Sorry for slow reading -- I was black out by intensive (and rather pleasant
this semester!) work with my students on their final projects of their
choice.
I read Bonnie's message and found myself agreeing with everything except the
conclusion. Schools nicely serve economies all over the world -- this is the
problem for me, not satisfaction of the results. Somebody should do poetry
in our (US) society -- and "we" got poets (not too many but enough to have a
"healthy" competition for piece of rather small pie -- although bigger than
in many other places!), somebody should build nuclear weapons --
surprise-surprise "we" have quite a few of them. Somebody need to deliver
pizza -- what a minute there they are, ready and assured that they can't do
anything else.... When there is more demands from economy -- there will be
more "success" in schools, when there are less specific workplaces -- sorry,
"we" should be tough to prepare "kids" better to cruelty of competition
(meaning we should fail more in school). I wonder if we can apply
Piaget's notions of assimilation, accommodation, and drive for the
equilibrium for this process :-) :-(
What do you think?
Eugene
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Bonnie Nardi [mailto:nardi@research.att.com]
> Sent: Friday, May 21, 1999 3:54 PM
> To: xmca who-is-at weber.ucsd.edu
> Subject: Re: Campaign Against Public Schools
>
>
> How bad are the public schools in the U.S?
>
> The U.S. looks pretty good to me on a number of dimensions. We have the
> finest scientific establishment in the world, the most vibrant
> pop culture,
> the most advanced technology, the freest (and maybe most prolific) press.
> The scientists, artists, engineers and writers this country
> produces is mind
> boggling.
>
> These people didn't all get there by bus. Most of today's workers were
> educated in the public schools. Whatever their activities were during the
> formative years, they seem to have paved the way for massive
> accomplishment
> in the arts, sciences, engineering and journalism. Nor were most of these
> people of elite backgrounds, attending only the best schools. We can also
> look to our far-reaching critical thinkers in feminism and
> environmentalism
> as further products of public schools, as well as our fine physicians and
> nurses (which HMO's, which promised "choice," are doing their best to
> undermine). We have excellent librarians, secretaries, forest rangers, and
> many, many others in the United States.
>
> There is plenty of need for change in the schools (and the wider society
> beyond); everyone on the list seems to agree on that point. This
> discussion
> has pointed to many needed areas of change. But statements about
> babysitting, docile workers, and so forth, do not square with
> what people in
> the U.S. do on a regular basis, as part of our everyday activities which
> have their roots in public school experience.
>
> ------
>
>
>
> Bonnie A. Nardi
> Research Scientist
> AT&T Labs West
> 75 Willow Road
> Menlo Park, CA 94025
> (650) 463-7064
> nardi who-is-at research.att.com
> fax:(650) 327-3796
> www.best.com/~nardi/default.html
>