H4ck3d by Keravnos

Education more than academics & economy

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Cleisthenis

Posted: Nov 23 2004, 06:05 PM

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From:
http://www.expressnews.ualberta.ca/express...ion=Feature&s=m

QUOTE

Harkening back to the Socratic period in ancient Athens, when philosophers would dialogue publicly in the polis, a diverse audience took shelter from the wind and cold in Nina’s Restaurant on Nov. 6 for the first Philosophers’ Café of the 2004 season on the topic Education: What is it? What should it be? Who cares?

...

Touching on what the functions of educational institutions are, Kachur said, school systems "are social systems as well as learning systems – you’re learning a kind of culture, economics, politics… you’re learning a kind of power.” He argued that schools are also about assimilating people into a dominant culture, as in the Canadian multicultural model which, he argued, can be viewed as a “sneaky form of assimilation.”

His message was clear – schools instil more than academic content. He linked their functions with the consumption and repetition of culture as a whole. Education offers us “individualization…of the soul, the subject, the self as a product of community development,” he said.

This post has been edited by jschroder on Nov 23 2004, 06:06 PM

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carnivalesque	Posted: Nov 28 2004, 10:18 PM
Sr. Reporter Group: Members Posts: 74 Member No.: 82 Joined: 5-November 04	Interesting piece. He touches a bit on assimilation, but I think a better word is "normalization." Grade schools (and perhaps post-sec as well) are highly normative environments, where deviants are rewarded with poor marks or poor social status (or they wind up getting more discipline than teaching). It's too bad: I wonder how many brilliant, creative minds got fooled into thinking, "This is all there is?" I would love to see a school system that offers a more proactive approach, where students are given the resources and guidance to conduct independent inquiry. As it stands, they are passive consumers of ideas and culture that should not by any means be taken at face value; that indeed may not have any instrinsic value. Critical thinking skills are far more valuable than trigonometry. And there's my value judgement for the day. C. -------------------- Dum Vivamus, Vivimus semaphora.ca

ghostorchid	Posted: Nov 29 2004, 01:48 AM
Director of Media Group: Moderators Posts: 136 Member No.: 6 Joined: 23-September 04	I thought now that i finally got into art school i'd be allowed to deviate but WOW was i wrong...

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