Understanding One Another
Is Education Endured?
EDITORIAL INTRODUCTION
The indictment is not that modern schools teach too little, but that achievement has become their governing purpose. Presenting Rutger Bregman’s argument from Humankind: A Hopeful History, Doug describes an education system organized around résumés, paychecks, and the knowledge economy. What it may suppress is harder to measure: the willingness to dream, experiment, cross boundaries, and remember how to play.
A Note on the Original Text
Doug’s writings are presented as originally written. Spelling, punctuation, and grammatical irregularities have been retained to preserve his words and the integrity of the original record.
ORIGINAL WRITING
“The content in this post is based on the book Humankind: A Hopeful History by Rutger Bregman.
“Granted, we’re a lot less strict with kids today than we were a hundred years ago, and schools are no longer the prisons they resembled in the nineteenth century. Kids who behave badly don’t get a slap, but a pill. Schools no longer indoctrinate, but teach a more diverse curriculum than ever, transferring as much knowledge as possible so they’ll find well paying jobs in the ‘knowledge economy.’
Education has become something to be endured. A new generation is growing up that’s internalizing the rules of our achievement-based society. It’s a generation that’s learning to run a rat race where the main metrics of success are your resume and your paycheck. A generation less inclined to color outside the lines, less inclined to dream or to dare, to fantasize or explore. A generation, in short, that’s forgetting how to play.