Distance Education – The perfect fit for military soldiers

Many military students are taking advantage of this wonderful opportunity and using their off hours to do class work and assignments. This is a perfect fit for many reasons, one being convenience. Students can sign in to their online classroom at times that are convenient to them, no matter where they are and what time zone they are in. Not having to physically attend campus at specific times is often easier for individuals in the military. Students are able download class lectures to view and listen to at times that are more convenient to them. They can also review lectures over and over again which help them to retain the information much better than they would have listening to the same lecture only once in a traditional classroom environment.

Fast Access to Online Education

The rapid expansion of the Web and distance education technology has changed things for online students. Now, when soldiers are deployed to other locations, they are still able to continue with their education. Many accredited online colleges and universities have created military online degree programs to meet the needs of service members. The only problem that military students may have with distance learning is the access to fast Internet connection especially if they are located in areas where access to fast connection is a problem. But overall it is still an excellent choice of learning for military soldiers.

Online Learning Advantages

The advantages of learning online are many. They include:

Flexibility
Portability
Convenience
Easy access
Interactivity

Financial Aid for Military Students

Distance education military members also have access to financial aid, grants, scholarships and other military discounts and education benefits which can be used to pay for tuition and other college costs.

Looking at all the benefits and advantages of online learning, I would say go for it! Distance education is a good choice of learning for military soldiers.

Best Online College Majors For Military Soldiers

If you are planning to join the military, or already a military soldier, or have plans to re-enter civilian life, choosing the online college major can make a big difference in your career and your future. The right college major can help shape your life in ways imaginable.

Aerospace Engineering
Liberal Arts Major
Criminal Justice Majors
Electrical and Electronics Engineering
Marine engineers and naval architects

My own older children are proof. My daughter has a PhD. in medicine. My son has a marketing degree. But neither earns the income of my youngest son who has not yet finished his Associates degree. Instead, he took his savings as an EMT and became a partner in a new Internet marketing company. – And eventhough I did attend several colleges, I had created several successful businesses along the way. So I do not denigrate the value that education has. But I no longer believe that it is the answer for every American’s future.

Entrepreneurship is what made America great. And it is the option that many of us must consider as perhaps the better option. – My calling is to help US veterans and their spouses to be successfully employed; but, this applies to everyone. – Here is the option of someone with much more credence than I:

Peter Thiel is the co-founder of PayPal. He rose to fame, and his company dramatically increased in prestige and profits when he predicted the tumble of Wall St. and also the real estate bubble bursting. – He saved his company from both and came out smelling like a rose. – So he may be someone we should pay attention to.

The most important “bubble” that Thiel sees as about to burst is Higher Education. What once may have been true, that a higher education would lead to better jobs and a better lifestyle, Thiel would argue is now become largely a myth. He suggests that entrepreneurship would be a better use of many current college students’ lives.

It is difficult to disagree when you look at some of the facts he lists that support his thesis. Young adults by the many thousands are going into a lifetime of debt because of the delusion that “it is worth the cost.” For a great deal of our current graduates, it means years of harassment by the federal government for not keeping current on their payments, audits by the IRS, a bad credit rating, living at home with their parents and the inability to get a job of any kind, compounded by the aforementioned.

Thiel believes in his conviction so much that he and his team came up with this: “Thiel and Founders Fund managing partner Luke Nosek came up with the idea of the “20 Under 20 program last September, announcing it just days later at San Francisco Disrupt. The idea was simple: Pick the best twenty kids he could find under 20 years of age and pay them $100,000 over two years to leave school and start a company instead.”

This may be a great opportunity for these not-yet-twenties. But Thiel has basically bribed them to do this. And that is not the mettle of true entrepreneurs. – And a true entrepreneur does not need a philanthropist to be successful. – If you are one, then you think about it all of time. – This is just an encouragement to take the first step.

We learn about the importance of education through reading Quran. Acquisition of some particular type of worldly knowledge may help you learn one or another thing related to your particular interest and they may solve some particular problem for you. On the other hand, the knowledge one acquires from the Quran can make our present as well as our life after death successful. The Quran is the sacred book of Allah as revealed to the Prophet Muhammad (peace be upon him) and is the best guide for mankind. Islam provides us with unlimited knowledge and education and the Quran is the central book of Islamic knowledge.

Education and knowledge are useless if they do not transform and uplift one’s personal life. No one can find the right path and direction in this world without the right education. Learning is a natural process. This is innate and one of the basic instincts of man. The pleasure achieved from the acquisition of knowledge is very important for the growth and nurturing of the human mind. Had there had been no inclination to learn, life itself would have been in danger. Even the growth and sustenance of the human race would have been in danger if knowledge of medicine and other branches of knowledge had not been pursued. The regular recitation of Quran reminds us on the importance of education and strengthens our focus regarding it.

Education is important for two reasons. It provides a person with the right mental tools so that he can think clearly and in the right direction. If one has no education, then one cannot think properly in an appropriate manner. Education trains a person how to think and how to make an informed decision. The second reason which makes education important is that one can acquire information from the external world and convert it to useful knowledge only when one has education. A person without education is like a closed room, without light and fresh air, while an with education a person feels as if he is in a room with all its windows open towards outside world, with plenty of light and fresh air.

Knowledge among the Muslims is spreading as it is among the rest of the people of the world. Muslims all over the world are coming up better ideas, they have begun to think and reflect more about the world around them, and they are showing greater interest in new information, and they are acquiring new skills. This is the Industrial Age and the world is growing very fast. It is the duty of people related to the field of education to provide people with quality education Research informs us that the Western view of Muslims is very negative and they think Muslims are uneducated, illiterate, and ignorant. Muslims must change this perspective and the first step to this is to read the Quran.

The per capital income depends upon the state of economy which is directly proportional to the literacy rate in a country. The economy of a country mainly depends upon the able economists who formulate such economic policies which play an effective role in the progress of the country. And the fact remains that the able and competent economists are produced only if a country has a sound system of education. Besides, the failed economic systems will have its negative effects on all the other fields. The health care, industry, agriculture, defence, etc. Would remain weak.

We take up the example of health care first. The hospitals are the ultimate place for the indisposed. If country’s economy is weak, it would be difficult for the government or the private sector to set up more and more hospitals, enough to cater to the health care needs of the nation. And obviously, the physically weak or the ailing nation would not play any role in the development of its mother land. Hence education in a way is directly linked to health care.

Moreover, the health care itself depends upon education in the sense that able and competed doctors could only be produced if the country has evolved and effective and viable education system. A weak education system means incompetent doctors who get degrees in medicine and surgery through back doors. Such doctors would not be able to serve the ailing humanity because of their incompetence.

And, of course, education makes up the conscience and makes one realize that the social evils definitely eat into the vitals of a society. The illiterate or less educated society has the corruption rampant in various forms – bribery, jobbery, nepotism, etc. on the contrary; the educated people realize that the society cannot b reformed unless these social evils are eradicated from the society. And this realization comes only and only with the education.

A developing country needs education all the more to eradicate these evils because it yet to rank among the developed countries. If the society is breeding this evil, it would become extremely difficult to put the country on path to progress.

Lawlessness hinders the process of development as nobody feels secure and education helps over come lawlessness as the educated people realize that it the lawlessness from which most of the evils stem. Lawlessness means the oppressors are free to oppress the already wretched sections of the society who do not know where to go and whom to talk to in order to get justice. In a lawless society, the outlaws are always on the rampage which disturbed the smooth working in all the fields with the result that the process of development comes to us standstill. Education is the panacea which can wash this evil also

The education also makes one realize that a nation can come out of the vicious economic cycle only if hard work is up held. If developing nation had this realization, al the members of the society will work hard to put the country on path to progress which will ultimately take the country out of vicious circle in which almost all the developing countries are struck up.

Industry of a country place a very vital role in the development. More industries mean more progress as more products are produced which not only cater to the needs of the nation itself but can also b exported to earn foreign exchange for the country. Industry, in one way, depends upon the engineers and technicians and capable engineers can be produced only if the country has a good education system and standard. Infrastructure of a country, it is believed, plays a central role in the progress. In this connection roads are very important as the transportation depends upon these. The highways connect cities with on another where as the farm- to-market roads are very important to transport commodities from the farm (where these are produced) to the market (where these are sold). The constructions of the roads depend upon two major factors. The quality of the material used and honesty of the personal engaged in the construction.

Since the education makes one realize that impurity in such material would not bring positive results, the educated lot would certainly avoid doing so and the engineers and other technical staff would also work hard to build the best possible roads using all their expertise.

Electronics and print media also plays a very important role in the development to a country. An honest journalist would not write about which might cause the disintegration of the country or collapse of the system favorable to the nation.

The agricultural sector is no less important which flourishes if educated people take to this field and adopt latest mean to enhance the productivity of the land. The educated agriculturalist would know which measure to take at what time. Moreover, they keep themselves abreast with the latest inventions in the agro field. I this way, education bring green revolution in a developing country. This was a brief discussion over the above written topic the crux of which is —NO EDUCATION NO DEVELOPMENT.

You can also learn more other thing related to it and they may solve your daily or routine wise problem Quran is a perfect guider that can make our this as well as after death life easy and successful. Islam has given us education with knowledge which has no limits. The Holy Quran is the most sacred book of Allah revealed on Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and is the best guide for us.

Education is the knowledge of putting your abilities to uplift your life no one can find the proper right path in this world without education. Learning is a natural process. This is innate and one of the basic instinct. The pleasure achieved from this is very important for human mind to nurture. If there had been no learning the life itself would be in danger. Even the growth of human race has been in danger if knowledge of sex through observation, reading and hearing is hidden from everyone when we recite Quran then we get that Quran focus on education.

We have analyzed that Muslims are getting good ideas, thinking, information, and skills, from all over the world. The world is growingvery fast, this is the time of industrialize It is the duty of the teachers to teach the people with qualityeducation There are two reasons due to which education is importance. Education makes man a right thinker. If you have no education, then you cannot think properly in an appropriate manner. It tells man how to think and how to make decision. The second reason for the importance of education is you can get information from the external world only when you have education we have learnt the importance of education through E quran tutor.

Recent studies of early childhood education have even shown some remarkable success. It resulting effects on child motivation and learning power last for a long time. Today where education has become very important role to play in a society, it is not right to postpone investing in children education until they become adults, nor wait till they reach school age. In fact early childhood is a vital phase of life in terms of a child’s intellectual, emotional and social development. Besides this, the most important point to know is that the growth of mental abilities is at an astounding rate and high proportion of learning takes place during this period.

It is very important for every parent to understand that a child spends first eight years in realization of his or her own identity. These are very crucial years when children gain a sense of self and learn to associate themselves with the people around them. They develop an understanding and behavior to a certain extent. For this reason it is suggested that early childhood education during these years should be more focused on teaching children about the world around them through play and establish the links. Moreover, many child development experts also agree that play is very important in the learning and emotional development of children. A play can be multi-facet and often helps in educating different skills in children. In addition to this, education through play also helps them learn social skills, and develop values and ethics.

Certainly, today it won’t be wrong to say that early childhood education is the key element that helps in building a god foundation for child’s educational success. Every child learns habit and form patterns that are not easily changed in later years. If parents and educators can develop productive early education patterns for the children in their charge, those children will be on their way to achieving great educational success. The lack of parental interaction during early childhood can negatively impact a child’s development. Ultimately it is the equal responsibility of the parents and tutors to assure the children have a good early childhood education that can further help them develop their personalities.

Why students in India are immensely luring towards the Distance Education in India? Well there are many genuine reasons available behind this process. First major reason is the financial stability. We all aware about the economical conditions of India yet there are many people who can’t afford the higher education amount. In such cases normally people dropped their decision for further studying and start looking for the jobs to manage their family responsibilities but due to the enchantment of Distance Education in India those students can simply boost their knowledge and opt for higher education through Open University India.

The Distance Education in India is best option for those students who preferably want to ‘earn while learning. This distance university in india offers all type of regular courses through correspondence. The courses offered by Open Universities in India have different eligibility criterion for admission. Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) and Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University (YCMOU) are counts as the top two Open Universities in India. These are recognized universities in India.

From last many years several students in India are opting for the short term courses offered by these universities which in a way offer a boost to their career. The other major concern of choosing the Distance Education in India among students is the increasing competition level. These days, taking admissions in regular University courses is full of challenges. The competition level has increased due to limited number of seats available in specialized professional courses.

The Distance Education in India is quite beneficial for those who need the promotions in their jobs and it depend on the possession of higher qualifications. The distance learning courses offer them opportunities to enhance their qualifications. Moreover the Distance Education in India is boon for the housewives as well. Thus the Distance Learning Education in India is as important as the regular education in India.

Many people find that this career path can prove to be too much and they must find another way to use their degree. Be sure that you understand not only what you have to do to obtain a special education degree but also what you will have to do to prepare yourself for the actual job.

State Requirements

While all states are different with what they will require from their teachers you will find that all states will require that you are licensed. This is something that is going to involve the completion of a bachelor’s degree at the very least. You may also need to have a master’s degree as well. There are some special education degree programs that are going to require a personal statement that will divulge in both your life and your work experiences.

You will also need to state your goals that you have within the actual program as well as your professional philosophies. You will also need to make sure that you have your PRAXIS scores. While these scores are not required in all states they will be needed in most of them. There are 2 different types of PRAXIS tests. There is a pre professional skills test. This test will measure the writing, reading and mathematics skills of the test taker. The other test will measure your comprehension of different subjects going from kindergarten to 12th grade.

Personal Requirements

It is important that you understand what will be needed from you personally in order to succeed in this particular field. You are going to need to understand the importance of your job and the patience you will have to have. You will also need to be able to know how to spot a problem with a child that has not yet been noticed or is being tested. You have to understand that this can sometimes seem like a very thankless job so don’t go in expecting to get a lot of recognition all of the time.

What to Expect

Whenever you are trying to masters in education in special education you will need to be able to provide counseling in education as well as diagnose and recognize different learning disabilities. Being able to teach special education to children of all ages is a necessity as well. You are also going to need to be able to make yourself familiar with the different policies and applicable laws within the state you are teaching in.

Individual education plans will need to be tailored by you as well. These are just a few of the things that you will need to make yourself familiar with so that you will be able to be successful and help to shape and mold lives.

Okay, here is a simplistic overview of how we have arrived at this pathetic state of affairs in our public educational systems which I culled from Gatto’s book. By the way, I have dissected his book thoroughly and I’m now using quotes from it in a book I am writing. Just to let you know that this essay wasn’t written just off the cuff.

“The secret of American schooling is that it doesn’t teach the way children learn and it isn’t supposed to. It took seven years of reading and reflection to finally figure out that mass schooling of the young by force was a creation of the four great coal powers of the 19th century. Nearly 100 years later, on April 11, 1933, Max Mason, president of the Rockefeller Foundation, announced to insiders that a comprehensive national program was underway to allow, in Mason’s words, -the control of human behavior.’ (page xvi)

Here is a brief sketch of each of the four men who owned the great coal powers. “Andrew Carnegie. An enthusiastic Darwinist and early proponent of planned economy and society, reunion with Great Britain. Beatrice Webb, the Fabian, called him -a slimy little reptile: Carnegie Endowments. J.P. Morgan. The foremost Anglican layman in the world. Worked resolutely for the restoration of a class system in America, and Anglo-American sovereignty worldwide. John D. Rockefeller Sr. -Survival of the fittest is nature’s way of producing beauty, – said Rockefeller. As a principal stockholder in U.S. Steel, he approved of school experiments in Gary, Indiana, to dumb down curriculum, seek more effective means of mind control. Rockefeller Foundation. Henry Ford. -I regard Henry Ford as my inspiration,’ Hitler told a Detroit newspaper in 1931. In July, 1938, automaker Ford received the Grand Cross of the Golden Eagle, highest award the German government could give a foreigner. Lenin acknowledged his debt to Ford’s genius. Ford Foundation.” (pg. 36)

Carnegie’s survival of the fittest philosophy is the rationalization the greedy and unethical corporate crooks use to justify their destruction of the environment and their exploitation of people around the world i.e. the law of the jungle. J.P. Morgan got his wish regarding establishing a class system in America which is evident in the perpetuation of poverty in inner city schools largely due to the grossly inferior public schools there as contrasted with the public schools in cities like Beverly Hills.

The Gary Plan which was approved by Rockefeller boiled down to -”school subjects were departmentalized; this required movement of students from room to room on a regular basis so that all building spaces were in constant use. Bells would ring and just as with Pavlov’s salivating dog, children would shift out of their seats and lurch toward yet another class.” (pg. 187)

The Gary Plan was a very sinister assault on our psyches as students. By arbitrarily dissecting the learning process, they replaced the focus of public schools from learning to the new priority of conformity to schedules by using bells to condition students for their future as wage slaves in the manufacturing sector. It also made it harder for students to see the interconnectedness of many academic subjects thereby dumbing students down and making the learning experience more dull and lifeless.

Of course Ford’s assembly line method of production can be seen in how our public schools are organized and how they just crank out students like inanimate objects with no regard for their uniqueness as individuals. In addition, this contributed to the emphasis on specialization which has greatly amplified the isolation of individuals and the breakdown of communication between professionals. This has not only been very costly in business terms but even more so in personal and social costs. It has led to our ability to create nuclear weapons but to divorce ourselves from the ethical ramifications of our inventions.

Next in this essay on the -dumbing down’ of America is the importation of the Prussian model of schooling with the work of Frederick W. Taylor who attended an aristocratic German academy and was greatly impressed because the Prussians had defeated Napoleon at the Battle of Jena. Here is a list of Taylor’s -Principles of Scientific Management’ which I’m sure you’ll recognize in our public schools: 1)A regimen of science, not rule of thumb. 2)An emphasis on harmony, not the discord of competition. 3)An insistence on cooperation, not individualism. 4)A fixation on maximum output. 5)The development of each man to his greatest productivity.” (pg. 172)

As a result of this Prussian system of conditioning we can see that science has been elevated over the humanities and hence our technological superiority but our general cultural ignorance. Also hypocritically these social engineers and lying manipulators of the masses indoctrinate us in public schools to cooperate so when we get out in the real world we’ll be more manageable or submissive to the ruling class. Furthermore, our individualism—our once proud national characteristic—is undermined and makes us more susceptible to the collective mindset i.e. nationalism and consumerism. Obviously the obsession with maximum output reflects our real value to the powers that be. They don’t care and in fact they seek to block us from realizing our full potentials.

This “adoption of business organization by schools” because “before 1900, school boards were large, clumsy organizations, with a seat available to represent every interest (they often had 30 to 50 members). A great transformation was engineered in the first decade of the 20th century, however, and after 1910 they were dominated by businessmen, lawyers, real estate men, and politicians-.Carnegie -the demand of the age is for practical education.’ ” (pg. 174-75)

Though there are many layers in the educational bureaucracy, local school boards have a very significant influence on educational policies. And it is common wisdom how unethical and greedy businessmen, lawyers, and politicians are so, is it any wonder that schools have been designed to serve the needs of the Robber Barons and not the needs of the people? Moreover, is it any wonder that Americans prize practicality over intellectual talents when we started as a self-reliant people noted for our rugged individualism? And when such -successful’ businessmen as Carnegie, Rockefeller, Ford,& J.P. Morgan advise people that the practical skills and common sense are all they need to succeed in life, the gullible and nave often fall for it.

Unfortunately, because so many Americans believed the propaganda of the powerful and specialized in their educational pursuits rather than generalized like true champions of mankind like Bucky Fuller advised, many people graduate college only to find there is a glut of graduates in their field and they are not able to find work. Richard Barnet gives us a glimpse of the truth behind the propaganda. “The problem is starkly simple. An astonishingly large and increasing number of human beings are not needed or wanted to make the goods or provide the services that the paying customers of the world can afford.” (pg. 260, Global Reach: The Power of the Multinational Corporations, Richard J. Barnet & Ronald E. Muller)

This rather depressing statement portends of the future of globalization and I don’t believe for one minute their claims that the globalization of the world will even out the distribution of jobs, goods, and services. This is the grand scam on a global scale and is a disguise for a race to the bottom i.e. a push to reduce all the workers of the world to starvation wages. And the power elite are preparing us for their globalizedNew World Order—a term coined by Hitler—with perhaps the most powerful psychological weapon in the public school arsenal i.e. behaviorism. And the Holy Grail of Behaviorism is Socialization.

Socialization is the central argument against home-schooling and we are led to believe that if it weren’t for the compassionate concern of educational psychologists as evidenced in the objectives of social skills, we’d be a nation of social misfits. This is one of the most dastardly deceptive lies that has been perpetrated upon the public. Children learn social skills in a myriad of places and situations. Some examples are when playing with neighborhood kids, at church, after school sports programs, clubs, with their brothers, sisters, cousins, friends, etc. The hidden agenda behind socialization is the conditioning of students so they will become submissive and docile employees, consumers, and patriots.

“Behavioral theory demands endless recorded observations and assessments in the face of mountainous evidence that interruptions and delays caused by such assessments create formidable obstacles to learning—and for many derail the possibility entirely.” (pg. 269)

In short, this shift to behaviorism for the last century has been very good for the newly emergent pseudo-science of behaviorism but has caused more harm than good to our students. I say it has been harmful because it has drained millions if not billions of dollars from our schools which could’ve been used to lure better teachers into the profession by offering more competitive salaries, purchase of more & better textbooks, and the building of more schools so as to reduce class sizes. The obsession with behaviorism has been and continues to be distracting and interrupts the real business of schools which lo and behold should be teaching not playing psychologist/scientific observer.

“To say that various psychologies dominate modern schooling is hardly to plow new ground. The tough thing to do is to show how that happened and why—and how the project progresses to its unseen goals. The Atlantic Monthly had this to say in April 1993:

-Schools have turned to therapeutic remediation. A growing proportion of many school budgets is devoted to counseling and other psychological services. The curriculum is becoming more therapeutic: children are taking courses in self-esteem, conflict resolution, and aggression management-.As a result, the mission is the psychologizing of American education.’ ” (pg. 274)

Now you may argue that we need more psychologists in our schools not less due to the increased level of violence in our schools as evidenced in the killings at Columbine. I contend that psychoanalyzing our students is a band-aid approach and if we truly want to reduce the level of violence in our youth and in our culture, we need to address the deeper issues starting with public education, health care, and unemployment. Many studies have been done on the correlation between illiteracy and incarcerated people, and as has been said, it’s much cheaper to give students a college education than to lock them up in prison which averages $25,000 per year. As educated citizens they can be useful, contributing members to society rather than a financial drain on it. Consider that in 1942, the literacy rate of guys entering the military was 96% but by 1973, it had dropped to “-73% but a substantial chunk of even those were only barely adequate; they could not keep abreast of developments by reading a newspaper, they could not read for pleasure, they could not sustain a thought or an argument, they could not write well enough to manage their own affairs without assistance.” (pg. 52)

It is not merely a coincidence that in Vietnam, the majority of our young men who were there fighting were Hispanic, Black, and poor Whites. This is a national disgrace and clearly reveals the class lines or divisions perpetuated by our public schools. The military is far too often the only option for the poor and for minorities because of the inferior education they receive in inner-city schools. And this is closely related to another shameful part of our public educational system’s history i.e. the Eugenics movement.

“Between 1890 and 1920, the percentage of our population adjudged -feebleminded’ and condemned to institutional confinement more than doubled. The long contemplated hygienic form of social control of 18th century German social thinker Johann Frank, -complete medical policing,’ was launched with a vengeance. Few intimidations are more effective than the threat of a stay in an insane asylum. Did the fraction of crazies really double in those three decades? The answer given by one contemporary was elliptically Darwinian: -Marriage of these inferiors is a veritable manufactory of degenerates.’ It could no longer go unchecked.” (pg. 222-23)

Gatto took a little swipe at the theory of evolution here—as all good fundamentalists believe it their sacred duty to do—but nonetheless, we do have a sordid history of trying to weed out the -inferiors’ amongst us. I never saw any handicapped students all my years in public school as a student and as an adult, I have worked with the multi-handicapped for nearly 15 years and know only too well the contempt not only the general public but also of many teachers and school administrators towards these generally gentle souls. I believe the contempt is usually a cover for people’s fear of what they don’t understand or know about these people. I also think the rich fear the poor and perhaps that’s a factor in why they have also tried to selectively breed people like myself out of their -fine stock?’

“One of the ideas that -empty child’ thinking led directly to was the notion that human breeding could be enhanced or retarded as plant and animal breeding was—by scientific gardeners and husbandmen. Naturally the time scale over which this was plotted to happen was quite long. Nobody expected it to be like breeding fruit flies, but it was a major academic, governmental, and even military item generously funded until Hitler’s proactive program (following America’s lead) grew so embarrassing by 1939 that our own projects and plans became more circumspect. Back at the beginning of the 20th century, the monstrously influential Edward Thorndike of Columbia Teachers College said that school would establish conditions for -selective breeding before the masses take things into their own hands.’ ” (pg. 59)

I know these are some pretty harsh charges against our public school administrators, educational psychologists and so on but, do your own research and determine for yourself if there is any merit to these charges if they anger you or if you simply care about our students and the future of our country. Gatto asserts several times in his book that he’s not claiming this has all been the product of a vast conspiracy but more of a convergence of -interests’ with a few petty conspirators. I have wrestled with this question at great length and feel it’s more useful to acknowledge the hand we’ve been dealt—however it came about—and get on with correcting it.

Here are a few more of the concrete particulars and steps we can take to remedy these obstacles to learning. By the way, the -empty child thinking’ mentioned above is a reference to John Locke’s -tabula rasa’ concept that children are -blank slates’ just waiting for teachers to write on them and has been one of the most pernicious educational theories to come down the pike.

In addition to the harmful results of Locke’s theory was and is the practice of standardized testing. “Another major architect of standardized testing, H. H. Goddard, said in his book Human Efficiency (1920) that government schooling was about -the perfect organization of the hive.’ He said standardized testing was a way to make lower classes recognize their own inferiority. Like wearing a dunce cap, it would discourage them from breeding and having ambition. Goddard was head of the Psychology Department at Princeton, so imagine the effect he had on the minds of the doctoral candidates he coached, and there were hundreds.” (pg. 59)

Standardized testing is basically unfair because they use as their standard of measuring all students’ intelligence, the intelligence level of affluent students who have had the benefits of being raised in a two parent home by usually college-educated parents who read regularly to their children, exposed them to classical music, symphonies, plays, museums, etc. It’s not that the affluent’s children are brighter than those raised in the ghettos but simply that they had the good fortune to be born into families they were born into. Ignorance, like poverty and violence is a vicious, self-perpetuating cycle that is damn hard to break out of because of so many environmental factors arrayed against you.

Next on what should be our -hit list’ are the pathetic textbooks teachers are forced to use and are expected to somehow make palatable to their students.

“Looking back on the original period of school formation in her study of American history textbooks, America Revised, Frances Fitzgerald remarked on the profound changes that emerged following suggestions issued by sociologists and social thinkers in the later 19th and early 20th centuries. The original history of our institutions and the documents which protect our unique liberties gradually began to be effaced. Fitzgerald raises the puzzle of textbook alteration:

-The ideology that lies behind these texts is rather difficult to define-.it does not fit usual political patterns-.the texts never indicate any line of action-.authors avoid what they choose to and some of them avoid main issues-.they fail to develop any original ideas-.they confuse social sciences with science-.clouds of jargon-.leave out ideas-.historical names are given no character, they are cipher people-.there are no conflicts, only -problems’-. (pg. 60-61)

Equally important, Gatto conveniently leaves out the fact that many who sit on the textbook selection committees and school boards are on the Christian Right or are conservatives with their own agendas and these two groups are well-organized and vocal in this country and in the textbooks selected and approved for our public schools. When you denude textbooks of any and all controversial subject matter, is it any wonder that students are bored to death?

Perhaps the single greatest blow to our traditional educational system and by extension, the gravest harm done to generations of Americans was the replacement of teaching kids to read by using phonics with the -sight reading method.’ “Something strange has been going on in government schools, especially where the matter of reading is concerned. Abundant data exists to show that by 1840 the incidence of complex literacy in the United States was between 93 and 100%, wherever such a thing mattered. Yet compulsory schooling existed nowhere. Between the two world wars, schoolmen seem to have been assigned the task of exterminating our universal reading proficiency.” (pg. xvi)

What’s the old adage, -if it ain’t broke don’t fix it?’ Then why did they eliminate phonics? Could having a dumber work force have better suited the likes of Carnegie, Rockefeller, Ford, & J.P. Morgan? Food for thought. The lack of reading proficiency is clearly extremely detrimental to the working poor and the middle class though because all the other subjects one needs to study to realize their potential is dependent on the ability to read well. Back around 1988 or so, I heard that the average high school graduate had an 8th grade reading level. By the way, not to brag but to illustrate, in 6th grade they told me I was reading at the 11th grade, 6th month level yet I never received any counseling all my remaining years to take courses to prepare for college and the high school I went to didn’t even offer them. Okay, back to the subject. I also heard that either 2 or 3 out of every 5 high school graduates couldn’t even make change and places like Mc Donald’s had to put pictures on the cash register keys to assist their young employees. A pretty sad state of affairs I’d say. And on the subject of history, Jonathan Kozol, a brilliant educational critic, said that a good understanding of history is important because it is the bedrock of so many other disciplines. Kozol also stated that the U.S. ranks about 50th in terms of literacy among the nations belonging to the United Nations.

I don’t mean to depress you but the time is long overdue for us to pull our heads out of the sand because our public school’s failures and problems aren’t simply going to vanish. Consider the following lest you still need convincing that our educational system is seriously flawed and is making the majority of America’s workers permanently redundant. By the way, I heard recently that the head of Hewlett-Packard said that they were going to have to move to India because that’s where the educated workers are.

“The National Adult Literacy Survey represents 190 million U.S. adults over age 16 with an average school attendance of 12.4 years. The survey is conducted by the Educational Testing Services of Princeton, New Jersey (they create the tests for the SAT, graduate school, law school, teacher certification, etc.). It ranks adult Americans into five levels. Here is its 1993 analysis:

1)42,000,000 Americans over the age of 16 can’t read. Some of this group can

write their names on Social Security cards and fill in height, weight, and

birth spaces on applications.

2)50,000,000 can recognize printed words on a 4th & 5th grade level. Theycan

not write simple messages or letters.

3)55 to 60 million are limited to 6th, 7th, & 8th grade reading. A majority of this

group could not figure out the price per ounce of peanut butter in a 20-ounce

jar costing $1.99 when told they could round the answer off to a whole number.

4)30,000,000 have 9th & 10th grade reading proficiency. This group (and all pre-

ceding) cannot understand a simplified written explanation of the procedures

used by attorneys & judges in selecting juries.

5)About 3.5 % of the 26,000—member sample demonstrated literacy skills

Adequate to do traditional college study, a level 30% of all U.S. high school

Students reached in 1940, and which 30% of secondary students in other

Developed countries can reach today. This last fact alone should warn you

How misleading comparisons drawn from international student competitions

Really are, since the samples each country sends are small elite ones, un-

Representative of the entire student population. But behind the bogus super-

Iority a real one is concealed.

6)96.5 % of the American population is mediocre to illiterate when deciphering

print is concerned. This is no commentary on their intelligence, but without

ability to take in primary information from print and to interpret it they are at

the mercy of commentators who tell them what things mean. A working de-

nition of immaturity might include those who excessively require others to

tell them what things mean.” (pg. 61-2)

Could this be why some have referred to America as a -Nation of Sheep?’

Am I being too insensitive? Too sharp in my criticisms? Well, I mean to shake you from your slumber because not only our future as Americans depends on our rousing from this long, national daydream, but the fate of the rest of the world hangs in the balance as well because we are the most powerful nation on the face of the earth and our global corporations affect every square inch of the planet just about!

In conclusion, ponder this little gem for awhile: “From the beginning, there was purpose behind forced schooling, purpose which had nothing to do with what parents, kids, or communities wanted; but instead was forged out of what a highly centralized corporate economy and system of finance bent on internationalizing itself was thought to need; that, and what a strong, centralized political state needed, too. School was looked upon from the first decade of the 20th century as a branch of industry and a tool of governance. For a considerable time, probably provoked by a climate of official anger and contempt directed against immigrants in the greatest displacement of people known to history, social managers of schooling were remarkably candid about what they were doing. This candor can be heard clearly in a speech Woodrow Wilson made to businessmen before the First World War:

-We want one class to have a liberal education. We want another class, a very much larger class of necessity, to forgo the privilege of a liberal education and fit themselves to perform specific difficult manual tasks.’

By 1917, the major administrative jobs in American schooling were under control of a group referred to in the press of that day as -the Education Trust.’ The first meeting of this trust included representatives of Rockefeller, Carnegie, Harvard, Stanford, the University of Chicago, and the National Education Association. The chief end, wrote Benjamin Kidd, the British evolutionist, in 1918, was to -impose on the young the ideal of subordination.’ ” (pg. 38)

I’ll leave you to draw your own conclusions from this bit of -candor’ but, I will say that we have a very interesting double-standard in present day America. If any of us on the Left of the political spectrum dare to use the word -conspiracy,’ we are immediately marginalized yet those on the Right have been whining for decades about a mythological bias or conspiracy of the Left or liberals in our mass media? And of course whenever we criticize them for their assaults on the social welfare programs for the needy, we are accused of waging class warfare. We’re not suppose to notice or speak about their continuous undermining of every liberal principle this country was founded upon and as the quote from President Wilson demonstrated.

In brief, I recommend what I’ve advised family and friends for years, and that is quite simply to study what the rich and privileged study. A good place to start is at the top i.e. the curriculum for Rhodes Scholars—the highest academic honor a student can earn. It basically boils down to The Classics in history, philosophy, political science, and literature. As in a foot race, the tougher your opponent, the harder you’ll have to work and the more you’ll improve or grow for having competed against a worthy opponent. Wrestling with the greatest minds of Western and Eastern civilization is exhausting and exhilarating. The humanities humanize and the liberal arts liberate! (I said that)

Furthermore, I recommend specifically that you buy and work through with a friend or two, Problem Solving and Comprehension by Dr. Arthur Whimbey & Clark, I believe? And Analytical Reading & Reasoning by Dr. Whimbey alone. An excellent encyclopedic set of the Classics was put out by Encyclopedia Britannica which Mortimer Adler edited and wrote what he called a Syntopicon for. It is a fantastic source you can use to cross-reference the Classics. It can cost upwards of $2,000 but if you’re patient and shop around, you may find a deal like I did at $175?

In addition, I urge you to become very familiar with the informal logical fallacies and to read the international press to get a more objective view of world events. The Guardian of London is a good newspaper source to check out. More generally speaking, I’d suggest debating or arguing politely with family, friends, and strangers on political, economic, social, and etc. matters. Form study groups. Mentor others. Write letters to the media. Recharge your batteries by socializing with like-minded individuals. Dance! Travel! Laugh! Cry! Be Angry! Be Passionate! Be Compassionate and sensitive to others who may not understand as much as yourself.

Most important of all, learn to trust in your own wisdom. Gatto does mention many books in his book but fails to provide a formal and scholarly bibliography or footnotes. He could have a hidden agenda—I believe it to be a Christian fundamentalist one—and I too, could have a secret agenda. I sincerely believe my intentions are noble and honorable but I could be deep in denial and maybe I’ve selectively chosen only the quotes that support my agenda? I believe that the closest we can come to the ever elusive -truth,’ is to check out a person’s credentials to see whether they are in fact qualified to speak on whatever subject they’re claiming expertise in—this is what drove Socrates’ opponents crazy—and then check out what the other -experts’ in the particular field under scrutiny have to say about this particular expert or scholar. Finally it boils down to trusting your own judgment and heart!

I interpret Sir Francis Bacon’s wonderful maxim written in 1597 -Knowledge is Power,’ to mean that knowledge increases our power to defend ourselves, others, and the environment. And in our world of today which is run by global corporations trying to manipulate and use us 24/7, never has the empowerment that knowledge can provide us with been more critical to our survival!

ADDENDUM —I almost forgot a very important piece which is teacher certification. I believe this is a tremendous obstacle in terms of keeping a lot of good or great teachers out of the profession many times simply due to a lack of funds and/or the time to pursue the certificate. I have heard many teachers over the years admit that most of the educational courses they had to take for their certificate were a total waste of time. And if our certificate requirement were effective, then why do we have so many obviously unqualified teachers working? Yes, they were able to jump through the bureaucratic hurdles but that doesn’t mean they have a love of learning and therefore they aren’t able to inspire students because they lack the fire. And Gatto agrees with me on this. Near the very end of his book he lists several assumptions about public schooling which we need to recognize as false in his opinion; “The certified expertise of official schoolteachers is superior in its knowledge of children to the accomplishments of lay people, including parents. Protecting children from the uncertified is a compelling public concern. Actually, the enforced long-term segregation of children from the working world does them great damage, and the general body of men and women certified by the State as fit to teach is nearly the least fit occupational body in the entire economy if college performance is the standard.” (pg. 384)And, “Break the teacher certification monopoly so anyone with something valuable to teach can teach it. Nothing is more important than this.” (pg. 387) To corroborate this from my own experience, when I was a substitute teacher at the secondary level in Los Angeles for four years, several times, students said to me that they wished I was their regular teacher because I was more helpful or had more ideas. I want to end with paying proper respect to Mr. Gatto even though I don’t agree with his Christian fundamentalist point of view. He was a teacher for over 30 years in New York City and was named Teacher of the Year for the city a couple of times and Teacher of the Year for the entire state once!

The key is to get as much education as you can as quickly as you can.While eventually fighting to get your degree later in life is great, getting in done at twenty two years old is much better.Having to slave away at low levels because you do not have any education will often not help you at all once you are working in management later on.Continuing to educate yourself within the workplace is always a good thing that will pay off in the long run.

If you really want to make more money than you are currently making, find any means necessary to get educated.From in house classes offered through your company, to night classes at the local community college, gain as many skills as you can and pull in as many units you can to show your dedication and seriousness about your career.In a short time you will begin to realize you have more tools to use at work, as well as being closer and closer to that degree or certificate that could earn you a promotion.

Having an education is always better when trying to make more money.Upper management positions are rarely filled with someone without a degree, and if you can press on each semester to keep going to school, you will eventually finish up your dream of having that precious degree.Once you have established your education within the workplace, you will begin to see how much more money comes your way, as well as the respect of others in the workforce.Most people understand that managers are highly educated, and will begin to look more and more at you for answers as well as leadership.Having this special place in the workplace should never be taken for granted, but can be yours if you drive to become educated.