Over the years, I have been writing about misconceptions regarding the schooling process. The purpose of these posts is to explain why I disagree with various comments that I have heard people make about schooling. These are meant as personal thoughts rather than conclusive proof, and I will admit that I'm not always the best at explaining my thoughts. Regardless, I have decided that I should be willing to share these posts when I encounter someone online who makes an argument that I have already discussed.
One of the goals claimed by modern schools is to create lifelong learners. If you really want that, there's a simple solution. Don't destroy the natural desire to learn.
Schools aren't really trying to create lifelong learners. They are trying to encourage their students to continue to take classes throughout their lives. In other words, they want people to spend more time allowing schools to control their educations.
Promoting educational dependence is a horrible approach to establishing lifelong learners. I would even say the concept is incompatible. If you really want people to embrace lifelong learning, it makes absolutely no sense to add the condition that learning should be confined to a restrictive schooling environment.
Let's see this claim for what it really is. Schools want power. If they can create a lifelong dependence on schooling, this increases their power. They ultimately don't care about learning. Otherwise, they would not actively fight learning that occurs outside of their control.
I believe in lifelong learning. That doesn't mean that I believe in expanding the role of formal classes in life. It means supporting the learning process. It means ending our aggressive attempts to devalue learning in favor of ineffective teaching methodology.
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