Education vs schooling

Those who know me have probably already heard my ongoing rant about education and the state of compulsory schooling in America.  I'm becoming much more aware of this thanks to a book by John Taylor Gatto, "Weapons of Mass Instruction."  Gatto is a retired school teacher and passionate about education.  Which is why he left teaching in the public school setting.

Reading this book has made me angry, sad, discouraged, indignant, embarrassed, outraged ... a multitude of emotions in the realm of honest disgust with our system.  I feel so duped and used.  I also feel a bit helpless because I am a victim and a product of this system, whose main purpose is to create helplessness and unproductive automatons. 

Now that my eyes have been opened, what am I to do with this new found knowledge?  How do I improve my own plight?  How do I undo the conditioning and really become educated?  And more importantly, what can I do to help others not become a victim to this same disastrous situation that has perpetrated such a fraud on its own people and ruined so many lives?

The scale of this problem and the nearly zero hope that it will ever change should not be minimized.  No, I am not being melodramatic.  This is serious.

How do kids and people choose their own path, their own education and find a way to be good, productive and self-reliant citizens?  It may not be working for someone else or even acquiring the standard education that is found in our K-12 institutions or even in the universities.  In fact, students can be much more in control of their education by NOT being a part of the system.

Because of this book, I have a renewed and increased respect for homeschoolers.  That was the method of instruction and education when this country was founded and it produced the likes of Thomas Jefferson, George Washington and Benjamin Franklin.  The most admired people of this day?  What did schooling do for them?  Bill Gates, Steve Jobs, Warren Buffet - all did not finish college.  The fallacy that a college degree will ensure success is just that - a myth.

Along with many other notions and ideas in this world, people need to wake up to this fact.  How long will we be controlled by someone else?  And their interests?  We want freedom, but do we really want the responsibility of thinking for ourselves?  They do go hand in hand, ya know. 

Even at what may be considered latter half of my years, I realize there is so much to learn.  My education didn't really even start until I LEFT school.  So much catching up to do, I'm afraid.

So to end this on a hopeful note, it's never too late to learn and expand your knowledge.  That is what education is all about.  It is a lifelong pursuit.