Socialist Progressives
In reply to the discussion: What led you to socialism? [View all]Owlet
(1,248 posts)Taught for 8 years in the '60's, and became active in the then new teachers' association's interest in collective bargaining (or as some then insisted on calling it: "professional negotiation" . I joined the staff of the State Association and was a field rep for 20 years before taking on the job of computerizing our efforts in the early 80's.
I believed when I started so many years ago that the purpose of public education was to produce an informed citizenry who would then make political choices for the good of the country. Among other subjects I taught 9th grade Civics - a course I doubt you'll find in many schools today.
It has become apparent to me that those in charge of public education today have an entirely different goal. No longer is it the purpose of public education to produce an enlightened citizenry. Now the phrase I hear most often is something like: schools should "train the future workforce" in order to be "able to compete globally."
Sad to say, I don't think today's citizenry is particularly well-informed. I rather suspect that this condition has been created, and continues to be reinforced, deliberately by those whose interests are best served by an ignorant populace.