Essential Education

Hi Paul,

I responded to your earllier critique of Dewey but here is something I've found problematic in education, namely defining the 'essentials' or 'basics'. In the past the 4 Rs were emphasized: reading, riting, rithmetic and regurgitation. Today we still expect students to regurgitate even when the evidence indicates that most students remember almost nothing of the content of courses but more of their experiences with fellow students and teachers. My experience has been that the academically best students are seldom the most employable or most successful- not a recent trend. There is very little correlation between good grades and career success.

So for me you raise a very important point- what are the essentials? A few generations ago when most of our population was rural, our schools were organized around farming timetables and skills were those of that society.

Industrial society required regimentation not diurnal and seasonal rythmns. Today we are struggling with almost totally urbanized populations who communicate across the world but not with their neighbours. Are the essentials still the same? Under the patena of inclusiveness most people haven't got a clue about their new 'neighbours' around the world they see on the screen or communicate with. They can play online games with global 'friends' and in a second want to kill those fucking Chinese or Iranians. Technology does not improve communication it just makes it easier and anonymity makes criminals of misguided people.

I do believe we need to start de-schooling society which has promised us a leisure society where we are all princes and princesses, and focus more on what used to be amateurism where people did things for themselves. The flood of do-it yourself shows indicate a need for this but this is accompanied by the unreal 'reality shows.

The essentials are those things you need to know if you were a refugee. I learned from my mother how to repair my clothes, do basic cooking, gardening, milking...........how to survive if the power goes out- I was born on the road between Poland and Germany during the Nazi retreat. Today techmology is so pervasive in our infrastructure that most people experience hardships within days, certainly a week. The storms in New Orleans and now in New York illustrated to me how many people expect some 'system' to help them. If the bank machines don't work how can civilized society continue?

To answer the question of essentials in education we need to answer the question of the essentials of a society, and even more, what are the essentials of a good life.

Have fun with this topic,

walter