Fighting for the Education

FIGHTING FOR THE EDUCATION

Nelson Mandela said: ‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.’ But what if the education that has been given in schools is limited and it is not enough to train students to “change the world”. Even though we live in a world that proclaims education and educators are the basis of the society, the reality is different. Education and especially public education is in dangerous and as future teachers it is vital to know about the war we are fighting.
The world is moving faster and as time passes by and as everything around us change, society change too. We live in a consumer society that only cares about buying and selling things and that only cares about the money and that is reflect in education; the government does not care about educating human beings but about educating “machines”, people who can work and contribute to increase the financial capital.
Teachers are the most affected by this situation. As Henry A. Giroux mentions in his article “The War against Teachers as Public Intellectuals in Dark Times”, wealthy people are investing in reforms that are destroying teachers autonomy and he adds: “What these individuals and institutions all share is an utter disregard for public values, critical thinking and any notion of education as a moral and political practice.” They do not want people to think critically because it means that these people can contradict and even can rebel against the system imposed and eventually “change the world”.
For all that was mentioned above, teachers have to follow the curriculum without being able of making any changes and they are reduce to what Giroux says “high-level technicians or salespersons selling knowledge”. The bad part is that in most of the cases and countries teachers do not fight against that, they just remain in silence and they ended up believing that this profession it is not worthy or that they are nothing in comparison with doctors or engineers.
Teachers of public schools can contribute to this war through something very useful as research. As Professor Kit Field says in his article the importance of research for education 's future, if the education is not based on research then it could be based on things like: Dogma, Theory, Ideology Convenience and Prejudice. So in order to create new methodologies, to find out what are the students’ intelligences, and to help in the development of students’ critical thinking, it is vital to do research. Teachers have to keep fighting for education, fighting for being heard and for being appreciated.

REFERENCES

Field, K. (2011). The importance of research for education 's future. Retrieved from http://www.expressandstar.com/education/2011/06/14/the-importance-of-research-for-educations-future/
Giroux, H. (2012). The War against Teachers as Public Intellectuals in Dark Times. Retrieved from http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/13367-the-corporate-war-against-teachers-as-public-intellectuals-in-dark-times
Mandela, N. Quotes about education. Retrieved from: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_education.html#TEWByyBgHfVeuq17.99

References: Field, K. (2011). The importance of research for education 's future. Retrieved from http://www.expressandstar.com/education/2011/06/14/the-importance-of-research-for-educations-future/ Giroux, H. (2012). The War against Teachers as Public Intellectuals in Dark Times. Retrieved from http://truth-out.org/opinion/item/13367-the-corporate-war-against-teachers-as-public-intellectuals-in-dark-times Mandela, N. Quotes about education. Retrieved from: http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/topics/topic_education.html#TEWByyBgHfVeuq17.99