Schools do not tolerate diversity
This reference is used to annotate "I would never send my kids to school" (2017) by Piotr Wozniak
Social diversity is precious for a dozen of reasons. The school system is aimed at spawning uniformity. An old myth says that uniform societies are more harmonious. This myth lead to many totalitarian ideologies (incl. fascisms). For more see: Value of diversity
I believe [...] that we make very poor use of our talents. Very many people go through their whole lives having no real sense of what their talents may be, or if they have any to speak of. I meet all kinds of people who don't think they're really good at anything
The big issue is conformity. We have built our education systems on the model of fast food. This is something Jamie Oliver talked about the other day. There are two models of quality assurance in catering. One is fast food, where everything is standardized. The other is like Zagat and Michelin restaurants, where everything is not standardized, they're customized to local circumstances. And we have sold ourselves into a fast-food model of education, and it's impoverishing our spirit and our energies as much as fast food is depleting our physical bodies
We have to go from what is an industrial model of education, a manufacturing model, which is based on linearity and conformity and batching people. We have to move to a model that is based more on principles of agriculture. We have to recognize that human flourishing is not a mechanical process; it's an organic process. And you cannot predict the outcome of human development. All you can do, like a farmer, is create the conditions under which they will begin to flourish
The great problem for reform or transformation is the tyranny of common sense
Quoted excerpts come from the following reference:
Author: Sir Ken Robinson
Title: Bring on the learning revolution!
Link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r9LelXa3U_I
Transcript: http://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_bring_on_the_revolution/transcript?language=en
Backlink: Pleasure of learning