May 17, 2007
On paper, pimping and the system.
After discussions with my two younger sisters, who like me, and many others, are beginning to question the school system they have been raised to place their lives in. When thought about deeply, many begin to understand or just know the failures of the modern school system. We see the flawed, the crippled parts, the failures. Some try to correct said shortcoming through many ways, but after over a hundred years of compulsory schooling (sometimes way more compulsory then now), some Indigenous (and humans) are beginning to look different at schooling and learning.
For those who might not be familiar, I left the high school system half a year ago. After years of struggle and idiocracy, I finally began to learn what I was in. Where I once wanted to change it to help my people, Indigenous and youth, I now look back and now know more about this apparatus. It dehumanizes people into workers er’, machines.
Let’s take a trip back to the beginning. Schools are one of the oldest system’s that govern our current society that hasn’t changed or evolved into something very different from what it set out to be. Where the economic, social, and political systems have changed, the education system has not. It was based on a few idea’s. Getting children ready for the industry. After about 8th grade you could walk to some industry, say mining, and get a good job, support your family and make a modest salary. This system of forced “learning” was later expanded and increasingly things were built on top of a faulty foundation.
Then, the settlers figured their amazing system of “equality” through “education” would help civilize the Indian’s. Residential schools popped up to educate the Indian, and, according to some, it worked. Indian’s became educated. They learned the White man’s ways. We’re still told to “get an education” to learn the White man’s ways.
Schools, are not about learning. Schools are in place to teach obedience over learning. Bells, schedules, time tables, enforcers, administrators, homework-Nazi’s, and the like all used to enforce and create obedient workers. It doesn’t say children, or people, learn one way. It doesn’t say children learn for 67 minutes, no more, no less.
Fight the system, not the people. With schools we can have some of the greatest people in the world, being the monsters the system makes them out to be. In any system of exploitation, whether it’s capitalism or band councils, it turns good people into evil people. While the system is inherently malevolent the people that contribute to it can be honorable and good.
Learning is our gift. Yet we are lead to believe tests, homework, and pointless exercises based on a one-size-fits-all approach to learning. You don’t tell a child, “Okay, here are pages 1-14 on walking. I want you to read pages 4-9 by Thursday, and then on Friday we’ll have a test. You and Johnny will work on a project to present walking and information about walking. Your scores, along with the 40 other people in this room will be compared and we’ll choose whose the best and worst. Unfortunately not everyone can be “the best” because that would make me look like a bad teacher, now wouldn’t it.” No, of course not. Children learn how to walk because everyone around them is walking. Children learn how to read when the subject at hand stimulates them. Juggling, reading, writing, singing, and anything that inspires the mind all can be acquired.
Homework is one of the stupidest forced things school can possibly make children do. Teachers are paid based on if they have homework to mark, not if children learn the subject at hand. I agree with my friend here[1] [2] [3], that homework should be at least banned.
Many of our people have been brainwashed by this school = life memento. My grandmother firmly believes you can only be successful, or happy, if you attend school, make good grades, continue to university. It stems back to residential school where no Indigenous would be acknowledged unless they went to residential schools.
So what are you really slaving away for? 12 years for a piece of paper, then bred to believe happiness exists inside a post-secondary institute. Then another 3 or so years for a Bachelors, but everyone has a bachelors these days, so you have to go for some more years for a Masters. THEN, after all these years of schooling you take a job in something you don’t love because it pays well. We’re all being made to do things we don’t love, to make more money. I say no. I say no to this because we should follow our dreams and our visions and aspirations and do the things we love to do. You’ll never work a day in your life is you do the thing you love to do.
So our futures are now being driven to make money. Buy this car to drive to work; drive to work to pay for this car. I don’t think that’s life at all. With the way capitalism as run rampant, the world will turn in to an evil individualistic life where courtesy, honor and respect begin to disappear.
Below are some links I recommend you check out. I never plan to send my children to any kind of compulsory school, and I hope you actively question the entire system and look at alternatives for our future.
Below are some links I recommend you check out. I never plan to send my children to any kind of compulsory school, and I hope you actively question the entire system and look at alternatives for our future.
Suggested books:
For those who might not be familiar, I left the high school system half a year ago. After years of struggle and idiocracy, I finally began to learn what I was in. Where I once wanted to change it to help my people, Indigenous and youth, I now look back and now know more about this apparatus. It dehumanizes people into workers er’, machines.
Let’s take a trip back to the beginning. Schools are one of the oldest system’s that govern our current society that hasn’t changed or evolved into something very different from what it set out to be. Where the economic, social, and political systems have changed, the education system has not. It was based on a few idea’s. Getting children ready for the industry. After about 8th grade you could walk to some industry, say mining, and get a good job, support your family and make a modest salary. This system of forced “learning” was later expanded and increasingly things were built on top of a faulty foundation.
Then, the settlers figured their amazing system of “equality” through “education” would help civilize the Indian’s. Residential schools popped up to educate the Indian, and, according to some, it worked. Indian’s became educated. They learned the White man’s ways. We’re still told to “get an education” to learn the White man’s ways.
Schools, are not about learning. Schools are in place to teach obedience over learning. Bells, schedules, time tables, enforcers, administrators, homework-Nazi’s, and the like all used to enforce and create obedient workers. It doesn’t say children, or people, learn one way. It doesn’t say children learn for 67 minutes, no more, no less.
Fight the system, not the people. With schools we can have some of the greatest people in the world, being the monsters the system makes them out to be. In any system of exploitation, whether it’s capitalism or band councils, it turns good people into evil people. While the system is inherently malevolent the people that contribute to it can be honorable and good.
Learning is our gift. Yet we are lead to believe tests, homework, and pointless exercises based on a one-size-fits-all approach to learning. You don’t tell a child, “Okay, here are pages 1-14 on walking. I want you to read pages 4-9 by Thursday, and then on Friday we’ll have a test. You and Johnny will work on a project to present walking and information about walking. Your scores, along with the 40 other people in this room will be compared and we’ll choose whose the best and worst. Unfortunately not everyone can be “the best” because that would make me look like a bad teacher, now wouldn’t it.” No, of course not. Children learn how to walk because everyone around them is walking. Children learn how to read when the subject at hand stimulates them. Juggling, reading, writing, singing, and anything that inspires the mind all can be acquired.
Homework is one of the stupidest forced things school can possibly make children do. Teachers are paid based on if they have homework to mark, not if children learn the subject at hand. I agree with my friend here[1] [2] [3], that homework should be at least banned.
Many of our people have been brainwashed by this school = life memento. My grandmother firmly believes you can only be successful, or happy, if you attend school, make good grades, continue to university. It stems back to residential school where no Indigenous would be acknowledged unless they went to residential schools.
Look, we throw a lot of fancy words in front of these kids in order to attract them to going to school in the belief that their gonna have a better life, and we know that all were doing is breeding a whole new generation of buyers and sellers, BUYERS AND SELLERS! Pimps and whores, PIMPS AND WHORES! and indoctrinating them into a life long hell of debt and indecision!
- Lewis Black in the 2006 film Accepted
So what are you really slaving away for? 12 years for a piece of paper, then bred to believe happiness exists inside a post-secondary institute. Then another 3 or so years for a Bachelors, but everyone has a bachelors these days, so you have to go for some more years for a Masters. THEN, after all these years of schooling you take a job in something you don’t love because it pays well. We’re all being made to do things we don’t love, to make more money. I say no. I say no to this because we should follow our dreams and our visions and aspirations and do the things we love to do. You’ll never work a day in your life is you do the thing you love to do.
So our futures are now being driven to make money. Buy this car to drive to work; drive to work to pay for this car. I don’t think that’s life at all. With the way capitalism as run rampant, the world will turn in to an evil individualistic life where courtesy, honor and respect begin to disappear.
Below are some links I recommend you check out. I never plan to send my children to any kind of compulsory school, and I hope you actively question the entire system and look at alternatives for our future.
Below are some links I recommend you check out. I never plan to send my children to any kind of compulsory school, and I hope you actively question the entire system and look at alternatives for our future.
- http://www.chriscorrigan.com/wiki/pmwiki.php?n=Main.UnschoolingResources
- http://www.unschooling.com/library/essays/index.shtml
- Nine Assumptions of Schooling
- How to get into university without a high school diploma
- The 7 Lesson School Teacher
- My experience with writing
Suggested books:
- The Teenage Liberation Handbook by Grace Llewellyn
- Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire (Anything by him)
- Instead of Education by John Holt (Really anything by him)
0 comments:
Post a Comment