The End of Education: Redefining the Value of School - Hardcover

Postman, Neil

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0679430067 ISBN 13: 9780679430063

Publisher: Knopf, 1995

Synopsis

In this comprehensive response to the education crisis, the author of Teaching as a Subversive Activity returns to the subject that established his reputation as one of our most insightful social critics. Postman presents useful models with which schools can restore a sense of purpose, tolerance, and a respect for learning.

About this title

About the Author:

Neil Postman is University Professor and Chair of the Department of Culture and Communication at New York University.

From Booklist:

One of the best writers among contemporary cultural critics, Postman is never better than when writing about education. His Janus-faced title refers both to the idea that schools as we know them are on the way out and to his own perception that American schools need new reasons--ends for learning. He calls such reasons "gods" --cultural conceits intended to inspire students to learn. He critiques gods that are failing in today's schools, such as the god of economic utility, in whose name students are supposed to believe that if they get through school halfway well, they will then get a well-paying job, and the god of consumership, whose golden rule is: The one who dies owning the most toys wins. He then proposes five new gods to make schooling vital again. He calls the five "The Spaceship Earth," "The Fallen Angel," "The American Experiment," "The Law of Diversity," and "The Word Weavers/The World Makers." If each of these rubrics has the ring of a familiar belief system, well, each is meant to. As Postman defines the five, they are myths, in the most complimentary sense of the word, for realizing ourselves as responsible individuals in our communities, from smallest to largest. Beautifully written, breathtakingly high-minded, this is Postman's best book on American education. Ray Olson

About this edition

• Publisher: Knopf
• Publication date: 1995
• ISBN 10: 0679430067
• ISBN 13: 9780679430063
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 209