The gigantic horrible lie about education

[u-Bob]

http://www.perrymarshall.com/gigantic-horrible-lie/

In public education there's an idea that there are certain things everyone is supposed to know in Kindergarten. Then there's some other things all the kids are supposed to learn in first grade and some more things in 2nd grade and so on.

Then when you finally graduate from high school, you know all the stuff you're "supposed to know."

How's that plan been working for you, anyway?

What capability does a high school kid possess on the day he crosses the stage with his diploma at his graduation ceremony?

Generally, he possesses the ability to get a $7 per hour job at Wal-Mart or TGI Friday's.

Wow. What a milestone that is, after 13 years of academic achievement. Really inspires you to do what the principal was droning about at the graduation ceremony ? strive to be a student for the rest of your life.

No wonder most people spend the next 40 years of their colorless existence watching re-runs of 3rd Rock from the Sun.

OK, so here's the problem with the "this is the list of things everybody should know" theory:

It turns living, breathing, unique human beings into commoditized, dehumanized hunks of flesh. 140 pounds of human capital. Where your highest aspiration is to get a few more right answers on the test than everyone else in the class. Where everyone knows how to do all the same things and compete with 100 other people for the same dumb job.

If the very thought of that makes you want to run out of the room screaming, good. It's a sign the beast hasn't gouged every last ounce of self-respect out of your soul.

Rage against the machine.

When you watched Morpheus offer Neo the red pill and the blue pill and Neo took the red pill, you said to yourself, he's right baby, you better believe he's right. I know, cuz I took the red pill myself, and yessiree Bob, the rabbit hole goes deep?.

Imagine, incubating your children in a dark cavernous mindfarm where their curiosity and ambition are snuffed out for the purpose of nourishing some bulbous impersonal machine.

Most people, after 13 to 17 years in the educational meat grinder, are firmly convinced that 5% of their class is an elite group that's superior to everyone else, and the rest of us are doomed to fight over the scraps. Life on the wrong side of the 80/20 tracks. That's Just The Way It Is, mourns the Bruce Hornsby song.

I don't look at it that way. It's a lie.

This is how it really is:

If you apply ANY test to ANY group of people, it's gonna shake down to 80/20. Doesn't matter if it's history or math or Pokemon or soccer or belly dancing or model trains, 20% of the people have 80% of the capability.

But the top girl in math is rarely the top girl in belly dancing and the top soccer player is rarely the #1 guy in Pokemon.

When people are empowered to pursue their own uniqueness, almost all of them are a genius at something.

So the most important thing your kid can know is: He has the potential to be a genius at something. He needs to believe he's got something special inside.

....

[NewbieNudes]

School blows.

[96ukssob]

its not what you learn, its how you use it.

i know people who have their masters degrees but still work in the food industry or at the mall. likewise, i know high school dropouts that are more successful than most college grads

[slapass]

So he is confused that graduating high school didn't qualify him to do brain surgery??? I do not understand the outrage...

[Linguist]

Clever linkbait. But the dude has a point.

[kane]

I personally don't see a whole lot wrong with some standardized tests. I don't think it is wrong to say, "An 8th grade student should have this level of knowledge in math, science, reading, writing etc and be able to preform it at a certain level." To me this is just a base for education. Beyond that it is up to individuals to decide for themselves what their passions are and if they want to pursue them.

The funny thing is for every person who says that the school system should be nurturing individuality and helping people discover their own lives there is someone that says doing that is just preparing the kids to fail. The reality is this: most people will not be famous. Most people will never be pro athletes, singers, actors, writers, artists etc. Maybe 2% of any school class might achieve that. Everyone else just won't. It has some to do with talent, some to do with drive and a lot to do with luck and perseverance. Most people will end up working a 40 hour a week job and with any luck it will be a job that they like or at least don't hate.

Society is like a colony of bees. Most people end up being worker bees. That is just how it is. It is up to the individual bee to change his path. It is not up to society to urge him that direction.

[shwsrvcs]

The world needs ditch diggers too!

Most the whole world is asleep. Everybody you know. Everybody you see. Everybody you talk to. Only a few people are awake and they live in a state of constant total amazement.

Random quote #36 goes here...

I live by these tho:

Just find out who you are and be that.

I try to go home each day knowing that I did the best job I could do no matter what it is I was doing.

School didn't teach me any of that. It doesn't teach self worth or work ethic, school only requires rote knowledge and regurgitation of statistics and fact that others have deemed an importance to building drones for it's particular society.

DG

[The Heron]

I learned I can pass any standardized bubble test with minimal effort and C students get same job as A students once they get the diploma. So I learned to how to have fun and enjoy life let other turds study and worry. Look at em now, shit jobs they hate and wish they could go back and do it over. I laugh cause I had fun and now I have more fun.
I win.

[fatfoo]

Think about this:

Sure, employment is a option. But, school also teaches about business, so a student can open his/her business. The possibilities are endless here.

Gym class - sports business
Art class - art business
Computer class - computer business
Health class - fucking business?

[D Ghost]

true that....

Well yeah no body is separated until after high school graduation. And you have to PAY for it in dollars. College.