Twitter Book Club: Neil Postman (1996) The End of Education - Chapter 4

"It must be clear at the beginning that schools have not and have never been organized to create forceful, inspiring narratives." Postmanless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"our citizens believe in two contradictory reasons for schooling. One is that schools must teach the young (cont) http://tl.gd/6cmld3less than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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I think this quote is so important and cuts right to the main issue at the heart of all debate in education. I'll repeat it:

"our citizens believe in two contradictory reasons for schooling. One is that schools must teach the young to accept the world as it is, with all of their culture's rules, requirements, constraints, and even prejudices. The other is that the young should be taught to be critical thinkers, so that they become men and women of independent mind, distanced from the conventional wisdom of their own time and with strength and skill enough to change what is wrong." Postman

I will be using this quote next week when I conclude my three week training series at school with teachers on the ISTE NETS.

"We can make the trains run on time, but if they do not go where we want them to go, why bother?" Postmanless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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@anderscj See you are reading End of Ed. Love that book.less than a minute ago via Seesmic DesktopJabiz Raisdana
intrepidteacher

@intrepidteacher thanks for recommending it. I don't know if I have ever read another author whose views are so close to my own.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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@intrepidteacher feels like Postman is digging in2 my psyche, arranging my thoughts in a way I can't then putting then on the page 4 meless than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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"the story of spaceship Earth has the power to bind people. It makes the idea of racism both irrelevant and (cont) http://tl.gd/6cmthnless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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@anderscj Exactly, I may need to revisit. He just cuts through all the BS and asks why are we teaching kids?less than a minute ago via Seesmic DesktopJabiz Raisdana
intrepidteacher

@intrepidteacher and with such poetics and rich metaphors. I can only hope to one day write with such a voice.less than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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The Fallen Angel: " That we may be mistaken, and probably are, is the meaning of the 'fall' in the fallen (cont) http://tl.gd/6cn21fless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"Yes, we know things, but much of it is wrong, and what replaces that may be wrong as well." Postmanless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"In the last program of his television series, Bronowski is seen standing in a pond on the grounds of the (cont) http://tl.gd/6cn6ojless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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Another quote worth repeating:

"In the last program of his television series, Bronowski is seen standing in a pond on the grounds of the old Auschwitz concentration camp. Near-overwrought by what Auschwitz symbolizes, he resorts, as so many have done before him, to a religious metaphor. 'Into this pond,' he says, 'were flushed the ashes of some four million people. And that was not done by gas. It was done by arrogance. It was done by dogma...When people believe that they have absolute knowledge...this is how they behave. This is what men do when they aspire to the knowledge of gods.'" Postman

"We know what happens when argument ceases--blood happens, as in our Civil War" Postmanless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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So, what happens when argument ceases in our schools? Sometimes people are fired. Sometimes people leave their jobs. But usually, they retreat to their rooms, close their doors, and go about their own business living a lonely existence.

"This, it seems to me, is a fine and noble story to offer as a reason for schooling: to provide our youth (cont) http://tl.gd/6cnfaeless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"For every item on Hirsch's list, there are at least ten others that are not on it and whose importance can (cont) http://tl.gd/6d1lebless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"In providing our children with a sense of meaning, we would do much better to take as a guide Schindler's list than Hirsch's list." Postmanless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"Any education that promotes a near-exclusive concern with one's own group may have value, but is hostile (cont) http://tl.gd/6d1nfnless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"one of the main purposes of public education--it is at the core of a common culture--is the idea that (cont) http://tl.gd/6d1offless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"sameness is the enemy of vitality and creativity." Postmanless than a minute ago via Twittelatoranderscj
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"School is notorious for neglecting to mention, let alone study, some of the more important events in human history." Postmanless than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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"There is no escaping the fact that when we form a sentence, we are creating a world." Postmanless than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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"Our engagement with language almost always has a moral dimension...How is it possible that s teacher, at any level, could miss it?" Postmanless than a minute ago via Twitterrificanderscj
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