Respected
author Jonathan Kozol, who is an outspoken supporter of public education, takes
issue with the idea that the primary purpose of education should be to create
the next workforce.
He
wrote: “The notion of kids as workers raises a question: Is future productivity
the only rationale for their existence?”
“A
lot of the things that make existence wonderful are locked out of the lives of
children seen primarily as future clerical assistants or as potential recruits to
office pools.”
Certainly
education must prepare young people to be productive adults. But there is
danger in focusing exclusively on the employment aspect of their lives, he
wrote.
We
can’t overlook that they will also need to be consumers, voters, audience
members, and participants in our entire culture.
They
may well be parents or volunteers, and may have a hand in running a household
or a committee.
They
may coach, they may tutor, they may recycle. After they work, they will likely
retire and have more years to contribute and enjoy life well beyond the
activities of the workforce.
Kozol
argues passionately that we must remember all these roles that citizens fill in
our democratic society.
We
must absolutely acknowledge that most will be workers and must be prepared for
those roles. But we must also keep that goal firmly rooted in the context of an
overall productive existence.
Otherwise,
he warns, we remove the joy that connects young people to their communities and
gives meaning to their lives.
