1-15
Schooling as a form of social control
Government schools tend to serve
government purposes. Only to the extent
that government is truly by and for the
people, is schooling likely to prepare
students to work toward meeting the
needs of the majority of citizens in
effective and lasting ways.
Whose needs does your school system serve?
In the world today, most governments do not represent all their people
equally-Many governments are controlled by a powerful minority of politicians,
businessmen, wealthy landholders, military leaders, and professionals (especially
lawyers and doctors). These persons often care more about protecting their
own interests than about looking for ways to improve the well-being of the
poor majority. When they do consider doing something to help the poor, they
are usually careful to do so in ways that do not threaten their own interests and
authority.
Schooling, from the viewpoint of those in power, involves a risk. When the poor
learn to read and write, they can communicate and organize in new ways, in greater
numbers, over larger distances. They can read things that help them discover their
legal and human rights. They may ask themselves if it is really ‘God’s will’ that a
few persons have far more than they need, while others do not have enough to
eat. They may even begin to realize that they can do something to change their
situation.
This means that, for the few to keep their control, schools must teach poor
people to obey authority as well as to read and write. So most schools teach
students to fit into the existing social order rather than to question or try to
change it.
How is this done? By putting emphasis on following rules, being on time, and
‘behaving’. Students are encouraged to compete more than cooperate, to memorize
rather than think. School books paint the present government as completely good and
just, with leaders who always have the interests of all the people at heart.
But perhaps the most powerful means the schools have for teaching children to
‘listen and obey’ are the teaching methods themselves. Students are led to believe
that the only way to learn is to be taught—by someone who knows more than they
do. The teacher is set up as the ‘master’, an authority whose statements must not be
questioned.
This kind of education is called authoritarian, because its purpose is to strengthen
the authority of those in control. It is education designed to keep things as they are-
education that resists change.
“The lecture method of
teaching is the best way to
transfer the teacher’s notes
to the students’ notebooks
without ever passing through
their minds.”