My Main Page with Links to My Other Book Reviews

The End of Education

by Neil Postman

Neil Postman argues that schools should emphasize three A’s: Astronomy, anthropology and archeology. It does not matter much what gets taught, he claims, what matters is wow-ability. The three A’s are more intellectually fun than other subjects. Ergo, they are better.

Unfortunately, the three A’s are bad idea. It does matter what is taught. Reading and writing matter. And it matters what is read and written.

Anthropology, archeology, and astronomy have little of practical value, little of moral value and little of artistic value. Anthropology and archeology often teach people that because some tribe does something it makes it acceptable. They teach people how to live by describing how other people live rather than by making arguments about how people should live.

The wow-ability of astronomy is overrated. If we should prefer wow-ability, why not make the curriculum monster trucks, professional wrestling, and soap operas?

The best ideas in this book are his technology ideas, which can be found elsewhere. They include:

· Sometimes technologies provide overall benefit and sometimes they do not. And even the beneficial ones harm some. And the harmful ones benefit some. They are not neutral. Whenever I hear someone say technologies are neutral, it makes me react the same as when I hear someone say evil religious people can not be religious. I want to puke.

· Technologies come with implied or explicit philosophies delivered by the faithful. The peddlers of technologies compete for our attentions and admiration.

Televisions and technologies are not alone in its ability to amuse ourselves to death. So can the curriculum offered here, a gathering of intellectual distractions. Subject matter is not everything in the classroom, but it is not nothing either. Curriculums are often political and arbitrary, but they are not that arbitrary. The author says technologies are ecological, and I say, so are curricula. Not recommended.

— book review by J.T. Fournier

My Main Page with Links to My Other Book Reviews