What is the difference between education, learning and schooling? Some of you may be familiar with the writing of John Taylor Gatto; some of you may have had very bad, or very good experiences at school, college or university; some of you may have managed to buck the trend and turned out far better than the school system expected you to, or simply contrary to the way the system hoped you would.
You have probably worked it out by now: there is very little difference between Education and Learning – they are just two sides of the same mutually beneficial process; Schooling on the other hand is a deliberate, institutionalised methodology to create civilized workers that form part of the industrial economy. Education and learning, in this process, is a side effect – not the main intention. This is one of the most serious problems we face in the coming decades: a population who have only been equipped with the skills necessary to be part of the economy are unlikely to be equipped with the skills necessary to grow their own food, construct a simple shelter, repair household items, make clothing, cook meals from raw ingredients and live together as cooperative beings rather than isolated economic units – we have an entire generation unable to do anything useful for themselves. And it is getting worse.
Last month “The Unsuitablog” ran a series of articles about the intrusion of commerce into schools: it is becoming increasingly clear that the role of schools is for the benefit of an economy that values material wealth over human need. It is becoming increasingly clear that the world needs the experience, and the determination of those people – the older generations – to educate those who have missed out on the kinds of skills that really matter. The current generation is lost without previous generations to help them out.
Not only can Green Seniors take the lead in directly protecting the natural environment; we can also take the lead in being educators for society’s Lost Generation. Getting back in touch with younger generations is more important that it has ever been.
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