Neil Postman was University Professor, Paulette Goddard Chair of Media Ecology, and Chair of the Department of Culture and Communication at New York University. Among his twenty books are studies of childhood (The Disappearance of Childhood), public discourse (Amusing Ourselves to Death), education (Teaching as a Subversive Activity and The End of Education), and the impact of technology (Technopoly). His interest in education was long-standing, beginning with his experience as an elementary and secondary school teacher. He died in 2003.
"Informal and clear. . . . Postman's ideas about education are appealingly fresh." --The New York Times Book Review
Because American society operates on the unspoken assumption that schooling is for preparing students for well-paying jobs, our educational system is falling apart, declares Postman (Technopoly), a New York University communications professor. In a wise and provocative essay, he argues that public schools subtly reinforce worship of technology, economic utility and consumerism. He outlines several alternative ``narratives'' that would give public schools a compelling reason to exist and that would motivate students to learn. These include ``Spaceship Earth,'' which casts humans as caretakers of a vulnerable, interdependent planet; the ``Law of Diversity,'' teaching how art, science, politics and customs have been vitalized through the intermingling of cultures; the ``American Experiment,'' portraying U.S. history as an imperfect crucible of democracy; and ``Word Weavers,'' the social and moral dimensions of language and its central role in transforming the world. Postman's visionary, perhaps somewhat utopian blueprint for transforming our schools sets a new standard for debate. (Sept.)
"Informal and clear. . . . Postman's ideas about education are appealingly fresh." --The New York Times Book Review
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