Perfect society?

I gave my students an assignment, describe your perfect society.  This is very similar to another one I assign in my other classes, describe your perfect island.  Both are associated with some ideology of philosophy. 

Sometimes the response is “free education”. 

So my answer comes from looking at history when “education” assuming higher education was for more of an elite crowd or in some circles theological understanding.  So what is my answer (for those Bernicators), for the most part education is free.  What we do with what we learn - and how do we learn?

At this point I mention some bit of information regarding how most institutions are set up.  We [S]it in a classroom that was designed with a 1914 factory setting?  Now what do I mean?  Most classrooms were designed with the industrial age design of work practices.  I remember sitting in a classroom in Cheraw, CO waiting for the whistle to blow to let us know when it was lunch time and when it was time to be released to go home.  From kindergarten to university our classrooms are designed that way. That is unless you {gasp} enter the environment of Montessori or home school. Alternatives to such settings that I experienced with SNU, OU, and ERAU were not norms for academic institutions that are presented over by old ghostly administrators.

Spoke to a guy the other day as we were on a deck of a motel in Woodland Park as I was taking pictures of the Peak.  Retired from the NYC sanitation department at 50.  No high school education, just a degree in hard knocks.  School did not interest him and school offered him nothing that he could get on his own.  Works as a consultant.

Reminds me of a Ferrier, one that shoes horses that I met.   His education came from observation and being an apprentice.  Hate to think what he is charging now.  Blacksmiths, plumbers, and body shop owners.  I heard the advert of a place in Pueblo.  Yep, his education came from the U of Hardknocks. 

What would we use our free education to attain?  Maybe a degree in women’s study.  What will the market hold for a degree of that nature?  At a BS or BA level anyway.  Would that mean then a Masters should be free? 

Interesting how many people that I have met over the years that work as webpage designers, software designers, and computer repair that have no hard science degree, maybe some  courses necessary to complete a certification.  Trade and votech programs have seemed to work for years.  Take a look at an auto mechanic, a carpenter, landscaper, or a painter.  There was that sous chef that started out watching grammy cook and working her uncle’s small greasy spoon. 

My goal as I graduated high school was to never go back to school.  That changed when I got a taste of a non-factory set type of alternative or non-traditional school.  I pursued what I wanted with a goal in mind.  Surprisingly in many cases where I made it was not so much my degree but what I learned along the way.  A number of my jobs were more focused on what I learned on the job.

Free education? Education is never free, it takes time, effort, and a desire to learn.  Let me give you an example.  Out there right now are MOOCs, Massive Open Online Courses, that are offered free or very inexpensive.  I have heard more people state that they do not have time or interest.  Yet, “give me free education.”

This is a perspective that there is an assumption that college is a necessity. It isn’t.  Just my opinion.