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on Thursday, April 3rd, 2008 at 7:56 pm and is filed under Education, culture.
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I’m confused about the author’s point. Is he suggesting that the images portray what our government thinks the purpose of education is, or that through these historical events we have become educated? Because of the recent changes in our society’s freedom, should we be concerned about our democratic future, and if we are not concerned does this mean we are on our way to being ‘uneducated’? What is your opinion? Sorry if these questions make me seem dense.
When the message from the government is one of fear, and when that fear is purposely created for the purposes of depriving the people of freedom, what role does logic — and by extension — Education have?
My opinion is that Bin Laden won the war the day we agreed to fight the way he wanted us to. The day we allowed fear to rule our policy, our practice, and our country. He continues to win more every time our freedoms are eroded, each time the constitutional protections are weakened in the name of “security,” and with every American who thinks that Freedom isn’t worth protecting — even when it needs protection from our own government.
But that’s just my opinion. I accept that other people have their own opinion and I respect them.
The Jefferson quote is right on the money, tho. We don’t build a strong democracy on the basis of weak minds. A cynical examination of Educational policy over the last two decades might draw the conclusion that many of the current policies are to guarantee an uninformed, unengaged, uneducated populace.
Some argue that the purpose of the constant barrage of fear and panic in the media obfuscates what is actually going on behind the scenes with the political machine. That, too, is about education. People need to read more and educate themselves about the leaders of their country and what the policies they are pushing.
This is a very powerful video. I always tell my students the lack of education is what keeps a group down. In particular, when I teach civil rights and slavery, we discuss this. When one group, especially a group in power, does not allow or want the people to be educated, something is not quite right. To me, to be uneducated about something breeds fear. One critical aspect of teaching is to allow students to think for themselves. I do not want them to parrot me or their parents, but to think for themselves.
I agree that we must protect our freedom at all cost because that is what this country is based upon and in my personal opinion freedom is what keeps it going. The one comment that I would like to make is that fear can be both good and bad depending on how it is utilized. For example, my 10 and 7 year old son’s still won’t go to the river because they are afraid “gators” have been turned out. For right now, their fear provides me with peace of mind - but as they get older, become better educated and begin to explore the river for themselves, they will soon discover that their fear of the river has been misplaced! Fear can only be used when individuals are not knowledgable of what they fear - once an individual becomes educated regarding their fear, it doesn’t seem as scary as it once did!
Fear is what Kentucky teachers felt when KERA started, because the school was punished if they didn’t do good on the end of the year test. Through fear of losing their jobs teachers started to teach only what they thought would be on the test or writing portfolios.
April 4th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
I’m confused about the author’s point. Is he suggesting that the images portray what our government thinks the purpose of education is, or that through these historical events we have become educated? Because of the recent changes in our society’s freedom, should we be concerned about our democratic future, and if we are not concerned does this mean we are on our way to being ‘uneducated’? What is your opinion? Sorry if these questions make me seem dense.
April 4th, 2008 at 8:54 pm
When the message from the government is one of fear, and when that fear is purposely created for the purposes of depriving the people of freedom, what role does logic — and by extension — Education have?
My opinion is that Bin Laden won the war the day we agreed to fight the way he wanted us to. The day we allowed fear to rule our policy, our practice, and our country. He continues to win more every time our freedoms are eroded, each time the constitutional protections are weakened in the name of “security,” and with every American who thinks that Freedom isn’t worth protecting — even when it needs protection from our own government.
But that’s just my opinion. I accept that other people have their own opinion and I respect them.
The Jefferson quote is right on the money, tho. We don’t build a strong democracy on the basis of weak minds. A cynical examination of Educational policy over the last two decades might draw the conclusion that many of the current policies are to guarantee an uninformed, unengaged, uneducated populace.
April 5th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
Some argue that the purpose of the constant barrage of fear and panic in the media obfuscates what is actually going on behind the scenes with the political machine. That, too, is about education. People need to read more and educate themselves about the leaders of their country and what the policies they are pushing.
April 6th, 2008 at 10:04 am
This is a very powerful video. I always tell my students the lack of education is what keeps a group down. In particular, when I teach civil rights and slavery, we discuss this. When one group, especially a group in power, does not allow or want the people to be educated, something is not quite right. To me, to be uneducated about something breeds fear. One critical aspect of teaching is to allow students to think for themselves. I do not want them to parrot me or their parents, but to think for themselves.
April 7th, 2008 at 12:16 pm
I agree that we must protect our freedom at all cost because that is what this country is based upon and in my personal opinion freedom is what keeps it going. The one comment that I would like to make is that fear can be both good and bad depending on how it is utilized. For example, my 10 and 7 year old son’s still won’t go to the river because they are afraid “gators” have been turned out. For right now, their fear provides me with peace of mind - but as they get older, become better educated and begin to explore the river for themselves, they will soon discover that their fear of the river has been misplaced! Fear can only be used when individuals are not knowledgable of what they fear - once an individual becomes educated regarding their fear, it doesn’t seem as scary as it once did!
April 25th, 2008 at 9:43 pm
Fear is what Kentucky teachers felt when KERA started, because the school was punished if they didn’t do good on the end of the year test. Through fear of losing their jobs teachers started to teach only what they thought would be on the test or writing portfolios.