Public education (in the west) was created in the 1800s for a very specific purpose. We Americans would like to believe it's for our benefit but that's absolutely not true. The French philosopher Louis Althusser explains public education as an ideological state apparatus (ISA). This means that school is not designed to teach you useful information (like critical thinking and problem solving skills). It's designed to perpetuate capitalist values, like: getting to work on time, sitting still, following the rules, respecting authority. We're just training each new generation to accept the status quo rather than interrogate its premises. We're creating a generation of dummies, our education is based on making sheep that will work 9-5 jobs, its not meant to make intelligent people. Its history is rooted in racism and in making profit. One of the founders of the general education board, Rockefeller, even has a famous quote "I don't want a nation of thinkers. I want a nation of workers."
"The US would be NOTHING without the H1-B. Without the H1-B the scientific establishment in this country would collapse. There would be no Google, no Silicon Valley, without the H1-B. 50% of all PhD candidates are foreign-born". Even the moon landing was a German import. Why are they leaving their homes to come to the US? Because the US is so DUMB that its super easy for a foreigner to come in and dominate in their field. We bring intelligent people from all over the world to make the US look better. Its a pretty Machiavellian tactic, we have others do the work, then take credit for their work.
(1900 Horace Mann School Photograph, Clyde Arbuckle Photograph Collection)
The US public education was
particularly designed to continue oppressing poor people (and later women and POC) so that they don't revolt against the rich. Rich people, go to private schools. So the separation and alienation of rich and poor just becomes more prominent.
In Finland it is not permitted to charge fees for mainstream education - and only 2% of its schools are run by non-governmental bodies. This means that the rich people are forced to put their money into the public education system to ensure that their kid gets a good education and thus helping to ensure that the poorer kids also get a good education. Not only that, it exposes rich and poor kids to each other (something that doesn't really happen in the US). When rich and poor are separated at the start, it sets us up to be segregated for life.
(This is where I will insert my article about Rich Vs. Poor in America whenever I write it lol)
This is why people are so shocked when they get to college and are exposed for the first time to a whole world (and history) that they never knew even existed. This is where the "colleges turn people liberal" thing comes from when actually its the first time people are free from the ISA.
Isaac Asimov, based on his body of work is generally considered to be one of the most prolific writers of all time, has a now famous quote. "There is a cult of ignorance in the United States, and there has always been. The strain of anti-intellectualism has been a constant thread winding it's way through our political and cultural life, nurtured by the false notion that democracy means that "my ignorance is just as good as your knowledge." Or more recently "my opinion is just as good as your facts"
The concept of Democracy has been co opted in that everyone gets a vote so everyones voice matters. And whether my vote comes from a place of ignorance should be JUST as worthy as yours that comes from a place of knowledge. It's how we got the death of expertise, of science, of observable fact, a productive debate. It's saying that "What I read on the internet holds the same weight as your degree in the same subject." Where do we go from there? Its how we got anti-vaxxers and the resurgence of smallpox. It is CLEARLY, not working, an unfortunately the people who are the problem won't listen to this.
A Clown once said, "I love the uneducated" and the crowd cheered. Its easer to control people who don't understand. According to ancient philosopher Socrates in his opposition of democracy, voting in an election is a skill, not a random intuition. And like any skill, it needs to be taught systematically to people. Your opinion is NOT as good as someones expertise in a subject and it's super dangerous to have people with ZERO knowledge on specific issues vote in elections on issues that they blatantly misinterpret or have zero understanding of. The US's founding fathers KNEW this and detested democracies. To them, democracy equals mob rule. That's why the US is NOT a democracy and rather a representative republic.
Hard pivot, I think it's also important to talk about how teachers aren't being paid enough and that tenure in the United States is a huge issue. The tenure program ensures that bad teachers get to keep their jobs. Everyone knows what having a bad teacher is like AND the impact it has on your life when you get a good one. American society is changing, and the way you act and what is appropriate around kids is changing. Teachers who have been teaching the same way for 40 years isn't gonna work anymore. (Im looking at you teacher I had back in high school).
I don't know about yall but I know of two male teachers that taught at schools I attended that got fired for child porn on their work computers. Also Ladies, I'm sure some of you probably had some male teachers that were creepy and a little too touchy because I know I certainly did. Maybe thats a side affect of growing up in the patriarchy where women and girls are viewed as objects but it shouldn't be.
There are a lot of reports from women who have gone to complain about their creepy ass teachers but their complaints were dismissed because "he's been here a long time," etc. Which is even more of a reason to stop this behavior?? This can digress into a whole conversation about how men and women are held to different standards but thats a whole other article and it's comin believe me. But I do wanna talk about how dress codes are inherently sexist. There's this great picture I've seen floating around the internet that really sums it up well, Ill put it here.
It reads, "When you interrupt a girl's school day to force her to change clothes, or send her home because her bra straps are visible. You are telling her that making sure boys have a "distraction free" learning environment is more important than her education. Instead of shaming girls for their bodies, teach boys that girls are not sexual objects."
Also just sayin dress codes aren't enforced in college and yet boys can still do homework? How does that work?
Hard pivot again, in America we treat school like a business rather than as a tool to build up society. It's all, "we gotta get the kids through school, get good grades, do well on standardized tests so we get more funding." And it's not really about the student and their experience, or helping them to grow. Its all about the school getting good numbers so they can get more funding.
Teachers are under paid and class sizes keep getting bigger. Not only that, they have to do sooo many standardized tests, so frequently, they barely have time to actually teach. Their role in kids lives has also changed so much. These days they're not only in charge of teaching, they're a counselor, a security guard, a parental figure. They are not trained to be all those things and they certainly aren't paid enough to be expected to do them. So many irresponsible parents use school as a free daycare and don't even care about their kids. Is it the teachers responsibility to make sure that that kid is loved and doesn't feel abandoned? That's kind of what it's turned into unfortunately. School isn't supposed to be a daycare for lazy and inept parents. Yet with educational funding being cut even more year after year along with increased costs, these issues are even further from being solved let alone even managed.
The US education system needs a massive overhaul. At this point we might as well just start over because it really has gotten that bad. This can start with voting for candidates that place a higher value on education.
Eudcationvotes.nea.org is an excellent resource for learning about political candidates views on education and who is running in your state.
Kids need recess, they need longer lunches, they need free play, family time, meal time. They need less homework, fewer tests and a greater emphasis on social learning.
I don't really know to end this tbh. Fucking VOTE for politicians who give a fuck about your kids
education. Read shit, educate them, and educate yourself. That's all I gotta say man, maybe I'll come back and add more to this article when I learn more but here it is.
If you learned something from this article and wanna learn some more I recommend reading
THIS (
We have ruined Childhood) article by the NY Times. Its got some good shit. Okay thats all from me 👋🏼 bye
Isaac Asimov - Source: biography.com
Side note: Don't even get me STARTED on the GOD AWFUL No Child Left Behind Act and THANK GOD it's no longer in effect. That shit was disastrous. Okay thats all bye 👋🏼
Alliance for Excellent Education. (2007) High School Teaching for the Twenty-First Century: Preparing Students for College. Alliance for Excellent Education.
https://all4ed.org/reports-factsheets/high-school-teaching-for-the-twenty-first-century-preparing-students-for-college/
Brooks, Kim. (2019) We have ruined childhood. NY Times.
Jones, Josh. (2016). Michio Kaku on Why Immigrants Are America’s Secret Weapon: They Compensate for Our Mediocre STEM Education & Keep Prosperity Going. openculture.com.
Mann, Horace. (1900)
The Ground of the Free School System. Library of Congress.
archive.org.
Purcell, Kristen, Alan Heapes, Judy Buchanan, Linda Friedrich,. (2013)
How Teachers Are Using Technology at home and in Their Classrooms, Education Superhighway.
https://eric.ed.gov/?id=ED559731
Richardson, Randy. (2018) Iowa's Collective Bargaining Law One Year Later, Bleading Heartland.