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The Forum > Article Comments > There is too much edu-babble > Comments

There is too much edu-babble : Comments

By Michael Zwaagstra, published 14/9/2010

Definition of 'edu-babble': the use of a term that alone puts its advocates on the side of the angels.

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Ho Hum,

Most societies (if you care to think about it) are actually based on what they produce or consume.

Different forms of consumption and production, different cultural customs and way of life.

I do feel for Australian students.

Qld students (and other states are not far behind) now have the lowest level of interest in science of any student in the western world, and the future for them is to be dictated to by others who do have more understanding of science and technology.

The levels of illiteracy and innumeracy are quite high in some states, and the future for such people is to be dictated to by others who are more literate and numerate.

Schools and universities now import almost everything, which teaches the students to import almost everything, and the future for them is to be dictated to by others who do produce something instead of importing it all from elsewhere.
Posted by vanna, Tuesday, 14 September 2010 6:32:41 PM
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One can only lament the coming of conveyor belt factory style education'
Poirot,
nothing personal but for cryin' out loud where've you been since Whitlam ? whaddaya mean by coming ? It's been here since '75 !
Posted by individual, Tuesday, 14 September 2010 10:23:21 PM
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Why, hello, individual,

It's been here a tad longer than that...indeed it was developed hot on the heels of the Industrial Revolution - and has been a standard feature of childhood ever since they hauled the children out of the mines and the factories.
Posted by Poirot, Tuesday, 14 September 2010 11:47:11 PM
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Though there is absolutely no doubt that we have used and still use propaganda in films, to suggest that ALL films are propaganda, is a bit rich. Point at hand, Avatar…lets’ look at the potential for a story here;

1. Humans meet aliens, there is conflict and we win;
2. Humans meet aliens , there is conflict and we lose;
3. Humans meet aliens and there is peace.

Scenario 1, is a story that most people would find enjoyable. Scenario 2, no-one wants to see unless there’s a survivor that beats all, like in Alien or Predator. Scenario 3, is not a story anyone wants to see. But use scenario 1, and the makers are accused of “imperialistic conquest” for propaganda.

Though it is possible to read just about any form of propaganda you desire in just about any film, it does not mean there is propaganda there. It only means this is the way you have personally interpreted it. However, that’s not to say that we have not been subjected to propaganda since 9/11…for those that may watch “cop” shows, you may have noted that immediately after 9/11 there was a subtle shift in the themes of all of these types of shows coming from the US, and it was this….

Prior to 9/11 cop shows had the theme of the person’s rights being paramount. After 9/11, a person’s rights were miniscule compared to the issue of getting the “bad guy”. It may have been in the show “24”, where they killed the wrong guy, but it was washed away with the line…”It doesn’t matter, we were after a terrorist, and that’s what counts.” So the rights of the citizen have been down-trodden since 9/11 in the programming of cop shows. I would even suggest that a show like “Cops”, where we watch police arrest people for wrong-doings, is a subtle form of propaganda to condition the public to the idea of a police state, which America turned more into after 9/11.

TBC...
Posted by MindlessCruelty, Wednesday, 15 September 2010 9:26:49 AM
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During WWII, the forms of propaganda were far more obvious, and it wasn’t as sophisticated and subtle as it is these days. Hitler dehumanized the Jews by referring to them as “vermin” and other things. Today, we defend the deaths of innocents in war-zones with the use of the term “collateral damage”…the term dehumanizes subtly by not using any term pertaining to “human” or a condition of humanity…injury or death. We use a term originally designed for inanimate objects to describe the human condition of death…”collateral damage”. It used to be a term specifically for inanimate objects that were damaged, but now refers to persons, and is in effect a dehumanizing term designed to remove some of the emotion from the event…we feel less passionate about the mistake made by our army that killed the wrong person(s). We don’t like innocent deaths, but we have been conditioned to accept a certain amount of “collateral damage”.

We don’t like censorship of information, yet we accept the “embedding” of reporters, all under the guise of their safety. The army isn’t concerned with their safety they’re concerned with reporters seeing what they shouldn’t. And while “embedded”, the army controls their movements, and thus information. America had to pull-out out of Vietnam because of reporters, so they’re not about to let that happen again…the footage of the South Vietnamese officer pulling his gun out of its holster and shooting a prisoner in the head on “60 Minutes”, finished that war. The public outcry was palpable. (It certainly burnt an image inside MY head).
Posted by MindlessCruelty, Wednesday, 15 September 2010 9:26:54 AM
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Ho Hum,

I won't go so far as to say that I agree with everything you have written, but I think one of your last points was a very valid one:

'so-called "education" is merely about producing a compliant work force'.

This is, I think, one of the biggest arguments that continues to rear its head in educational circles. What IS the point of education? In a clinical sense, one could argue that it is - and should be - to produce good employees. In a more rounded and emotive sense, education should serve the purpose of producing good citizens, not just good employees. I don't mean 'compliant, mindless drones' who simply follow directions. I mean citizens who can question, citizens who can rise to challenges, citizens who can use their learning to improve their lives and those of the people around them. People who produce, rather than simply consuming.

Therein lies the problem. While they make noble statements about developing the 'leaders' of the future, I don't know that government bodies really want us to nurture people who will question and challenge the status quo.

Look at the disaster that was critical literacy, which was first hamstrung in state syllabus documents, and is now being almost completely sidelined in the national curriculum. One of the criticisms was valid - that the emphasis on critical thinking detracted from the basics of literacy teaching. There was always the underlying idea, though, that critical literacy was encouraging too much thinking. We don't want that. Shakespeare is good - end of story. Austen is good - end of story. The short-term future of English, it seems, will be relegated to canon-worship and, as a side-effect, unthinking acceptance of the status quo. Peaceful? Yes. Productive? No.
Posted by Otokonoko, Thursday, 16 September 2010 12:41:16 AM
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