"Weaponized" Education?

The Artdog Quote of the Week

I don't know about you, but I rarely think of education as a weapon. My general concept of education has always been that it is more of a path through a tool shop, although I suppose some of those tools could be considered sharp-edged weapons . . . especially those in the Critical Thinking Department.

And yet two of my earlier Quotes of the Week this month have looked at education as a way to fight poverty and terrorism, both of which are well worth trying to combat.

I think this "education is a weapon" concept is why folks at the more authoritarian end of the political spectrum so often seek to subvert, control, or de-fund universal education. They may come out openly against it (as does the Taliban).

Others may give lip service to the importance of education, but follow a more hyper-individualist and/or fundamental religious philosophy that can produce varying degrees of destruction as a side-effect (as do the extreme tax cuts in Kansas that were supposed to "free" businesses to create jobs but didn't, or the push to use public education money for vouchers to fund parochial schools).

However we think of education, we must always remember that it is a powerful force, a sharp-bladed tool. It can improve lives all over our country and our planet--or it can be subverted in ways that stunt and warp and destroy. As thinking adults, we must keep our wits, look at outcomes, and make our choices about education as wisely as we can, lest that weapon fall into the wrong hands.

IMAGE: Many thanks to "Basic Knowledge 101" for this quote image.

Did you have THAT teacher?

Alliteration's a lovely thing, and the point is still valid, if you take "chalk" to mean "inspiration."



Of course, fewer and fewer classrooms use actual chalk today. In that respect this quote is becoming an anachonism. The transition, first to whiteboards and then to smartboards, started decades ago.

But teaching has been around a lot longer than smartboards, or even books or chalkboards. The bigger, older, more universal point is what a difference a teacher can make.

Nearly everyone has had that teacher. The one who paid attention, the one who took the extra time, the one who cared. The one we never forget. We'd like to think every child has at least one of those teachers, but the sad truth is that not everyone does.

We're starting a new school year, so everyone involved in our schools has a new chance, either to get--or to BE--that teacher. Will this be the year?

IMAGE: Many thanks to SantaBanta for this image and quote.

Artdog Quote of the Week: If you don't educate . . .

In honor of the start of school in many places around the nation and the world this month, here's a thought to bear in mind:

 

Always true, even if you don't like paying taxes. 

I would prefer not to think that manipulation is the plan of those who seek to slash education spending or shunt money away from public education, thereby creating even more obstacles to equality for the poor than already exist. 

I would like to be able to say with confidence that this is not the plan of those who would deny higher education to those who were brought as small children to my country, by parents seeking a better life. 

I would like to think that everywhere in the world, people are coming to the realization that educating girls is the best economic idea we've seen in ages, because of the predictably positive results, and that those who would rather kill or rape them than educate them are a dying minority.

I would like to. But I fear it would be a lie.

IMAGE: Many thanks to the Urban Drops Facebook Page, for this image!