In 1971, a philosopher by the name of Ivan Illich published a book called “Deschooling Society” – a critique of education in modern societies which called for the imminent disestablishment of schools. His radical ideas highlighted the institutionalisation of schools and he advocated self-motivated learning that could only occur outside of formal school boundaries. Many dismissed his thoughts as impractical or too radical for his time and while schools did not in fact disappear, Illich put forward ideas that still hold some relevance to this day (Hart, 2000). This essay will discuss what Illich sees as the aims of education, how he thinks these can be achieved and what the outcome would be if these ideas were applied to the present-day education system.
Illich argued that whilst schools have become recognised as the institution which specialises in education, he saw the role of schools as a tool of social control, spreading existing political ideologies and preserving the status quo of society (1971). Ideology was maintained through teachers who took on a powerful role, dictating how and what was taught to their students. It was common belief that education could only be supplied by a properly qualified person (1971). This attitude is what Illich used to support his theory that schools have become bureaucratised. To further this notion, Illich made a distinct difference between schooling and learning. Schooling was related to bureaucracy and teaching, and learning occurred independent of the former (1971). This idea is easily understood if one considers where most of their learning occurs – outside of school, during daily life experiences and encounters with other people.
Illich (1971), stated that the opposite of school w...
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In today's times, apart from having information flying at us from almost everywhere we turn, we also get to sit in a chair for nearly seven hours while someone tries to feed us even more information. Although it is true that our society needs some type of educational system, there is a real problem with the fact that although we are constantly changing and evolving into a brand new world, education has stayed still. In a way, we attempt to teach our children by putting them ...
John Taylor Gatto, in his essay “Against School: How Public Education Cripples our Kids, and why”, argues that the contemporary purpose of education in public schools is to produce “harmless electorate,” “a servile labor force,” and “mindless consumers” (28). According to Gatto, he is blaming public schools by explain that the purpose of education is to shape students to certain expectations and habits without their interests. He argues that students “want to be doing something real” (Gatto 23). Also, He explains that they produce a manageable working class and “mindless consumers” (27-28). His point is that students want to learn something new that help them in their life better than actual books from school which don’t apply their interests and their experience (23). So he recommends home-schooling as option to schools (24). Gatto claims that contemporary schools “adopted one of the very worst aspect...
First, it is necessary to examine the current paradigm within education in order to determine exactly what it is about the modern system that requires changing. One of the most immediate concerns comes as a result of the school facilities the...
This essay will explore the relationship between education and society from a sociological perspective, the topics I have chosen to explore is Marxism, functionalism, education and class, feminism and the last topic is a very general topic which enhances our understanding of sociology and the world we live in. I chose the topics above as they offer an interesting viewpoint of education and sociology; also the topics above interlink this makes it easier to understand the contributions from a sociological perspective. Furthermore, to enhance my understanding of the topics I have found readings from other modules which offer a different perspective of education and society this will enable me to answer the question much more concisely as other viewpoints can challenge the topics I have stated above.
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Education is a vital part of society. It serves the beneficial purpose of educating our children and getting them ready to be productive adults in today's society. But, the social institution of education is not without its problems. Continual efforts to modify and improve the system need to be made, if we are to reap the highest benefits that education has to offer to our children and our society as a whole.
Today’s generation is like no other. The nation as a whole has completely evolved from past times, with technology being one of the greatest improvements. Traditionally, schooling takes place in a classroom setting, but, with the many modifications in our world’s system, we are able to assimilate more modern means of education, such as online learning. However, with many changes comes differences and requires adjustments. The online learning system has proven to be just as effective as traditional learning, with some minor differences, however, nothing of great significance. A few of those insignificant differences include online learning being convenient, especially for the non-traditional students,
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