“The great and the good who pontificate about how school is no longer needed are the worst kind of hypocrite. They have benefited from a good (traditional) education themselves, have gained all the “badges” (BA, MA etc), have good jobs far removed from the lives of families in the sort of areas I’ve taught in, and then tell the world that school is no longer needed or relevant. It feels a lot like pulling up the drawbridge to me, a great way of keeping the great unwashed out of the castle.”
I find myself becoming increasingly irritated by people who say that we no longer need schools. The “argument”, if I can so dignify their pronouncements, seem to consist of the “logic” (ditto) that kids have lots of access to technology, and they can teach themselves how to use it, and therefore schools, and by extension teachers, are redundant.
I’ll say why I think these people are wrong in a minute, but I should like to make the observation that the only other time in my career that I’ve heard people say school is irrelevant is very, very occasionally at parents’ evenings. I’ve worked in three of the most deprived areas in England, and most of the parents were immensely supportive of school, because they saw it as a way out of poverty for their children. But now and again a parent would say to me something along the lines of:
“Well, I left school at 14 and it didn’t do me any harm.”
You can read the rest of this article here: Why school is still necessary in the age of technology. I published it on 12 November 2014, and it’s still relevant today. Perhaps even more so.
If you found this article interesting and useful, why not subscribe to my newsletter, Digital Education? It’s been going since the year 2000, and has news, views and reviews for Computing and ed tech teachers — and useful tips.
For a limited period of time, sign up for a free copy of Tips for Teaching Online.