critical thinking only wastes time and interferes. To get a good grade, you need to figure out what the teacher wants you to say and then say it.... [T]ruth be told, the grading system, which is the chief motivator in our system of education, is a powerful force against honest debate and critical thinking in the classroom."
"Presumably, one of the great general goals of education is the promotion of critical thinking. But despite all the lip service that educators devote to that goal, most students–including most 'honors students'–learn to avoid thinking critically about their schoolwork. They learn that their job in school is to get high marks on tests and that critical thinking only wastes time and interferes. To get a good grade, you need to figure out what the teacher wants you to say and then say it.... [T]ruth be told, the grading system, which is the chief motivator in our system of education, is a powerful force against honest debate and critical thinking in the classroom."
- Peter Gray, Ph.D.
“Modern education and knowledge is mainly about how to better dominate nature. It is never about how to live harmoniously with nature. Living well is all about keeping good relations with Mother Earth and not living by domination or extraction.”
- Victoria Tauli Corpuz
"We are shut up in schools for ten or fifteen years, and come out at last with a bellyful of words and do not know a thing. We cannot use our hands, our legs, our eyes, or our arms. We do not know an edible root in the woods. We cannot tell our course by the stars, nor the hour of the day by the sun. It is well if we can swim and skate. We are afraid of a horse, a cow, a dog, a cat, a spider."
- Henry David Thoreau
These three quotes serve as a pretty apt summary of the failings of modern education. Dr. Gray refers to it as "forced education", in which we incarcerate young people in what amount to prisons. I would more broadly argue that we live in a society of "cynical manipulation" (which I have previously written on) composed of two stages: grade slavery as youth, wage slavery as adults.
It has become clear to me over the past several months that what is taught in our schools and colleges is characterized by a severe disconnect from reality. There is an extraordinary lack of practicality in education. Most of what we learn in school is completely peripheral to our actual needs as human beings. In essence, education has created a "culture of dependency". By not learning how to directly obtain our basic needs for survival (i.e. food, fuel, clothing and shelter) we are forced to rely on institutions that do not have our interests as their focus. How else can we explain why, in a world that has never before seen so much material wealth, there are billions who do not have enough to eat, do not have clothes on their backs, and do not have roofs over their heads?
The institutions that I refer to are, broadly speaking, business and government. Although both purport to be serving the public good ("efficient distribution of resources", "protection of the general welfare"), in practice neither does. Instead, they serve as vehicles to increase the already concentrated wealth and power of the elites of society. They are able to do so through their manipulation of the forces of political socialization: the media, religion, and education. I believe that most people would agree that the media is largely controlled by corporations, and that religion often has a self-serving agenda of its own. However, I doubt that people realize just how vital of a role education plays in centralizing power in modern society.
Some reflection reveals that our educational system isn't terribly different from that envisioned by Plato, in which he sought to establish a ruling class of "philosopher-kings". Indeed, modern education serves as much to separate the wheat from the chaff as anything else. Education, along with voting and the free market, give the illusion of a democratic society, with its role cited as being the "great equalizer". What is usually failed to be pointed out is that those who come out at the top of the education system are the ones who started high up the ladder in the first place. Criteria used for college admissions generally favor those who come from wealthy families and live in wealthy school districts. Who you're connected to is often more important than how intelligent you actually are.
Furthermore, what is taught (and how) is highly elitist. Most history courses, for example, focus on the "great men", the kings, generals, presidents and captains of industry who made our world what it is today. This approach fails to acknowledge the contributions made by the oppressed classes of people in driving society forward, such as women, minorities, and the poor. In other words, history is taught from the "top-down", not from the "bottom-up". This furthers the idea that the average citizen is relatively powerless, and fails to challenge the notion that citizens' only duties are to vote, pay taxes, and obey the law.
I would thus propose that any fix to our supposedly "broken" schools would be to change what is taught in the first place. Currently there is a big push to emphasize the STEM subjects in schools: Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. While they are undoubtedly important, putting them front and center is an unfortunate (though calculated) decision. All of these subjects are highly regimented, lacking the open-endedness and ambiguity that promotes independent critical thinking. In addition, it sends a message that "progress" is our ultimate goal, and that human suffering will end once we have bent nature far enough to our will. The consequences of this worldview, of course, are now the threats of global warming and climate change, nuclear annihilation, pandemic disease, and mass crop failures. All of these prospects have been caused by the so-called advances of human society.
A more appropriate education would instead focus on fostering genuine curiosity, creativity and critical thinking. Doing so would turn our young people into lifelong learners, who are able to direct their own education based on personal interest. Children in primary school should be exposed to art, music and theater, and encouraged to use play and interaction with the natural world as learning experiences. They should not be spending springtime sitting in classrooms preparing for and taking standardized tests.
Secondary school curricula would focus on more practical manners. Civics courses would educate young people on how they can participate in the democratic process, through a combination of bottom-up history lessons and directly exercising their own First Amendment rights. Courses in current events would be offered to allow them to engage critically in modern issues of foreign and domestic importance. Classes in personal economy would allow students to prepare for managing their own finances when they enter adulthood. Health classes would be improved and expanded, particularly in the fields of nutrition and sexual and mental health. Lastly, courses promoting sustainable practices, such as conservation and small-scale agriculture, would help prepare for the transformation in daily life that will be brought about by global warming and climate change. These would all be complemented by voluntary courses in literature, philosophy and the arts, for those who want to explore their creative passions.
Colleges and universities would have their status as vocational schools strengthened. It is here that the next generation of teachers, doctors, scientists, engineers and the like will receive their training. These schools would place much more emphasis on field-learning and much less on classroom pedantry. The main difference, however, would be that the students entering these schools would be much better critical thinkers and, frankly, better human beings. They would be less focused on advancing their own careers and making money, and more focused on using their education to better the society around them.
The most pressing change needed above all, however, is the abolition of grading systems. They serve only to encourage unhealthy competition and to fit every student neatly into one statistic. A more beneficial system would be similar to a narrative evaluation, which would promote introspection on the part of the student and free the teacher from having to place everyone on a bell curve.
Our current "one size fits all" education system serves only to further centralize power into the hands of the few. The changes suggested above are necessary if we are to achieve the Jeffersonian vision of a democratic America.