Down with the Man!

Selected text from Aronowitz' Against Schooling: For an education that matters (2008):

"But schools do not transmit a 'love for the world' or 'for our children,' as Arendt suggests; instead, contrary to their democratic pretensions, they teach conformity to the social, cultural, and occupational hierarchy. In our contemporary world, they are not constituted to foster independent thought, let alone encourage independence of thought and action." (p.19)

Reflection:

As I read Aronowitz' text, I was stunned by his abrasive, arrogant, and judgmental tone and use of language. Claiming a lack of "tolerance for boredom" (p. 5), Aronowitz goes on to claim that though he didn't need credentials, he got them and on his own terms, thanks to no one but himself. He boasts about skipping undergraduate school and getting his PhD without the interference of any professors, whom he obviously deemed as moronic influences and beneath him intellectually.

Thinking about some of my own experiences in action-learning labs and co-intelligence, I was saddened that Aronowitz was so arrogant that he didn't think that he could benefit in the least by trying to learn in a community of students and professors. I'm not saying that formal schooling is the only way to learn. I just think that Aronowitz robbed himself of an opportunity to learn independently and with others, the very thing he rants about as the great evil in our school systems today. I began to ask myself “Where is the love that Aronowitz spoke of?” His writings seem devoid of love, but seem to be rants and raves against every order or perceived authority.

The more I read, the more disenchanted I became with Aronowitz and his hypocrisy…and my own. He rails against credentialing, but certainly used it for his own gain. Though I am against credentialing for the sake of driving an economic, consumer machine, I also am in the credentialing industry. He claims to represent the working poor, but has used his privilege to pull himself up by his own bootstraps, climbing the social ladder he denounces. I don’t claim to be from working class intellectuals, but I have touted the “pull yourself up by your own bootstraps” mentality at times. He rails against authority, yet sets himself up as an authority in alternative schooling. Though I have benefited from the existing authority system in public education, I have also praised the benefits of alternative education programs from garden-based education to environmental schools. So, I began to ask, "What is Aronowitz saying that he's not saying with words? Where is he coming from?"

Aronowitz came out of the 1960s counterculture movement with its anti-authoritarian “Down with the man” slogan. His mistrust of authority is evident in his glorification of his own alternative school experiences (until “the man” came in and laid down some rules) and in his praise of music and media which rebel against societal norms and middle class morality. However, Aronowitz lauds the music and media scene in order to prove his point that students learn from a variety of sources, the least effective of which is the public school system in its present form.

Finally, at the end of chapter two, Aronowitz offers up a spark of hope in an abysmally dark rant against social class, culture, and education. He proffers an outline for changing both societal structure and our educational system; changes which will, hopefully, spawn creativity and independent thought in our children.

References

Aronowitz, S. (2008). Against Schooling: For an education that matters. Boulder:

Paradigm Publishers.