“Undoubtedly,
in the age of standardized everything, educational institutions stand in need of reconstruction and re-dreaming to be
set a-right. Yet, education remains a primary institution towards affecting
social and ecological change for the better, and so it deserves to be fought
for, transformed by the needs of the day, and so wizened by lessons of the
past.” –Kahn
After reading this article, I had the
initial impression that Kahn was a large supporter of environmental education.
Throughout his essay, Kahn discusses different situations in which
environmental education has been attempted and yet the results are nothing to
brag about. Kahn’s analysis of the zoo school intrigued me during the class
discussion as it was hard to distinguish Kahn’s opinion from his story.
In the quote above, Kahn abrasively states
the one thing that thousands of people are thinking in today’s world, yet will
not say out loud: it is time for change. The education system is the foundation
for which functional members of society are led through in efforts to help them
be productive and successful in life. What the students are taught is what the
students will follow throughout their lives. Many of the issues currently plaguing
the world right now could have been resolved before the problems reached a
large scale had there have been proper education for all parties involved.
While it would be nice to educate children through the years of schooling in an
earth-friendly, ecological footprint mindfulness setting, there are not enough
funds to start the programs. On top of all of this, the education is so far
beyond corrupt that the ultimate goal could never be accomplished due to the
greedy, immoral politicians who make the final calls. All of this is softly
highlighted throughout Kahn’s essay and his Marxist views. The major keypoint
of this essay is not the importance of environmental education; rather, the
urgent need for transformations in schools. Education is the foundation for
everything in life but somehow education is always pushed to the bottom of the
priority list and Kahn stands up against that.
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