Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

The main point in this article is that the existing stage of privatization and corporate influence over education is just one step in a wider agenda to completely reform the system. This is probably true, but the main question here is, who cares? I think the answer, and most salient point, can be found in the latter half of the article (and you have to wade through a lot of rhetoric to get to it): "capitalism had always had low expectations of the working class: learn how to read, write, do arithmetic, and show up for work on time." I think this is an important point. Today, of course, needs and expectations are higher, but there's still a wide gap between the education that would be most beneficial for the individual, and education that would be sufficient for the needs of employers. We see this in the emphasis on skills and competencies for employees as compared to class-based socialization, network formation and opportunity development for those in more elite education.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

Copyright 2024
Last Updated: Mar 28, 2024 08:27 a.m.

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