As private school students, many of us get caught up
in the horror stories that circulate about the public school system ranging
from outrageous claims about gang violence to the inexplicably high failure
rate. However, any student that has experienced both the public and private
school systems would happily say that many of these farce claims are no more
than rumors, for the most part. Although the stories of gang crime and drug
abuse don’t always hold true, the criticisms of the public school curriculum
does hold some truth. As Neil Postman points out in his novel End of Education,
the public school system of 1995 was centralized around a one sided perspective
that lacked cultural diversity and favored a Western worldview. The difference
between Postman’s description of the education system in 1995 and the current
public school system is that modern day America has accepted a multicultural
ideology.
In End of Education, Postman voices
his criticisms of the 1995 public school system which barred religious
teachings in school. Postman states that religion is a necessity for schooling
as, “so much of our painting, music, architecture, literature, and science are
intertwined with religion. It is, therefore, quite impossible (impossible by
definition) for anyone to claim to be educated who has no knowledge of the role
played by religion in the formation of culture” (Postman 150). Thus, Postman is
highly critical of the narrow minded education structure that in part
characterized the public education system of 1995, concluding that the
ignorance of religion’s roll in social conduct is a sign of an uneducated
individual. However, fast forward twenty-five years to 2015 and America has
seen a huge swing towards a multicultural and socially plural society which not
only acknowledges the role of religion in social conduct but also teaches
religion in schools from an analytical standpoint.
Furthermore,
Postman concludes that youth that are raised in a socially aware school system
will become well rounded people, by “understanding the principle of diversity,
is that by studying religion, our students can become acquainted with, first,
the variety of ways people have offered to explain themselves and, second, the
astonishing unity of their explanations” (Postman 150). By teaching students in an environment that
promotes and accepts a multicultural perspective, students learn to express
their thoughts and ideas in a more productive manner thus creating a more
efficient and progressive society. Overall, Postman’s hypothesis that ignorance
of religion is detrimental to the education system withstands the test of time,
and is exemplified by the success of a socially plural perspective in modern
day America.
Works Cited
Postman, Neil. The End of Education: Redefining the
Value of School. New York: Vintage, 1996.
Print.
While I agree that modern day America has accepted a multicultural ideology, i don’t believe this is down to public schools, but instead the internet and generally a ore diverse America. Public schools only really address religious issues by stating that no one is different, and that we should not act differently towards others, but in terms of educating their students about what the religion is truly about and how religion has tied in with history, school is severely lacking, for instance European history, is not even required as a course win most public schools, therefor they lack great knowledge of the earliest world thinkers, and early civilizations as well as the bad points in our history that go unmentioned. For not going into detail in these topics public schools have done little to nothing to change the American mindset.
ReplyDeleteOverall nice work Harvey, but i can't help but feel that some statements could have been better backed up with examples. For instance the phrase "America has seen a huge swing towards a multicultural and socially plural society" would likely have been more impact if you had included an example to back up what you said.
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