Noam Chomsky Education explains the True meaning of education because he is a linguist, philosopher, critic and political activist. He Has been the Professor of Department of Linguistics and Philosophy at MIT, where he worked for more than fifty years. Recent Linguistics expert believes that his views of education is the consequence of two factors. The first is essentially biographical. Chomsky attended the progressive school and was influenced by the ideas of John Dewey.
He has been experienced linguistics teacher at the university. This position gave him the opportunity to reflect on the issue of education and practice in the institutions. The second factor refers to the membership of the rationalist that allowed him to conceive “a rich conceptual apparatus “through which he offered how to design an original way of teaching and learning.
Chomsky on the question of education advocates a humanistic conception of education that draws its roots in the values of the Enlightenment based on the thought of Bertrand Russell, which focuses on the idea that the role of education mainly aims to “stimulate and strengthen the creative impulses specific to each.” In other words, the role of the school is to offer children educational practices that give importance to the freedom, creation and stimulation.
The function of education is not to control and guide learners toward goals set in advance but encourage and stimulate creative abilities.
Chomsky highlights the negative or perverse effects of the authoritarian model of school which, by imposing authoritarian educational practices do not favor understanding, talent and creativity. To illustrate his point, he cites the example of American educational program No Child Left Behind of 2001, which is primarily intended to teach to pass an examination.
He explains in his book the types of education:
Two Types of Education
The first kind of education is related to the Enlightenment – highest goal in life to inquire and create; search the riches of the past; try to internalize ; carry the quest help people how to learn on their own; it’s you the learner; it’s up to you what you will master.
The second kind of education is related to Indoctrination – from childhood young people have to be placed into a framework where they will follow orders that are quite explicit.
Schools and universities had to increase measures toward more control; imposing more debt to capture students into conformity.
“It doesn’t matter what we cover,
it matters what you discover.”
That’s what teaching should be: inspiring students to discover on their own; to challenge if they don’t agree; to look for alternatives if they think there are better ones; work through great achievements of the past, and try to master them on their own because they are interested in them. Students will really gain from them but will remember them and use it as a basis for going on their own.
Education is really aimed at helping students get to the point where they can learn on their own because that is what you’re going to do during your life, not just absorb materials given to you by the outside, and repeat it.
Purpose of Education According to Chomski:
Speaking about the purpose of education, as confirmed by Chomsky, we will meet with the thought of one of the great philosophers United States in the twentieth century, namely John Dewey. Chomsky himself admits, Dewey thinking about education that also affects his thinking. One argument that is quite interesting, filed by Dewey is, that the education reform (reform in education), or a paradigm shift of education, needs to be done since the person is still young. In this context, it is still worth noting that, according to Dewey, the purpose of education is not to produce good stuff that can be sold and adds to the state treasury, but produce humans free (produces free men) who are able to relate to each other in a situation equivalent ( equal relation). That is the goal of true education, which is now widely forgotten.
At the time Dewey life, and also, education was being threatened by two great powers. The first is the power of authoritarian regimes who wanted to create human beings who are submissive and obedient on the existing ideology. While the second is the powers of the capitalist system that is going to change the concept citizens (citizenship) are freely into the concept of the customer are free, the mind is only focused on indefinitely consumption alone. These two forces, in my opinion, still to be found today. Today many regimes control human freedom in the name of religion.
That must be considered Dewey and Chomsky is great thinkers of the world that has strong roots in the ideas of Marxism as well as classical liberalism. Although it looks different, two schools of thought are much stressed human freedom in the face society and nature.
Why You Never See Noam Chomsky education That Actually Works:
Chomsky takes us back to remember the main purpose of education, namely to produce human beings who are free, who are able to relate to one another in similar circumstances. It can be said that education is a process of production, but not the production of goods with strict mold predetermined, but the production of free human beings. On the other hand, Chomsky also quotes the opinion of Bertrand Russell, a great philosopher from England in the early twentieth century ago, about education. For him, education is a process to make sense of everything, and not to master it (human and natural). Education also is a process to create citizens who are wise and free society (wise citizens and free society). In this sense, according to Russell, as read by Chomsky, a national public policy includes two things, namely compliance with the laws of a citizen to the law on the one hand, and individual creativity in work and recreate life on the other side. Both of these aspects have to run balanced and dynamic.
Relationship between education and Democracy
There is no democracy without education, there is now really equal as long as its main purpose will be the production of goods instead of making free human beings; Humans not only spectators but actors of the choices that affect us all. Education is clearly related to schools and universities, but it is stressed that this proves that it occurred both tent to education for freedom and democracy, whether it aims education obedience and subordination.
Conclusion:
In other words, wrote Chomsky, the purpose of education is to create a situation that is adequate, so that creativity can grow in various fields, especially in self-learners who incidentally are our children as well.
