Ponderings on Education

It's been a week since I've blogged about education and you may have wondered why. There is a reason and I'll try to explain it below.

A week ago I received an invitation to watch a 1 1/2 hour movie online about worldwide education.  I gladly did so without a moment's hesitation.  While I'm glad I watched the movie, its content made me question much of what I'd thought about education.  The basic premise was that education is designed to meet the needs of big business and government and is often detrimental to the newly educated, removing them from the heritage and culture that they knew.  Similar to the way Native Americans were treated in the U.S., students from around the world are removed from the influence of their local area, sometimes even from forces as powerful as their language, and indoctrinated into the beliefs and circumstances of corporations and governments. 

While this movie concentrated on the country of India, it talked of the way churches and philanthropic groups went to the rural most poor areas and established schools based on Christian teachings and the English language.  Education in these schools was designed to indoctrinate children so each came out identical, cookie cutter style.  This was presented as the way to improve oneself in an area where water, food, and housing is in very short supply.  Many of these students were encouraged to go on to further their lives in large metropolitan areas of India.  The idea of careers as teachers, lawyers, doctors and even direct sales held the lure of great wealth as presented.  Once they arrived in large cities, they found they couldn't keep up with the studies, they weren't familiar enough with the culture of the large cities to succeed, and they couldn't return home as they no longer had knowledge of the customs and culture of their home area so they could live there.  They became the lower class in the slums of the cities with only a very small percentage being able to thrive.

As the movie went on, it showed other cultures, including the indigenous people from our country in similar situations and I realized that it is a fact that we are increasingly preparing all students nearly the same cookie cutter fashion with the emphasis on corporate/governmental needs instead of individual student and community needs.  I needed to ponder on what this meant.

So, for a week I pondered.  I thought of the people of our country and the education  they got in my day and the education they get today.  I thought of the need for safety and how that means preparing for the community in which you live.  I remembered the summer this country family spent in New York City and how unprepared we were for many of the problems we encountered.  For instance, we did not know the safe areas of the city, did not properly safeguard our possessions, and were shocked when the university where we were staying called their lawyer before they called 911 when our son was injured.  I remember spending two weeks in Chile in a poor rural area (at least by U.S. standards) and yet seeing how extremely happy the people were and how grateful for minor kindnesses most were.

My conclusion is that like an earlier blog about needing nature, we also need stimulation from our own customs and situations.  It's all tied together, the need for self and it needs to recognized by the school.  It is a positive step to consult with business to provide education for the jobs that exist and will exist, but we cannot ignore the community and the nature that surrounds the community.  It's more than just jobs that people need.  It's a total happiness, joy in life and in their situation in life.  In each community the school needs to be a part of that community nurtured by the members of the community growing in ways respected by the community.  Local areas seem to know best those things that bring happiness yet the educators need to bring an accepting attitude and a willingness to combine nature, culture, and the knowledge needed to move forward in that community.

I'm ready to move on again.  Tomorrow I'm going to suggest some additional teachings we need to provide within our schools.