HW 51

The education system in the United States works in a way that constricts and limits people. It seems almost inescapable since the education is a major part of the foundation of our society and is a requirement of our society. We are required to undergo mental domination and murder of any sense of individuality we may have. We are subconsciously turned into puppets and supporters of a system that exploits, uses, and throws us away. We are tricked into believing education is for our own greater good when in fact education is for the greater good of the people in control of our society. Our education system limits us through racial inequality, deprivation of individuality, and societal pressure. Through the the usage of these three methods the education system manages to conform us into robots trained to fill the status quo of our society with out truly questioning the situations we live in.

Racial inequality is a big problem in the education system and for many years debates on how to get rid of the gaps between the academic skills of white students and minority students have taken place. Affirmative action is a favored solution by many liberals but has not proved to significantly change the inequalities of our education system. The root of this issue lies much deeper in our society and there are non-academic factors that play a role one of the most significant being culture. A fix to racial issues can not come from within one institution but rather a collective effort from many institutions causing an overall change in society and mentality. However, a change of this magnitude is extremely unlikely in the current society we live in, due tot he fact that racial inequalities help our society function in the way that it does. Racial inequality whether it be academically or some other form is and essential part of our larger system which is capitalism. Racial inequality allows exploitation and corruption to take place with out much question and in more extreme ways then if we were all truly equal in our society.

It is a very common thought amongst people in our society that education is for our greater good. We accept the idea of education and the education system of our society without much questioning. We assume it helps us and we work hard to succeed by the standards of our schools. We hardly think about what are schools are truly teaching us. We don't stop to think whether our education is helping us individually or someone/something else. We are not taught to think critically in schools and for this reason we don't question the education system itself. In fact, we are taught in schools to conform, to not question, and to simply do what we are told without much struggle or rebellion. In John Taylor Gatto's article "six lessons" he lists six different lessons in which schools teach us. He explains that his job as a teacher is not necessarily to educate students but more so to conform them into efficient members of society. Instead of educating and enlightening students the education system traps and turns them into workers and tools of the larger system. He lists six different ways in which he as a teacher is supposed to do this. Overall much of what a teachers job to do is to strip the students of any individuality they have and keep them from forming any true individual identity. This is one of the most significant things schools do to students. They have teachers control almost every aspect of their education and the "good students" are the ones who can adapt and conform the fastest and the best. Those who don't question and defy the teacher are praised. We are taught to simply listen and follow rather than think and create and formulate ideas of our own. Schools strip us of our individuality so that we can be efficient members of society without causing problems for the people we will work for in the future.

Society is set up in a way where many of the paths we take and decisions we make are set up before hand. Not necessarily that we are forced to choose certain paths but a societal map which we referred to in an earlier unit is set up for us. To stray from this map is extremely hard and we have freedom in our lives with in certain limitations if we want to be socially accepted at all. Our school system is no different from social pressures we have with our friends in our social life in fact the two go hand in hand. We have expectations all around us and we are expected to act certain ways. The lessons the school teach us that I referred to in the last paragraph are socially acceptable ways to act. Not only are they socially acceptable but they are social norms and expectations. Therefore through social pressure school often succeeds in conforming us into the workers they want us to be. This of course means limiting our intellectual progress and striping us of individuality.

The school system is very controversial however the controversy is usually in which ways should schools go about educating the students but hardly do these discussions explore the true implications and objectives of the education system. The main issue of the education lies in its objective. To truly educate someone their best interests have to be the first priority and this is something our school system fails to do. Until intellectual development is the top priority of our education system our education system will remain lackluster.