Daniel Greenfield (whose critique is on postmodern western education, BTW, not just that promulgated in NYC):
Meta-culture is even more useless as it is aimed at internalizing the specialized vocabularies created through categorizing culture to group identities. It is not only a useless egotistical exercise, but also quite pernicious as well. Analyzing analyses of culture and then critiquing them for political conformity used to be for aspiring Marxist poets singing marching songs from the Spanish Civil War. Now it's for everyone. Ten years from now, we will spending three times as much on education and most students will have trouble with basic math and literacy, but will immediately be able to look at a Bugs Bunny cartoon and determine whose narrative it privileges. (Hint: White men.)
[...]
The more you universalize education, the lower the value of that education becomes. When the goal of education is not to teach, but to graduate, then the educational system becomes a cattle run which exists only to move students through the system and then out the door through classroom promotion. The High School education of today is inferior to the Elementary School education of yesterday and the four year college graduate of today couldn't even begin to match wits with a high school graduate from 1946. College has become the new High School. Graduate school is the new college.Read it all.
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Amen! Unfortunately, that's pretty much the case.
ReplyDeleteTake a look at this link:
ReplyDeletehttp://www.myschool.edu.au/MainPages/SchoolFinances.aspx?SDRSchoolId=44663&DEEWRId=0&CalendarYear=2011&RefId=45J7%2fEfDrapepYNUxJkvWg%3d%3d
This shows the financial details for the public primary school just down the street from me.
That's right, over $9000 of government (state & federal) funds per pupil per year.
Here's a link to the 'private' Catholic primary school 200m further up the road from the public school:
http://www.myschool.edu.au/MainPages/SchoolFinances.aspx?SDRSchoolId=45791&DEEWRId=0&CalendarYear=2011&RefId=iMO5TQDFDMPMjsL5Vw6Wew%3d%3d
Just under $9000 of combined govt contributions per pupil per year.
At at the other end of the street is our little school - with 3 pupils so far, we haven't spent even half of $9000 (excluding extra curricular activities) in 7 years of homeschooling.
Mind you, the demographic for this neighbourhood isn't disadvantaged. The median house price is nudging $700,000. Insane.