Rethinking Education

and ruth speak.....

Is our current form of mainstream education a form that will take us into a future?

I would say yes if the Earth's sustainability was dependant on economy.

However on some level (i hope) we all know that it's not and never has been. Yet since the beginning of the 19th century and coinciding with the industrial revolution, formal mainstream educational institutions have existed. And the interesting part is why were these formed?

Ironically, and thanks to my
left-wing, liberal lecturers
and professors,
the beauty of my mainstream education at university meant that
I learned the sociological imagination
and the implications of schooling
thus leading me to learn the freeing nature of
unschooling.
Universities are different places, they are definitely more conducive to encouraging responsibility for your own learning,
if you choose.
A contrast from the high school I went to.
I learned about my self and my place in the world and what it meant for me.
University was a real learning experience rather than a rite of passage.
What I chose, (the arts), are not placed of high importance in today's society because of current marketforces. A Bachelor of Arts (B.A) for some stands for Bugger All.
What I think is more important is that I chose subjects for myself that I was interested in and not with a job at the end in sight.
Learning how to learn
for the first time in a
long, long time
was the best part.
What is more important in education, education that educates one for a particular type of work or education that creates
excitement about learning,
education that fosters following your bliss,
creativity,
adaptability,
responsibility,
possibility?

This from Chris Corrigan's website. Quotes from a speech by Sir Ken Robinson who believes that creativity is just as important as literacy in education.

All kids have tremendous talents, and we squander them.

Creativity is as important as literacy and we should teach it with the same status.

Kids will take a chance…if they don’t know, they’ll have a go. They’re not frightened of being wrong…If you’re not prepared to be wrong you’ll never come up with anything original…We stigmatize mistakes.

We don’t grow into creativity, we grow out of it, or more precisely we are educated out of it.

I believe our only hope for the future is to adopt a new conception of human ecology…we have to rethink the fundamental principles upon which we are educating our children.

We may not see this future but [our children] will, and our job is help them make something of it.