Obsoledge

I think Alvin Toffler is an amazing intellect. I agree with most of this article in the February 2007 Edutopia magazine about "Future School" where he says we should: "Shut down the public education system." He also opines: "The public school system is designed to produce a workforce for an economy that will not be there. And therefore, with all the best intentions in the world, we're stealing the kids' future."

Here's your word for the day, courtesy of Toffler: "Much of what we're transmitting is doomed to obsolescence at a far more rapid rate than ever before. And that knowledge becomes what we call obsoledge: obsolete knowledge. We have this enormous bank of obsolete knowledge in our heads, in our books, and in our culture. When change was slower, obsoledge didn't pile up as quickly. Now, because everything is in rapid change, the amount of obsolete knowledge that we have -- and that we teach -- is greater and greater and greater. We're drowning in obsolete information. We make big decisions -- personal decisions -- based on it, and public and political decisions based on it."

He concludes with: "I just feel it's inevitable that there will have to be change. The only question is whether we're going to do it starting now, or whether we're going to wait for catastrophe." Of course, we all know the answer to that question, don't we?

Blogging about the same Toffler article, Tim Stahmer says: "However, more than anything else, we need to seriously reconsider what it means to be “well educated”, the purpose of school, and the role of teaching and learning in society." Once again, I say right on! Tim has a great blog, I highly recommend it.

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