History…Herstory…Theirstory
The reading into the history of education this week spoke quite a bit to how we got to this point in our educational system in our shared timeline. Education has teetered between efforts to control populations for the sake of order and stability, and allowing people to push boundaries, innovate and move away from stagnant disciplines. The book referenced this as the dance between maintaining and preserving a civilization and changing a civilization, although I think it makes more sense to filter it through the lens of growth and the narrative of power.
Throughout history and millennia, education has primarily served wealthy males who ascend to positions of power. Although very few exceptions have been documented, the primary demographic of the educated population has been wealthy male individuals. It is no coincidence that the grand majority of individuals who have held positions of power have been wealthy and male, and thus we have a motivation for limiting education to a select few as a means to maintain, preserve and solidify power. Education has also been crudely used as a means to expand religious influence and power, which can also be cynically viewed as a form of controlling populations.
I think through the lens of growth, as a society changes who and how it educates, it sheds part of the shortcomings of the prior regime and grows (in mostly small increments) towards a better and more inclusive society, each phase adding or subtracting aspects of the educational system to hybridize the process and intent of educating. With this in mind, the people in positions of power (namely the educated class) have had the privilege of determining educational standards. Religious leaders, political leaders, and accredited individuals have been steering the ship up until and including present day. I think despite the efforts to control and manage populations, education has had such a stirring effect on individuals over time that growth has become an inevitable side effect of education.
I appreciate how education is synonymous with power and prestige. The process of educating (whether through memorization and regurgitation, questioning and exploring, or abstracting and conceptualizing) changes the way the brain processes information and moves away from just survival instincts to a greater awareness of oneself and one’s surroundings; this gives an individual an awesome and intentional advantage when interacting in one’s environment. Empowering people with access to education helps increase the quality of life on an individual scale and can steer social movements on a large scale, overwhelmingly demonstrating a positive and powerful effect.
I think that wealth and gender are still prevalent trends in determining who is educated in our society. Compulsory education is more effective than in the past for including a greater and more diverse student body; however, it still has many shortcomings. Poor resources and performance in underprivileged socioeconomic districts, and fewer individuals moving from these districts into higher education are evidence that wealth provides access to education that is not offered to those in a lower socioeconomic class. There is a tragic racial aspect in our country that has negatively affected individuals of non-white heritage disproportionately represented in lower socioeconomic classes. Racial bigotry and its influence throughout American history have stunted the opportunities for many to have access to quality education. The book we read draws a direct line from Egyptian influence to Greek culture (64) and then immediately undercuts it, and credits Greece with being a primary influence on American culture. This reluctance to acknowledge the historical contributions of African cultures further demonstrates the racial bias still at play in our systems. Despite this bleak history, I believe education offers a more hopeful path forward. As we learn more about the sociological effects of our past, we are able to adjust and conform our system to meet the needs of those we are educating to counteract the negative effects and establish healthy and inclusive practices.
