What is Education?
Education. It seems like a simple enough word; however, when fully looked at, there is so much more to education than textbooks, tests, quizzes, and readings. Traditionally, education has been the process of learning to read and write, concepts straight out of a textbook. However, as education has progressed with society, much discussion regarding education has begun, particularly regarding what truly constitutes an education. Most professions today all require critical thinking, people skills, and the ability to connect with others in addition to the information learned from textbooks. Yet there seems to be an increase in the frequency of necessary standardized tests and standardized teaching. Technological advancements in the classroom have also contributed to the standardized teachings in regards to how students’ work is monitored. In Little Brother, Doctorow shows some of the ways in which the students’ learning is very closely tracked through the monitoring of the Xnet and various web-based programs. These ways that learning is tracked contribute to the traditional, standardized teaching that does not emphasize personal connection to course material. With the culture that makes up today’s society, it is worrisome to think that our future leaders are being taught such guided and strict material, instead of being allowed more freedoms to explore the material and communicate with others throughout the learning process.
