I hope you don't mind my writing to you, personally.
The list's response to my posting was a surprise, and validating. I found
myself thinking a little too critically of my professors when I was in school.
The style of.. selfishness with knowledge.. that I was somewhat adressing can
be so frustrating to an eager learner, who notices what feels like power
_over_ knowledge. I have learned to believe that knowledge is a priviledge,
and so it is hoarded (commodity, I hate it).
I saw, in the undergrad classrooms of a small New England town, examples of
this power issue. My small college sought out minority students, not-wealthy
students, the disenfranchised. (The school means well?) But in the
classroom, the effects of power over knowledge (in the guise of real world
toughness) kept most of these same students from making it through the
education department, or from succeeding in the philosophy and sociology
departments. These students were literally forced out because of their
differences in education (class and race based). Statistics would back me up,
I am confident. So really, I think that the educational system that I am
accustomed to is just a tease to the disefranchised. "Hey, share the wealth
of the US, if you share the knowledge. And look how racist and classist the
world is." But when the students get in the classroom, the same dynamic of
power gets played out. Ah, the beauty of the social system.
What do you think? Do you have similar questions? I ask, since your net
address is Scotland.
The list's response to my posting was a surprise, and validating. I found
myself thinking a little too critically of my professors when I was in school.
The style of.. selfishness with knowledge.. that I was somewhat adressing can
be so frustrating to an eager learner, who notices what feels like power
_over_ knowledge. I have learned to believe that knowledge is a priviledge,
and so it is hoarded (commodity, I hate it).
I saw, in the undergrad classrooms of a small New England town, examples of
this power issue. My small college sought out minority students, not-wealthy
students, the disenfranchised. (The school means well?) But in the
classroom, the effects of power over knowledge (in the guise of real world
toughness) kept most of these same students from making it through the
education department, or from succeeding in the philosophy and sociology
departments. These students were literally forced out because of their
differences in education (class and race based). Statistics would back me up,
I am confident. So really, I think that the educational system that I am
accustomed to is just a tease to the disefranchised. "Hey, share the wealth
of the US, if you share the knowledge. And look how racist and classist the
world is." But when the students get in the classroom, the same dynamic of
power gets played out. Ah, the beauty of the social system.
What do you think? Do you have similar questions? I ask, since your net
address is Scotland.