Have I mentioned Education recently?

Glenn Reynolds has offered two columns at MSNBC on the situation facing smart kids and in the second, a criticism of the way school fails them. One of his links is to the Atlanta Journal Constitution peice by Marquis Harris on his being rejected to teach in high school because administrators thought he would, "serve as an unrealistic expectation as to what high school students could strive to achieve or become." They, "recommended that you seek employment at the collegiate level; there your intellectual comportment would be greatly appreciated."

I have lost count of the number of times people in the college of teacher education have suggested I consider "employment at the collegiate level." I had previously attributed these comments to someone's misguided sense that I might be happier surrounded with fellow smarties. Mr. Harris' situation puts a different spin on this comments.

Reynolds observes, "In other words, the school administrators don't want their students to aim high. We're not going to hold our own against the Indians, the Chinese, and the rest of the world that way." No, we don't want our students to aim high. This point comes up again and again on this blog. A few examples can be found here, here, and here. I have not gotten around to reviewing Diane Ravitch's book Left Back: A Century of Battles over school reform, but I will say that I have found no better explanation for why it is that we have embraced an anti-academic education for our kids. Educators are convinced that no one actually needs academic preperation. What we need is the ability to use our free time fulfillingly. Economic rivals, I might add, couldn't agree more.

I am not one to lament economic outsourcing, job flight, or the rise in new economies elsewhere in the world. As a free market advocate I would prefer to see competion motivate people to take their own competativeness seriously, rather than have protectionists lull people into a false sense of security about their economic potential and the educational attainment of our children. I do, however, make a point to students that between automation, self-service, and outsourcing, jobs that don't rely on a good education are in danger. Reynolds is right to ask wether our educational system is performing the task we have laid before it. Perhaps it is prudent to mention that the previous post here deals with the notion that schools ignore the task parents lay before it in favor of self-appointed tasks. Reynold's conclusion, that instead of worrying about outsourcing we should worry about the state of education and the efforts students make, is the right one. For Aristotle, success, happiness, and ultimatly the good life arises from habits that in turn can only be acquired by repeated action and correction. This should be the purpose of school - the cultivation of the habits which will allow every student to reach their own potential.