College, Costs, and Common Sense in Canada

This recent email came from an old, dear friend in Barrie, Ontario, Canada. He and I started our teaching careers together, and we have remained loyal friends ever since.

Hi Paul,

I concur with the idea that College is not the best way to prepare people for life. The participation rate among young people in 'higher' education is greater the than % that can benefit from the notion of a 'rounded' education. Both my experience in education and knowledge of society in general supports this view. The underlieing assumption appears flawed, namely that a few years of diversion in an institution will prepare people for life when all it does is postpone reality for many young people while placing unnecessarry burden on their parents.

I think that a university education and less so a 'college' education in Ontario inculcates a sense of entitlement to a 'good' life. It also delays adulthood especially in young males at a time when there is a shortage of skilled labour. By the time we are in our teens we need to feel we are useful to society or we become self-indulgent consumers of trivia. And we need to connect to society so that we have a real stake in political outcomes. Working while training does these things.

One of my brothers taught school while doing his 'teachers college' during summers and then his degree over a ten year period. I did my teachers training in summers as well, and believe it is more useful that way since you bring questions from the classroom to class. It also seems to me that education is not served well by having teachers who have never experienced anything but school. We should actively recruit business people, tradespeople, entrepreneurs ....to become teachers so that the schools more effectively reflect the options in society and change the culture of school. Remember Illich and 'deschooling' society?

In Canada we should make university at all levels more rigorous and focus on primary research. There are many ways that people who are curious can educate themselves in our connected world.

Are you planning to go to the world futures conference? Have you attended recently? I went to one in DC years ago and was rather disappointed so am wondering about what they are like now.

I've been delving into the Enlightenment for several months- I did major work on Francis Bacon and the scientific revolution- and am finding the likes of Adam Smith, Hume, Diderot and some Germanic types much clearer in their thinking than our contemporaries. The originating ideas of modernity are all there. In our present confusion we need to go back to some first principles.

Cheers,
walter