The End of Education

October 28, 1996
Claiming that our current educational system teaches students to worship technology and consumerism, Postman argues for more humanistic "narratives" as the basis for schools.

September 4, 1995
Because American society operates on the unspoken assumption that schooling is for preparing students for well-paying jobs, our educational system is falling apart, declares Postman (Technopoly), a New York University communications professor. In a wise and provocative essay, he argues that public schools subtly reinforce worship of technology, economic utility and consumerism. He outlines several alternative ``narratives'' that would give public schools a compelling reason to exist and that would motivate students to learn. These include ``Spaceship Earth,'' which casts humans as caretakers of a vulnerable, interdependent planet; the ``Law of Diversity,'' teaching how art, science, politics and customs have been vitalized through the intermingling of cultures; the ``American Experiment,'' portraying U.S. history as an imperfect crucible of democracy; and ``Word Weavers,'' the social and moral dimensions of language and its central role in transforming the world. Postman's visionary, perhaps somewhat utopian blueprint for transforming our schools sets a new standard for debate.