criticism of schooling
{{Short description|Multiple positions critical of compulsory schooling laws}}
{{more citations needed|date=August 2018}}
Anti-schooling activism, or radical education reform, describes positions that are critical of school as a learning institution and/or compulsory schooling laws; or multiple attempts and approaches to fundamentally change the school system. People of this movement usually advocate alternatives to the traditional school system, education independent from school, the absence of the concept of schooling as a whole, or the right that people can choose how, where and with whom they are educated.
These attitudes criticize the learning atmosphere and environment of school and oppose the educational monopoly of school and the conventional standard and practice of schooling for reasons such as:
- regarding the use of compulsory schooling as a tool of assimilation;
- the belief that an overly structured and predetermined learning system can be detrimental for children and would encourage certain temperaments while inhibiting others;{{Cite web |last=Keogh |first=Barbara |date=2009-09-09 |title=Why it's important to understand your child's temperament |url=https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/temperament-in-the-classroom-helping-each-child-find-a-good-fit/ |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804171157/https://www.greatschools.org/gk/articles/temperament-in-the-classroom-helping-each-child-find-a-good-fit/ |archive-date=4 August 2021 |access-date=2021-08-04 |website=www.greatschools.org |language=en-US}}
- the related belief that the school environment prevents learning rather than encouraging the innate natural curiosity by using unnatural extrinsic pressures such as grades and homework;{{Cite web |date=2020-01-28 |title='Schools are killing curiosity': why we need to stop telling children to shut up and learn |url=http://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/jan/28/schools-killing-curiosity-learn |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804181527/https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/jan/28/schools-killing-curiosity-learn |archive-date=4 August 2021 |access-date=2021-08-04 |website=The Guardian |language=en}}
- the view that school prescribes students exactly what to do, how, when, where and with whom, which would suppress creativity,{{Citation |last=Robinson |first=Sir Ken |title=Do schools kill creativity? |date=27 June 2006 |url=https://www.ted.com/talks/sir_ken_robinson_do_schools_kill_creativity |access-date=2021-08-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130915120806/http://www.ted.com//talks//ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html |archive-date=15 September 2013 |url-status=live |language=en}}
- and/or the conviction that schooling is used as a form of political or governmental control for the implementation of certain ideologies in the population.{{Cite news |date=2010-03-30 |title=It's time for all parties to take politics out of running schools |url=https://www.theguardian.com/education/2010/mar/31/take-politics-out-of-schools |access-date=2024-03-24 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}}
Another very persistent argument of anti-schooling activists is that school does not prepare children for life outside of school,{{Cite web|date=2017-06-12|title=Schools don't prepare children for life. Here's the education they really need {{!}} Rhiannon Lucy Cosslett|url=http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/12/schools-children-education-coding-toilet-unblocking-rote-learning|access-date=2021-08-04|website=The Guardian|language=en|archive-date=4 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210804172805/https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jun/12/schools-children-education-coding-toilet-unblocking-rote-learning|url-status=live}} and that many teachers do not have a neutral view of the world because they have only attended academic institutions a large part of their life.
Others criticize the forced contact in school and are of the opinion that school makes children spend a large part of their most important development phase in a building, in seclusion from society, exclusively with children in their own age group, seated and entrusted with the task of obeying the orders of one authority figure for several hours each day, while almost everything they do is assessed, which would be a dehumanizing experience.{{Cite web |last=Rybak |first=Jeff |date=2008-04-14 |title=School is dehumanizing (No, really!) |url=https://macleans.ca/education/uniandcollege/school-is-dehumanizing-no-really/ |access-date=2024-09-30 |website=Maclean's}}
Some may also feel a deep aversion to school based on their personal experiences or question the efficiency and sustainability of school learning and are of the opinion that compulsory schooling represents an impermissible interference with the rights and freedoms of parents and children; and believe that schools as a vehicle for knowledge transfer are no longer necessary and increasingly becoming obsolete in times of rapid information procurement, e.g. via the internet, and therefore generally consider compulsory education with evidence-based learning-oriented online schools or autodidactism to be more sensible than the traditional cohort-based physical schools.{{Citation |last=SOLOMON |first=JOAN |title=Theories of learning and the range of autodidactism |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780203329108-9/theories-learning-range-autodidactism-joan-solomon |work=The Passion to Learn |year=2003 |pages=15–34 |doi=10.4324/9780203329108-9 |isbn=9780203329108 |access-date=2022-07-24|url-access=subscription }}
Arguments
=Teaching as political/government control=
A non-curriculum, non-instructional method of teaching was advocated by Neil Postman and Charles Weingartner in their book Teaching as a Subversive Activity. In inquiry education students are encouraged to ask questions which are meaningful to them, and which do not necessarily have easy answers; teachers are encouraged to avoid giving answers.Postman, Neil, and Weingartner, Charles (1969), Teaching as a Subversive Activity, Dell, New York, NY.
Murray N. Rothbard argues that the history of the drive for compulsory schooling is not guided by altruism, but by a desire to coerce the population into a mold desired by dominant forces in society.{{Cite book| publisher = Ludwig von Mises Institute| isbn = 978-0-945466-22-2| last = Rothbard| first = Murray N.| title = Education, free & compulsory| location = Auburn, Ala| date = 1999}}
John Caldwell Holt asserts that youths should have the right to control and direct their own learning, and that the current compulsory schooling system violates a basic fundamental right of humans: the right to decide what enters our minds. He thinks that freedom of learning is part of freedom of thought, even more fundamental a human right than freedom of speech. He especially states that forced schooling, regardless of whether the student is learning anything whatsoever, or if the student could more effectively learn elsewhere in different ways, is a gross violation of civil liberties.{{cite book |last1=Holt ; Holt |first1=John Caldwell |title=Escape from Childhood |date=1975 |publisher=Ballantine Books |isbn=978-0-345-24434-5}}
Nathaniel Branden adduces government should not be permitted to remove children forcibly from their homes, with or without the parents' consent, and subject the children to educational training and procedures of which the parents may or may not approve. He also claims that citizens should not have their wealth expropriated to support an educational system which they may or may not sanction, and to pay for the education of children who are not their own. He claims this must be true for anyone who understands and is consistently committed to the principle of individual rights. He asserts that the disgracefully low level of education in America today is the predictable result of a state-controlled school system, and that the solution is to bring the field of education into the marketplace.Branden, N. (1963). Public Education, Should Education be Compulsory and Tax Supported, as it is Today? Chapter 5, Common Fallacies About Capitalism, Ayn Rand, Capitalism: The Unknown Ideal, p. 89.
=The corruption of children – Rousseau=
Jean-Jacques Rousseau wrote in his book Emile: or, On Education (first published in 1762) that all children are perfectly designed organisms, ready to learn from their surroundings so as to grow into virtuous adults, but due to the malign influence of corrupt society, they often fail to do so. Rousseau advocated an educational method which consisted of removing the child from society—for example, to a country home—and alternately conditioning them through changes to environment and setting traps and puzzles for them to solve or overcome.{{Cite web |title=Jean-Jacques Rousseau on Emile's Education - New Learning Online |url=https://newlearningonline.com/new-learning/chapter-2/supporting-material-1/jean-jacques-rousseau-on-emiles-education |access-date=2023-05-24 |website=newlearningonline.com}}
Rousseau was unusual in that he recognized and addressed the potential of a problem of legitimation for teaching. He advocated that adults always be truthful with children, and in particular that adults should declare the basis for their authority in teaching being one of physical coercion: "I'm bigger than you." Once children reached the age of reason, at about 12, they would be engaged as free individuals in the ongoing process of their own.{{Citation |title=Citoyen De Genève : Jean-Jacques Rousseau |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.5040/9781472541376.ch-001 |work=Jean-Jacques Rousseau |date=2008 |access-date=2023-05-24 |publisher=Continuum|doi=10.5040/9781472541376.ch-001 |isbn=978-0-8264-8412-3 |url-access=subscription }}
=Grading – Illich=
{{See also|Grading in education#Criticism}}
In Deschooling Society, Ivan Illich calls for the disestablishment of schools. He claims that schooling confuses teaching with learning, grades with education, diplomas with competence, attendance with attainment, and, especially, process with substance. He writes that schools do not reward real achievement, only processes. Schools inhibit a person's will and ability to self-learn, ultimately resulting in psychological impotence. He claims that forced schooling perverts the victims' natural inclination to grow and learn and replaces it with the demand for instruction. Further, the current model of schooling, replete with credentials, betrays the value of a self-taught individual. Moreover, institutionalized schooling seeks to quantify the unquantifiable – human growth.
= Effects on local culture and economics =
In some cases schooling has been used as a tool for assimilation and a both deliberate and inadvertent tool to change local culture and economics into another form. Opponents of this effect argue it is a human right for a culture to be maintained, and education can violate this human right.{{Cite web|url=http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/66455/|title=Indigenous education and human rights|last=Noam|first=Schimmel|date=2007-01-01|website=eprints.lse.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=2016-11-19}} Forced schooling has been used to forcibly assimilate Native Americans in the United States and Canada, which some have said is cultural genocide.{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/06/03/world/americas/canadas-forced-schooling-of-aboriginal-children-was-cultural-genocide-report-finds.html|title=Canada's Forced Schooling of Aboriginal Children Was 'Cultural Genocide,' Report Finds|last=Austen|first=Ian|date=2015-06-02|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=2016-11-19}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.sagchip.org/ziibiwing/planyourvisit/pdf/aibscurrguide.pdf|title=American Indian Boarding Schools: An Exploration of Global Ethnic & Cultural Cleansing|last1=Jones|first1=Jennifer|last2=Bosworth|first2=Dee Ann|date=2011|publisher=Ziibiwing Center of Anishinabe Culture & Lifeways|last3=Lonetree|first3=Amy}} Many psychologists believe the forced assimilation of native cultures has contributed to their high suicide rates and poverty.{{Cite web|url=http://www.apa.org/monitor/feb07/astruggle.aspx|title=A struggle for hope|website=apa.org|access-date=2016-11-19}} Western education encourages Western modes of survival and economic systems, which can be worse and poorer than the existing modes of survival and economic systems of an existing culture.{{Cite web|url=http://faculty.webster.edu/corbetre/philosophy/education/bg/bg-ch-5.html|title=Philosophy of Education -- From: Chapter 5: Schooling in Capitalist America|website=faculty.webster.edu|access-date=2016-11-19}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.eco-action.org/dt/affluent.html|title=neolithic hunter-gatherers: Marshall Sahlins- The Original Affluent Society|website=www.eco-action.org|access-date=2016-11-20|archive-date=2019-07-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190724130948/http://www.eco-action.org/dt/affluent.html|url-status=dead}}
= Ineffective or counter to its purpose =
Some of the proposed purposes of western style compulsory education are to prepare students to join the adult workforce and be financially successful, have students learn useful skills and knowledge, and prepare students to make positive economic or scientific contributions to society.{{Cite web|url=http://www.ascd.org/publications/newsletters/education-update/jul12/vol54/num07/What-Is-the-Purpose-of-Education%C2%A2.aspx|title=Education Update:Quality Feedback:What Is the Purpose of Education?|last=ASCD|website=www.ascd.org|access-date=2016-11-20}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.sec-ed.co.uk/best-practice/what-is-the-purpose-of-education/|title=What is the purpose of education?|website=www.sec-ed.co.uk|date=12 June 2014 |access-date=2016-11-20}} Critics of schooling say it is ineffective at achieving these purposes and goals. In many countries, schools do not keep up with the skills demanded by the workplace, or never have taught relevant skills.{{Cite news|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/education/educationnews/11988756/Schools-failing-to-prepare-young-people-for-work-say-business-leaders.html|title=Schools 'failing to prepare young people for work', say business leaders|newspaper=Telegraph.co.uk|access-date=2016-11-20}}{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/student/news/schools-are-too-focused-on-exam-results-and-dont-prepare-students-for-the-workplace-survey-finds-10469021.html|title=Schools are 'too focused on exam results and don't prepare students for the workplace', survey finds|date=2015-08-24|newspaper=The Independent|language=en-GB|access-date=2016-11-20}}{{Cite news|url=http://www.thelocal.se/20130917/50294|title='Education inflation' hurts Swedes' job prospects|date=2013-09-17|access-date=2016-11-20}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.salon.com/2014/09/03/robert_reich_college_is_a_ludicrous_waste_of_money_partner/|title=Robert Reich: College is a ludicrous waste of money|last=Reich|first=Robert|website=Salon|access-date=2016-11-20|date=2014-09-03}} Students often feel unprepared for college as well.{{Cite web|url=https://edsource.org/2015/survey-most-high-school-students-feel-unprepared-for-college-careers/83752|title=Survey: Most high school students feel unprepared for college, careers|website=EdSource|access-date=2016-11-20}} More schooling does not necessarily correlate with greater economic growth.{{Cite news|url=http://educationnext.org/education-and-economic-growth/|title=Education and Economic Growth - Education Next|date=2008-02-29|newspaper=Education Next|language=en-US|access-date=2016-11-20}} Alternate forms of schooling, such as the Sudbury model, have been shown to be sufficient for college acceptance and other western cultural goals.{{Cite web|url=http://www.sudval.org/05_alumni.html|title=Sudbury Valley School • Online Library. Alumni|website=www.sudval.org|access-date=2016-11-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161004150726/http://www.sudval.org/05_alumni.html|archive-date=2016-10-04|url-status=dead}}
Instead of being a way out of poverty and a way to stay away from crime, for many, school has the opposite effect. Schooling often perpetuates poverty and class divisions.{{Cite news|url=http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2016/05/15/how-public-schools-demand-failure-and-perpetuate-poverty.html|title=How Public Schools Demand Failure and Perpetuate Poverty|last=Soling|first=Cevin|date=2016-05-15|newspaper=The Daily Beast|access-date=2016-11-20}}{{Cite journal|last=Hochschild|first=Jennifer L.|date=2016-11-19|title=Social Class in Public Schools|url=http://scholar.harvard.edu/jlhochschild/publications/social-class-public-schools|journal=Journal of Social Issues|volume=59|issue=4}} At many schools, students are introduced to gangs, drugs and crime.{{Cite news|url=https://www.ncjrs.gov/pdffiles1/ojjdp/183015.pdf|title=Youth Gangs in School|last1=Howell|first1=James|date=2000|work=Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention; Juvenile Justice Bulletin|last2=Lynch|first2=James}} The school-to-prison pipeline also converts children into criminals through overly harsh punishments.{{Cite news|url=https://www.aclu.org/issues/juvenile-justice/school-prison-pipeline|title=School-to-Prison Pipeline|newspaper=American Civil Liberties Union|access-date=2016-11-20}} Punishments from truancy and other school-related laws also adversely effect students and parents.{{Cite web|url=https://whatiscommoncore.wordpress.com/2013/07/23/compulsory-educations-unforeseen-consequences-nebraska-case-studies/|title=Compulsory Education's Unforeseen Consequences: Nebraska Case Studies|date=2013-07-23|website=COMMON CORE|access-date=2016-11-20}}{{Cite magazine|url=https://newrepublic.com/article/121186/truancy-laws-unfairly-attack-poor-children-and-parents|title=Inexcusable Absences|last=Goldstein|first=Dana|date=2015-03-06|magazine=New Republic|access-date=2016-11-20}}{{Cite news|url=http://reason.com/archives/2015/06/06/jail-for-missed-days-at-school-the-madne|title=Jail for Missed Days at School? The Madness of Truancy Laws.|date=2015-06-06|newspaper=Reason.com|access-date=2016-11-20}}
= Learning methods =
In the eyes of many critics, memorization and pure reproduction of formulas, facts, knowledge, etc., as is usually required by many schools, is no longer up to date in times of rapid information procurement via the Internet.{{Cite news |last=O'Keeffe |first=Alice |date=2020-03-02 |title=Instead of rote learning useless facts, children should be taught wellbeing |url=https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2020/mar/02/instead-rote-learning-useless-facts-children-need-taught-wellbeing |access-date=2024-09-30 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB |issn=0261-3077}} It neither demonstrates intelligence nor is it a useful skill that will take people far in today's world. Not least due to a lack of interest on the part of students and time pressure, it results in bulimic learning,{{Cite news |last=Unterberg |first=Swantje |date=2023-04-18 |title=Meinung: Wider das Bulimie-Lernen: Was Praktiker und Forscherinnen fordern |url=https://www.spiegel.de/panorama/bildung/wider-das-bulimie-lernen-was-praktiker-und-forscherinnen-fordern-a-fbbb31e4-9823-47cd-8703-3e2b6716ed12 |access-date=2024-11-27 |work=Der Spiegel |language=de |issn=2195-1349}}{{Cite web |last=Winterbauer |first=Jörg |title=Funktioniert Schule auch ohne Noten? |url=https://www.tagesschau.de/inland/gesellschaft/schule-ohne-noten-100.html |access-date=2024-11-27 |website=tagesschau.de |language=de}} making school learning an end in itself for many students. The skill of independently recognizing problems and developing solutions for them as well as an in-depth understanding of issues are prevented because the focus is too much on reproducing only the facts necessary for an exam, without the need of understanding the underlying concepts.