Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Why the United States is Destroying its Education System

Check out "Why the United States is Destroying its Education System" by Chris Hedges. Here's the beginning of his essay:

A nation that destroys its systems of education, degrades its public information, guts its public libraries and turns its airwaves into vehicles for cheap, mindless amusement becomes deaf, dumb and blind. It prizes test scores above critical thinking and literacy. It celebrates rote vocational training and the singular, amoral skill of making money. It churns out stunted human products, lacking the capacity and vocabulary to challenge the assumptions and structures of the corporate state. It funnels them into a caste system of drones and systems managers. It transforms a democratic state into a feudal system of corporate masters and serfs.

Teachers, their unions under attack, are becoming as replaceable as minimum-wage employees at Burger King. We spurn real teachers—those with the capacity to inspire children to think, those who help the young discover their gifts and potential—and replace them with instructors who teach to narrow, standardized tests. These instructors obey. They teach children to obey. And that is the point.

1 comment:

Patricia J. Esposito said...

God, I so agree. Everything is being run by the same business mindset, and I'm worried the young people coming in will just accept it. Everyone seems to think they need a business major of some sort, and marketers run publishing companies instead of English majors, and I know teachers who just want to teach their kids, but all day is spent trying to conform to test standards and meet on how to adapt curriculum to meet these rote standards. How do they get enthusiastic and teach the passion of learning? We absolutely need to change this.