Baurillard's article immediately made me think of The Matrix as I was reading through it. I could envision the scene where Keanu Reeves wakes up in the pool of slime and nothing is as it was before. I was about 16 when The Matrix came out and my limited perspective made me criticize the movie for being outlandish, unrealistic, and a little offensive. I was so wrapped up in my simulation that I couldn't fathom anything different.
Since reading Baudrillard, I've come to a greater appreciation of The Matrix and its assault on my prized daily simulation game. What impacted me the most from Baudrillard's article was how the simulation of something is necessary to support its opposite. For example, capitalism is needed to promote morality and political scandal is needed to support political principles. Our daily simulation is a cyclical experience that must be perpetuated, or else we will see what is true and real...nothing?
We perpetuate the simulation of reality through all of our actions. For everything we criticize and every solution we create, we help the cycle flow. Education seems to be so valued in our society, but I wonder how people would react to the fact that it is useless. Isn't that what we'd find if we stopped the cycle of simulation? Quite literally, education goes through its own cycles to necessitate its existence in society. Various researchers propose different methods of instruction, assessment, or curriculum development causing divisions and teachers to hop on the metaphorical bandwagon and change everything they do. The wagon ride only lasts for so long until people get bored, or the public becomes wary of why test scores aren't increasing. Thus, another theory on learning is adopted and everyone jumps on the next wagon heading the other way down the path. Meanwhile, the people on the wagon are so weary, and their eyes are clouded with the dust from the trail that they can't even see which way they're going.
The simulation of reality is like a huge pendulum. It must swing as far as it possibly can one way before it will fall and come thundering back in the other direction, only to reach the top of the other side and repeat the process again. If we know this is also how trends work in education why do we keep following them? If we do whole language instruction for 10 years, then try phonics for 10 years, realizing that neither is completely appropriate, what comes next? (Obviously it is a balanced literacy program, but how long can that last for?) If we stop letting the pendulum swing, what will happen to the education system? Will the public still have faith in us? Do we need to necessitate our existence as educators in the school system? Is there something we're trying to hide? Maybe it is all a waste of time? If western education ceases to change, it will be seen for what it really is... according to Baudrillard. I don't think we're ready to accept that.
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Well written brad!
ReplyDeleteyou point on the swinging pendulum of education is an interesting topic.
In our division (as i'd imagine like most) the current "fad" is co-constructed criteria and student awareness in assessment. At first, it was somewhat frustrating to see the eyes of the "older" teachers doze off during the presentations. I know, from observation, that most of them could stand some updates on their assessment practices. However, if i were to look at myself, 20 years from now, in a PD seminar i'd probably be dozing off as well. The ideas i would be hearing would most likely be a rewording of something i'd heard before OR it might be something completely contradictory to what i'd been encouraged to do a few years before....
Yes - I often hear such things from people I know who have been in the teaching "business" for awhile! They say that there are always new "fads" or ideas coming up, which is fine, but the problem is that the time is never taken to actually try things, assess and make the changes/adjustments necessary to make them work. It's almost like we dabble in things, but never really go deep enough to make it worth it before the next new thing comes in.
ReplyDeleteA totally silly and unrelated example is...appliances. I have listened to my parents and grandparents complain constantly about new appliances and how they "don't make 'em like they used to". And it's true. In my apartment I had this old dishwasher that worked like a charm. It was amazing. It could get through anything. It was a really ugly snot green colour, and it sounded like I was at a monster truck rally when it was running, but I loved it. My parents, however, have this brand new, shiny white, quiet dishwasher. It has stopped working countless times. It seems that nobody takes the time to "perfect" anything anymore, because something new and better is expected to come along anyway. The broken things can be tossed out and new things can be bought. I definitely see some similarities in education...