Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Fucked'ucation!

I had to sit through the horror that is NCEA. To make it worse, my generation was the first to try NCEA. That was 5th form 2002. Now having gone through a couple tertiary training institutes, i haven't seen it get any better. I fear for the generations going through high school now and wonder what bullshit they are still repeating to teach, not to mention the added ideals of a technological world hell bent on consumerism. I feel that the negatives of our current education system -- and not just ours, the worlds aswell-- outweighs the positives. I believe there will be an upheaval of current ideas and institutes in the not to distant future if this keeps up. Creativity must be taught and nurtured just as importantly as math and language. Our current systems of education teach in a industry complex way, they train us as workers. They lead us to an idea of a "career" and I believe the idea of "career" must be either totally reexamined or destroyed. I dono how many times I've come across people telling me that my dreams were not real careers just on the basis that is was an arts medium. Not that i wanted a career i just wanted to do what ever i wanted to do. The whole concept of society and modern culture is gradually devolving ; and with the oncoming elections,
I see no progression of economy, no progression of culture, art or ethics. Just the same old stale shit. "If everyone is thinking alike, no one is thinking"

Sir Ken Robinson makes an entertaining and profoundly moving case for creating an education system that nurtures (rather than undermines) creativity. He challenges the way we're educating our children. He champions a radical rethink of our school systems, to cultivate creativity and acknowledge multiple types of intelligence.



Why don't we get the best out of people? Sir Ken Robinson argues that it's because we've been educated to become good workers, rather than creative thinkers. Students with restless minds and bodies -- far from being cultivated for their energy and curiosity -- are ignored or even stigmatized, with terrible consequences. "We are educating people out of their creativity,"

3 comments:

Cat Ruka said...

Go to google scholar and read stuff by Elliot Eisner. He is an arts-based educator who talks about how each human has their own unique sense-making process and mode of being-in-the-world, and therefore education systems should encourage students to conceptualize their ideas freely through the medium that is most suited to them. Also check out "Liberatory Pedagogies" and "Pedagogy of Freedom" by Paulo Freire ( who was revolutionary in South America ), and "The Multiple Intelligences" by Howard Gardner.
xo

Alchemonaught said...

on the topic of Liberatory Pedagogies. "An act of violence is any situation in which some humans prevent others from the process of inquiry..any attempt to prevent human freedom is an act of violence.' Any system which deliberately tries to discourage critical consciousness is guilty of oppressive violence. Any school which does not foster students' capacity for critical inquiry is guilty of violent oppression. (Freire, P.1970. Pedagogy of the Oppressed. p.74)

Dang looks like there will be a few people behind bars soon!

"The goal is self-actualization or 'humanization'." Would be awesome if parties and governments made policies like that.

coco said...

What I love about this, is that it's similar to any fundamental social problem. Teachers, on the front-line, subject to restrictions as much as the kids, take the heat instead of the out-dated, destructive system that dicatates what both teacher and student must do. Education dont need a face-lift it needs a fucking heart-transplant.

There are of course teachers who would have made better pen-pushers or mental torcherers - I've had a few in my time and they almost cost me my 'unique perspective' by cheesily branding me a rebel for my critical enquiry. They almost had me fooled until I became an adult and worked out I have a far-reaching energy for the world that they simply weren't able to compute. Thus they condemned it... pretty sad now I look back but equipped me for the world I guess.

I know alot of up and coming educaters who are desperate to break the mould too.... I just hope the system starts to crack specatacularly for a revolution of sorts to blossom within our education system. It better happen soon.

As one youtuber wrote on Sir Ken's thoughts:

"I observe teachers be mentors all day, with crowded classrooms and class plans dictated by state test outcomes. Most of them want to teach so badly, but until we change the "make them accoutable by testing the kids" idea, we will never give teachers the freedom to run their own classrooms".