(Even admitting, I still haven't managed to get through it with my non existent Spanish in spite of the subtitles. ;-))
(There is a synopsis available for this at YouTube.)
Martin in the film: "... saying what you think is lack of respect ..."
Also they talk about the history of education with reference to ancient Athens,
Plato's first academies -> places for thought, conversation and free experimentation...
...
"Our problem in understanding forced schooling
stems from an inconvenient fact:
that the wrong it does, from a human perspective,
is right from a systems perspective."
John Taylor Gatto
This is barely known, but education that is public,
free and compulsory,
was invented at some point in history.
Formerly, it didn't exist.
In ancient times education was very different
to what we all believe education to be today.
In ancient Athens, for instance, there were no schools.
Plato's first academies were places for thought,
conversation and free experimentation.
Compulsory education was for slaves.
On the other hand, education in Sparta
was more like a military drill.
The state got rid of those who didn't reach
the expected levels.
There were compulsory classes, severe punishments
and behavior modeling through pain and suffering.
In the past, education was in the hands of the Catholic
Church, at least in the Western Christian world.
And it was only in the 18th century,
at a moment in History we call
Enlightened Despotism,
(you may have heard this at school),
where the concept of education was created...
.. public, free and compulsory.
Schools as we know them today were born in the late 18th
and early 19th Century, in Prussia.
In order to prevent revolutions like those occurring
in France, monarchs introduced some "enlightenment"
so as to satisfy the people, but maintaining Absolutism.
The Prussian school was based on a strong division
of classes and casts.
It's structure, heir to the Spartan model, promoted
discipline, obedience and an authoritarian regime.
What were these learned despots looking for?
A docile, obedient people that could be trained
for the wars that were occurring at the time between
emerging nations.
Catherine the Great of Russia, for instance,
called in French encyclopaedists to put this together.
Diderot, one of the most famous, was there to prepare this
package. Yes, a shaper of ... not of citizens,
but of obedient subjects to those States.
News about this successful educational model traveled fast,
and within a few years American and European educators
visited Prussia to become qualified.
As time went by, this model became international.
Many countries imported this modern system,
of education, publicizing education for everyone,
raising the flag for equality, whilst the essence
of the system itself came from Despotism,
looking to perpetuate elitist models and division
of the classes.
That was the birth of Public Education.
Notice that Napoleon, a little later,
and a sworn enemy of all these despots, did the same.
He said so, mincing not a word:
"I want to create an educational body,
that will steer the way French people think."
Get it?
He certainly did!
And this persists today, whether we are aware of it or not.
...
The basic lessons taught at school are:
- Shut up!
- and do what you're told to do!
Are those the most basic fundamentals of a free society?
About "preventive" learning:
(A bit out of sequence, but better late then never. ;-))
We say that in today's conventional schools
learning is preventive.
"Miss, what is this for?" and the teachers responds,
"Ah! Perhaps you might need it one day!"
But we have realized that this kind of knowledge
doesn't endure nor prevail for very long.
This makes me think of this Chinese proverb again:
Tell me and I'll forget;Nowadays this might be called learning by doing. ;-)
show me and I may remember;
involve me and I'll understand.
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