Should the education of future generations be hindered by mistakes from the past?

From the beginning of our schools, we have made mistake after mistake. Most people seem to know that there are serious problems with the schools, but we always seem to come to the same kinds of conclusions. We are looking for possible additions that will fix everything. Effectively, we are building off of a schooling system that was never intended to educate in hopes that we will benefit educationally.


By relying on quick fixes, we are establishing that we want to maintain the foundation. The root of many problems, however, can be found in that foundation. We are reliant on the idea that our past mistakes must be maintained.

Our schools have never actually been proven beneficial to society. They never will. Sure, we can come up with quick numbers that show that people do better if they embrace the schools in a society that discriminates against those who don't. If you take the discrimination out of the equation, evidence in favor of schooling is very underwhelming.

We have built so much off of our schools' disastrous foundation. We seem to think that a lot of what we see in the schools is how things have to be. Even most critics refuse to look at potential problems with the system itself. For example, standards-based reform generates heavy handed enforcement of existing standards expected of students. The standards are never questioned, even though it is absurd to think that all students regardless of interests and abilities should be pursuing the same goals.

You can also take a look at so-called Ed tech. Most Ed tech concepts come in two forms. One is the development of technology that can be introduced into current classes. The other is to adapt traditional courses into an online platform. Nobody is trying to maximize the potential that technology can have on education. Everybody is reliant on how technology can be added to our disaster. Pretty much all EdTech is built around the conventional schooling model rather than a search for a better way.

Realistically speaking, we should have reached a point where we could far exceed what schools of the past could have accomplished. The problem is that we are too reliant on the past. Progress is being hindered by how schools of the past were designed. If we truly want to maximize the quality of education, reform is insufficient. We need to start over.

Instead of looking at how to make the best traditional schools, we should be looking at how to best utilize what we now know about education and the tools available to us to create the best educational system possible. Our existing system is only holding us back. We can do better.