Response to my Obama Education Speech Post

I think the "stay in school" speech can be seen as a form of propaganda--some see schools as mechanisms for recreating inequality across generations and the way the poor/those with least power are taught that school failure and their low socioeconomic status is their own fault, not the fault of public policies and those who hold on to their own privilege so they can pass it on to their own children. Schools can become a way to socially certify and justify people's low s.e.s.--and to get children to participate in their own oppression.

These ideas probably won't be part of the discussion when students are given an opportunity to discuss and critically evaluate the President's message in class.

I'm with you on the way the Post overlooks young people's ability to think for themselves. On the other hand, when it comes to schools, how much can any of us think for ourselves when we were socialized within them 5 days a week for 16+ years to believe in their goodness and necessity.

My professor from college makes a valid point. However, I dont think we should underestimate life experience and the "non-school" arena as parts of our lives that inform the way we think and that shape our values. I can say with near 100% certainty that the curriculum in my public school did not lead me to have the values that I have today. My social studies classes, history classes and civics classes did not indoctrinate me with liberal propaganda. Rather I attribute my values largely to my life experience and family. For this reason, I do think that young people can think for themselves. Students have organized against systematic oppression at public schools, so I would not underestimate their capacity to think and act for themselves.