Ivan Illich
Ivan Illich (1926-2002) was a philosopher and a critic of modern industrialized society and its culture. His book "Deschooling Society" (1971) remains influential to this day, and the word deschooling became popular to mean eliminating the harmful influence of schooling on society. I believe that the end of compulsory schooling would easily accomplish the main goals outlined by Illich (see: Compulsory schooling must end).
Young Illich, as most of us, believed in the importance of schools. He took their good role for granted. As many people before and after, detailed analysis of the learning process made him see that very little actual learning happens at school, and that schools take credit for the best things that happen in young minds at their school age.
Illich's radical thinking drove him towards a broad idea of de-institutionalized society.
When Illich used the word "web", he meant a "web of peers" who collectively seek knowledge, however, his definition of efficient education has come true in the shape of the world wide web. His reasoning about education is the same as Tim Berners-Lee's reasoning about research or my reasoning about society as a concept network. The web helped us get closer to Illich's vision. The only problem is that compulsory schooling stands in the way of efficient learning. This is what Illich wrote about his "Learning networks" (note analogies to concept networks):
A good educational system should have three purposes: it should provide all who want to learn with (1) access to available resources at any time in their lives; (2) empower all who want to share what they know to find those who want to learn it from them; and, finally, (3) furnish all who want to present an issue to the public with the opportunity to make their challenge known
Illich criticized schooling for its drive towards shaping an ideal universal student. Not only does this goal militate against the value of diversity, it is also patently unrealistic:
Universal education through schooling is not feasible. It would be no more feasible if it were attempted by means of alternative institutions built on the style of present schools. Neither new attitudes of teachers toward their pupils nor the proliferation of educational hardware or software (in classroom or bedroom), nor finally the attempt to expand the pedagogue's responsibility until it engulfs his pupils' lifetimes will deliver universal education. The current search for new educational funnels must be reversed into the search for their institutional inverse: educational webs which heighten the opportunity for each one to transform each moment of his living into one of learning, sharing, and caring
See also:
This glossary entry is used to explain "I would never send my kids to school" (2017-2024) by Piotr Wozniak