"conveyor-belt education"

ah HA! i found someone on the internet that uses a very similar analogy to me! i have been calling public education “assembly-line education” for years…one of the many reasons i homeschool (there’s oh-so-much-more, too many to go into here now…i’m sure i’ve written about many of them in the past and i have a lot of them spelled out here), this form of education is NOT what i want for my kids…i am far more of an outside-the-box thinker to be happy with that kind of education for my kids. this is also why i chose to not pursue a teaching credential because i knew it would be a waste of my time and energy since i don’t agree with their methods of education.

the “conveyor-belt education” reference came from this very interesting review of thomas jefferson education here. found it after i learned of this yahoogroup, and googled “thomas jefferson education.” i’ve heard of it before but never really looked into it.

i was immediately drawn to this definition of “conveyor-belt education”:

Public education (or conveyor-belt education) – A public education prepares everyone for a job, any job, by teaching them what to think. Public education historically existed to teach the poor so they could land a job. The poor had no other option, but public education. Today, most of America only receives a public education. Their education is set up like a factory: everyone in the class gets the same education at the same age from the same textbooks, and they are tested the same and graded based upon the same scale regardless of their individual talents, goals, interests, personal mission. Conformity is the name of the game in public education.

that’s just dead-on!

now, in contrast, they have this definition:

Leadership education (Jefferson education) – Leadership education teaches students how to think and prepares them to be leaders in their homes & communities, entrepreneurs in business, and statesmen in government. ***This is the type of education that I want for my children and I would guess most of you want for your children. It encourages thinking outside the box, which is difficult for most Americans (not as difficult for homeschoolers 🙂

Throughout history, leaders have been homeschooled by mentors and tutors. Then they move on to prep schools and study the classics by using the mentors approach. It is the mentor system that creates leaders. Unfortunately the leaders in America have been trained to be professionals and specialists – not leaders. Most of our nation consists of followers who do not have a problem with the system at hand. If our children are to overcome this dilemma, we must train them to be entrepreneurs and statesmen by the historically-proven methods for training leaders.

so now i’m intrigued…methinks that its time for me to learn a little about thomas jefferson education! hmmm…

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