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I don't think this is an accurate description of that system. What's true about it is that it is dealing with scale issues that don't apply for home schooling,

by pekk 14y ago

I don't think this is an accurate description of that system. What's true about it is that it is dealing with scale issues that don't apply for home schooling, so they need to do things like having 1st-graders line up in order to go out to recess, trying to be consistent in how rules are applied, and worrying about the cost of production of cafeteria foods. These make the system look bureaucratic because bureaucracy is the simplest way to make an institution work at scale. Also, this is an artifact of our culture: we are socializing kids into a system where they go sit at a desk and work within a bureaucracy because these are features of our culture. We are not pastoral nomads, we are not jungle hunter-gatherers, we are not inhabitants of tiny city-states. And most people in our society are not wealthy rockstar founders working in SF.

unclebucknasty 14y ago
When I mentioned rules, I wasn't referring to social rules, such as lining up for recess or not punching little Billy when the teacher's not looking. Instead, I was referring to what we teach our kids academically. That is, we focus more on them knowing the "facts". I believe that we need to spend much more time teaching how to think creatively and critically. Yes, facts are important. We just need balance. I agree with you 100% that we are teaching kids to work in a bureaucracy; creating "cogs for the machine", I like to say. But I think that's exactly the problem. We need to open up new opportunities for life fulfillment as well as paths to societal contributions. But it's a self-serving cycle. We need cogs so we teach kids to be rule-regurgitating cogs. But, how many more photo sharing apps do we need? OTOH we could use that cure for cancer or alternative fuel source or other thing that has yet to be imagined. I argue that we could be much further down some of these paths if we taught our kids to imagine, think, and create in addition to teaching them the rules.

by pekk 14y ago

unclebucknasty 14y ago

When I mentioned rules, I wasn't referring to social rules, such as lining up for recess or not punching little Billy when the teacher's not looking. Instead, I was referring to what we teach our kids academically. That is, we focus more on them knowing the "facts". I believe that we need to spend much more time teaching how to think creatively and critically. Yes, facts are important. We just need balance. I agree with you 100% that we are teaching kids to work in a bureaucracy; creating "cogs for the machine", I like to say. But I think that's exactly the problem. We need to open up new opportunities for life fulfillment as well as paths to societal contributions. But it's a self-serving cycle. We need cogs so we teach kids to be rule-regurgitating cogs. But, how many more photo sharing apps do we need? OTOH we could use that cure for cancer or alternative fuel source or other thing that has yet to be imagined. I argue that we could be much further down some of these paths if we taught our kids to imagine, think, and create in addition to teaching them the rules.