College enrollment is expected to rise from approximately 20 million students in
2016 to over 23 million by 2025 the average student loan debt in America is currently over
$30,000 per student and shockingly a recent study found that in the first two years of college
45% of students showed no gains and critical thinking if this is true this begs the question are schools failing us
Before we can answer the question we have to go over a very brief history of human education for 90% of our existence
Humans have lived as nomadic
Hunter-gatherers in those days the dominant form of learning occurred between families and tribes we learned to hunt and gather from those around us around
10,000 BC an
Agricultural revolution occurred this dramatically changed the ways in which we live humans began to settle down and form early civilizations
Agriculture was a massive part of our lives up until the Industrial Revolution
As you can imagine this agricultural period covers a large span of time from approximately
10,000 BC to around 1760 ad in this period of time we shifted from primarily tribal learning to various types of
apprenticeships and
apprenticeship takes on a very broad meaning here such as working under a master craftsman a slave master or being part of a guild
essentially education started to shift away from the family unit the next major revolution the Industrial Revolution
Marked another drastic change in our education. It was during the industrial period that schools as we know them formed
But how did it happen? the Secretary of Education for the state of Massachusetts
At the time Horace Mann studied several systems across Europe to find the one that he believed would be the best for America
He concluded that the Prussian model would be the best it was funded by taxes attendance was mandatory, and it had specially trained teachers
But the thing is many people might not know that the Prussians used their school system as a way to instill
Obedience to Authority in young students in fact a Prussian philosopher by the name of Johann
Played a key role in forming their educational system
And he said that if you want to influence a person you must do more than merely talk to him
you must fashion him and
Fashion him in such a way that he simply cannot will otherwise than what you wish him to will now. This is where?
Conspiracy theorists might call it a day and reduce the entirety of public education in America to that of a brainwashing machine
I don't agree in man's journals
He openly acknowledges that the Prussians were using their system of education for evil
But he believed that it could be used for good if it was put in the right hands some man
Advocated heavily for the Prussian model and it became the one implemented in America the next step was to create a standardized educational experience in
1892 a committee of 10 people was selected to oversee the standardization of
education in America at the time
Education was too varied across different schools to accurately gauge
Which schools were doing well and how different students rank compared to one another when assessing them for college admissions?
So this committee of 10 studied schools across America and saw that there were approximately
40 different courses being studied among the various schools they narrowed this list down to the nine courses that they deemed to be the most
important which were Latin, Greek, English, other modern languages,
Mathematics, physics, astronomy and chemistry, natural history, history civil government and political economy and geography
After these nine courses were selected, the committee of 10 selected 10 more members for each course to answer questions such as
When should the subject be introduced?
When should different part of it be introduced?
How long should it be studied for?
And what parts of the subject should be studied?
Together these few people shape the curriculum for all future students
Although there has been some changes to this curriculum a large part of this curriculum still makes up the core of K to 12 education
At the time this public and standardized education was created. I believe that it was quite progressive and innovative
There are actually lots of benefits to a public and standardized education such as it's free it allows us to run schools more efficiently
Maintains a minimum level of quality and all people must be treated equally and allowed to receive an education
regardless of race sex class creed or status and
Lastly it acted as a powerful economic machine during
Industrial times and allowed the middle class to grow how could a system that did so much for our economy go so wrong
That's what we'll talk about in part 2 of this video this video is sponsored by our
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As always, thanks for watching, and I'll see you next time