Misconception 62: Schools have significantly progressed over the years

I have read comments on various online articles where people defend criticisms of the schools by insisting those criticisms are dated. If someone mentions problems from the 60's, the arguments will be brushed aside because of how much the schools have changed since then.


When I was in school, I criticized my teachers for getting in the way of my education. If you look to earlier days of schooling in America, you will find William Torrey Harris defending the schools by insisting they were "scientifically designed to prevent over-education." Is it really that significant to go from preventing over-education to displaying obvious anti-educational values? I don't think so.

Part of the problem with the progression of the teaching profession is that it was designed in a way to prevent meaningful change. To enter the profession, you have to prove yourself to be highly supportive of the system as it already is. You have to invest time, money, and effort into the existing system where others who have also proven to support the system will instruct you on what you are supposed to believe. Anyone who sees the problems that need to be fixed will be incapable of handling that environment, and they certainly won't believe what they are required to believe in order to succeed in so-called education classes.

Ultimately, the people who can make a positive impact on the teaching profession are prohibited from entering the profession. I honestly can't think of any other profession that requires so much support for the status quo. This is a big part of the reason why I consider teaching to be the world's least progressive profession.

Despite the lack of meaningful progress, I have to admit that I do see some changes. For example, I went through school after the transition from physical abuse to emotional abuse as the primary motivational tool. Of course, that means that one of their biggest changes was to go from one form of abuse to another. What's even worse is when they change books and insist that they are completely changing the system.

We love to put the schools under a microscope. Changes always seem to be more significant than they really are. Whether you are talking about class sizes or enforcing existing standards, we refuse to address the flawed teaching methodology. This process was built off of blatantly anti-educational values that are still highly visible to this day for anyone who is willing to look. That is not progress. This could help explain why portrayals of schools in television programs created before I was born, even while trying to show support for the teaching profession, bear striking similarities to the anti-educational environment that I personally experienced.