The problem of education is a very difficult one for the philosopher. It is clear neither what the goal of education is nor how this goal is to be achieved with optimal efficiency. The former component is ethical: what should education promote? The latter component is scientific: given that we know the outcome which we desire, which educational philosophy will most efficiently promote these desirable qualities in children? In any case, most people agree that the purpose of education is to promote prosperous individuals and a prosperous society...although, they differ as the interpretation of "prosperous" and they disagree on which methods will produce which types of goals. Both of these questions are admittedly very difficult and indeed well beyond the scope of contemporary human wisdom. In American public schools, these problems have not been resolved, but have been given a patch job. The herd pressures parents to enroll their children in kindergarten. If the child is not bullied or mistreated, the parents will be happy and will encourage the child to study and make friends. If the child is mistreated in the eyes of the parents, then the parents will challenge the school, and if the school cannot successfully pull a cover up, there will be a scandal. From about the 6th grade on, the competitiveness of the herd begins forcing the child to either study hard or to not worry about the future. Most children do the necessary busy work and wait until college and then until their career. I do not know what they are waiting for exactly. In Europe, an essentially similar model is used, with only minor modifications to the curriculum and some slight differences in policy. I might even say that Europe has a higher pressure for studiousness and a greater workload of "busy work", and that lazy, indifferent, and rebellious students are scolded and reprobated until they comply with even greater vigor than is done in America. In the middle East, Islam plays a dominant role in education, along with the pressure from the herd to be virtuous according to the religious bias/dialect of that particular geographical area. In the far East there is somewhat of a separation of state and religion, although there are many exceptions to this. In Japan, professors and teachers are dismissed if they speak or write scientific works which contradict the great Japanese faiths, Shintoism and Buddhism. In spite of this intolerance, in Japan there is little emphasis placed upon religion in schooling, and a secular higher education is becoming increasingly compulsory, just as American students are facing increasing pressure to attend college. In China, there is a great pressure to succeed in primary and junior school, though high school and higher education are less common and less conventional than in Japan and America. No doubt, a large part of the Chinese workforce remains preoccupied with labor. Of course I have overlooked most of the history of the West and the East, and I have completely neglected Africa, as well as South America and indigenous peoples around the equator. In spite of this ignorance, I can still take my analysis one step further. It would seem to me that no one has a complete solution to the problem of education. This vital and perennial controversy, like the controversy between socialism and capitalism, or between Muslims and Christians, is not one which can be resolved by strict agreement with either side, but is one which can only be resolved through various degrees of compromise and adjustment. I was just wondering if anyone here had thoughts to share on this difficult subject matter which continues to trouble humanity. If you want to read a few thinkers who have thought long and hard about this problem, I can easily refer you to their work and their websites. Peace, and thanks for reading.
From what I could make out, the main problem you have with education is that the herd exerts far too much pressure on the students. It just seems to me that your position is slightly vague. I don`t know anything about education, but I would appreciate that information you mentioned.
Well I think the solution they have proposed, to subject students to the will of the herd, is not a wise solution. I believe they are not honesty admitting what qualities they wish to promote in their students, and they are not sure how to promote these qualities. In all parts of the world, there seems to be a slight confusion as to what end products we desire from education, and there is also a widespread confusion with regard to what kind of results are produced by various known educational methodologies when applied to student bodies of a typical demographic and typical size.
"Education And Discipline" by Bertrand Russell 20th WCP: Bertrand Russell on Critical Thinking John Dewey’s Theories of Education
thanks for the clarification and the reading. All these are only my opinions, (on secondary school), which I am still finishing - failed too much shit. Well I would say...learning lol the desire to become more knowledgable about the world. Not everybody is the type who actively seeks out new knowledge, but I think public education would be the most useful if it simply taught every person to consider new information fairly objectively. Simply the ability to abandon old and biased belief systems. This would be such an asset to human society... Also, of course, the rudiments of math, language, culture, history, etc. You are right about herd pressure. It`s like education is mass-producing automatons. Sure, this works. But people aren`t machines. We learn better, work better, if we understand what and why, and we believe in what we are doing. The solution, I suppose, would be to have teachers who adapt to the requirements of their students (and their particular strengths), and a very general rubric, which allows the teacher to decide how to present the material. The problem, i think, is the bureaucracy. Every person in the system is just a number. This is not how education should be. Teachers need support and the freedom to do their best, according to their particular abilities. More than that, everybody is apathetic. The system smothers creativity and enjoyment. Students are not allowed to excel because they do not fit into the model of a student. Which is really stupid, because in a land of so much freedom we are apparently required to fit into a mold to get anywhere. It`s impossible to get kids to excel, because they have to enjoy what they are doing, and that would only happen if they were robots anyway. Exactly. They decided I was a problem kid, and now they just want me out of their school. Nobody wants you to succeed, nobody tries to get through to you. Nobody tells you what you need to know, or what will help. School is mostly pointless anyway, it`s just something to do until you get a job, when you learn the actual things you need to know.