365 Words on Education

Really isn't the purpose of education to prepare students for the so-called "Real World"? Education is about learning what is necessary to become capable of handling the "Real World", so education is primarily a form of preparation. What bothers me is that the present paradigm of education doesn't involve the student in discovering and deciding what the "Real World" ought to be like and what the students position and relationship to that "Real World" ought to be. I feel like school should be about learning about the potential that the "Real World" has to offer and beginning to make choices about where students see themselves and in what reality. I feel like society owes it to the youth to extend them an official means of choosing who they want to be and choosing what reality they want to be a part of. I feel like society should have the responsibility to honor and uphold that official means of choice. I feel that school should make it a priority to involve students in "world building", a process of choosing the design prerogatives of the future worlds that students will ultimately live within. I feel like school should be more about learning about the potentials that the "Real World" offers students and working on preparing themselves for the world they have chosen individually and collectively. I feel the biggest change that needs to happen in education is the appreciation of each students interests. The agenda of teachers should not exclusively be a one-way street to impress knowledge and skills into the minds of the students. The agenda should readily include the interests of every student and should dedicate time to learning from the students in a process that leads them to make informed decisions about their lives and about their relationship to the lives of others. As a student I want to feel like my teachers and my fellow students care about my life and my interests. I want to feel like school is about what I am actually interested in. I want to feel like school is really about me and about not just preparing me for the world, but for preparing the world for me.