Christopher D. Sessums pointed me to this video by George Carlin about why any education system in America is doomed to fail. I am perhaps naive in believing that we up here in Canada have less reason for despair. He’s not saying anything new, but he’s saying it very forcefully. Parental advisory: it’s George Carlin.
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Classroom as Microcosm 
I think canada is in just as much trouble, all our systems are build on the same foundations. I prefer A.S. Neills alternatives, where needs of the child are central to education, check out his book “summerhill”
I posted this too 😀
http://oneducation.wordpress.com/2007/08/08/george-carlin-education-and-the-owners-of-america/
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Dave: I’ll certainly check out the book you mention.
I guess my views of Canadian education are coloured by the institution where I work. Although there are difficult financial and material realities that cause us problems, including a lack of adequate government funding, the overall focus is on how to maximize student learning, achievement, and success. Amongst most of my colleagues and most of the administration, the main concern is almost always what is best for the students. Mistakes are made, and we can’t avoid certain external pressures, but our day-to-day challenge is to do the best we can with what we have.
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Yup I agree, I imagine teachers in Canada like here are doing their very best, but within a system, within confines.
What if for example you question why school is from 9 – 4? Is it possible to be learning for all that time each day? Have any studies been done on this? The original reason was to prepare students to be good workers, getting them used to doing a full day. So what if you think students should only be doing 4 hours a day? What if you think teachers should have equal power as students and that schools should be democratically run? Or that students should study what their interested in? Or that examinations and grading are negative measurements. A normal school cannot accommodate these ideas and changes.
The school system was constructed in a particular way for a particular reason. I cant really describe it all here. Try downloading some John Taylor Gatto lectures and listening to the mp3’s on your way to work. Or check out the book I mentioned (its perhaps better but Gattos online content is free :D).
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Taylor_Gatto
Sorry I dont have more time 😦 But its a very interesting subject than can be a little shocking at first.
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All very important points, and ones I spend a lot of time thinking about myself. Thanks for your input, Dave.
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