Saturday, February 2, 2008
A Quick Thought on Education in a Democracy
I was thinking for some reason about the role of public education in democracy. In a totalitarian state, whether fascist, communist, monarchy etc.., it is easy. The purpose is to indoctrinate the people for submission to the state. It seems a bit more complicate in democracy. Is the point to teach values that are representative of the people? Or is to educate students so as to facilitate them one day being thinking members of society who will help steer the public will for good? In the former, teachers are responsible to the desires of the taxpayer. In the latter, they are accountable to the truth (or their best percpetion of it). Although I tend towards the former, it seems that many Christians advocate the latter.
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2 comments:
I thought the purpose of public education was to generate plenty of good little capitalist worker bees, who can buzz around from flower to flower all there life, generating proverbial honey for the bee keepers.
After years of 'Christian Education', I relate strongly to your ideas of eduction under a totalitarian regime. Granted, my public education wasn't much different, the same Right Wing agenda sans religion.
I feel that we were (and are) indoctrinated not so much by what we are taught but rather what we are not taught. Students will always eventually disbelieve what they are taught, so withholding information is far more effective.
For example, High School lessons on the American Civil Rights movement are easily digestible with 'The Rev'd' Martin Luther King Jr's leadership based on Christian principals, yet little is examined of Black Nationalism and the violent state repression against groups like the Black Panthers.
American education always tries its very best to paint America as the 'good guy' in any situation, when it often is quite the opposite. This is accomplished through strategic ignorance of half of our history.
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