If you were to walk up to each person you met on the street and
ask them what they think about the public school system, almost
everyone would have a response. Since the majority of us have passed
through it, we feel confident in our opinions about it. Myself included.
For many years, I felt as if the public schools I had attended
worked in such an inefficient manner that they had stunted my academic
growth. Looking back, I’m not sure if it was the rules and regulations,
the lack of exciting content, the seeming lack of relevance, or
all the busy work that made me a victim of the public school system.
Then again, maybe it was my desk surfing in eighth grade English—the
last year to study grammar—that left my writing incomprehensible
during my first years in college. Maybe it was the rushing through
every assignment in history so that I could go out with friends
or watch TV that dulled my critical thinking abilities. Maybe it
was the fact that I already knew everything worth knowing that fueled
my complete lack of interest in math and science.
Ultimately, no matter how many theories about education are rattled
off, no matter how much legislation is passed, no matter how many
charter schools are established, if a child doesn’t have the desire
to learn, education will not be meaningful.
What in popular culture infuses any value in education? You have
your “family values” crap, but that’s as practical as Nancy Reagan’s
“Just Say No” campaign. I even think my parents, now in their 70s,
had a good laugh about that whole thing. You also have the rush
to learn about your cultural roots; although that’s deep and meaningful,
how many kids do you see going out of their way to study such history?
I suppose you could look to colleges and universities and point
out all those kids who’ve grown up and now are eager to learn. But
most of our colleges and universities are no more than trade schools.
Few students take a liberal education seriously; those courses outside
a typical student’s major are just a passing annoyance.
Education doesn’t mean anything. Don’t get me wrong: We can say
the word “education” and get that special feeling inside, like we’re
chanting some sacred incantation. We can also use the educational
system to get a job, or use prestigious universities as resume fluff:
“Hey, look at me, I attended Yale.”
In this manner, education is nothing more than a disposable product.
This may seem outrageously idealistic, but I was under the impression
that the meaning of education fell somewhere near enlightenment.
I’m not talking spiritually. I’m talking in terms of knowledge that
goes beyond the mere storage and repetition of mundane information,
or workshop lingo that alienates everyone outside your workplace
or vocation.
I’m talking about the difference between treating education like
a dear loved one, and treating it like a cheap one-night stand.
The prevailing attitude in our mainstream culture is the latter.
Although we can get so worked up about funding, class size, and
pedagogical methods, what does any of this mean if we do not infuse
education with human value?
Education should be about encouraging the importance of learning
in concert with knowing. The emphasis on knowing something is overrated
and serves to further the degradation of learning in our society.
It’s the same emphasis that encourages “knowing everything you need
to know” by the eighth grade. This prevailing attitude will never
value education past its practical function as a disposable package
to be tossed into the trash once its contents have been consumed.
With such an approach, it is next to impossible to spark the desire
to learn.
