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NEWS & VIEWS |
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Danger school! |
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IDAC team rightly claims that this book, which otherwise deals with examples from the Western European countries in the 1960’s, is equally relevant to the educational systems all over the world and even now.
The book progresses as a discussion between two friends on schools and educational system in six different parts. The first part deals with the uneasiness and dissatisfaction among the pupils, teachers and parents about the failures of schooling system. Supporting statistics from European countries is cited to illustrate the higher rate of failures and drop-outs in the schools. In the second part, friends discuss the history of formal schooling and societies where formal schools did not exist. People learnt from elders in the society. The advent of schools in Europe after the Middle Ages, led to gradual change from an “elitist” one to a “democratic” one. A careful analysis of the systemic, cultural and economic inequalities has been raised as a significant determinant in the matrix of the educational system. Professor Robert Rosenthal’s experiment has been quoted dealing with the role of teachers’ bias in the development of his pupils. How the biases in the behavioural values and standards like individualism, competition, submission, respect for order, uniformity, fear of conflict etc., are imposed by the schools have been discussed in the fourth part. In the beginning of the fifth part, one of the friend becomes confused as to why when all this inequality is being spread so widely, there no reaction from the people? As an answer to it, the fifth part of the book discusses the school as a part of the larger system that operates and governs the whole society. “The school is just a cog in the wheel”- a dialogue by one the friends explains it all. In the sixth and concluding part of the book, the other friend has been shown as enlightened by the discussion. He thinks about the need to change the system and with the help of his friend endeavours to do so.
But readers may decide whether the task is complete, or needs to begin afresh. The imposition of so called right answer has become more important than pursuing the right way of asking a question. There would not be children innovators, had the project of standardization of educational system succeeded completely. There is a perhaps a hope thus: Eds.
The readers would also find interesting to read the sequel to this book titled “School, Society, Future.
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| Volume No. |
Honey Bee, 21(3), 20, 2010 |
