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Friday, December 30, 2011

Utter Failure of Original Intent « Cooperative Catalyst

Utter Failure of Original Intent « Cooperative Catalyst:

Utter Failure of Original Intent

Please don’t think this unfair, but our schools do not know how to adapt to the ever-changing needs of learners. Sure, some teachers are exceptionally dedicated. And, yes, schools continue, in a round about way, to meet their basic intent. Basic intent? What is that? Ask Catherine the Great. Science, English, math, social studies, and foreign languages form the basis of a national system designed expressly to produce — are you tired of hearing it yet? — good soldiers who follow orders, good factory assembly-line workers who gladly perform repetitive, mundane tasks, and good citizens who compliantly pay their taxes and never (ok, almost never) question authority. The implication, of course, is that anyone not living within these boundaries is somehow bad.

To what end? We have morphed into a one-size-fits-all world of schooling, strongly focused on teaching rather