School's not out

If hyperlearning is the education mode of the future, I predict that although school is out, buildings will still be used to house students during the day, maybe in the form of day care centers. Unless, of course, their parents’ jobs have also evolved to the point where all parents work at home, which is unlikely. Anyway with day care centers, workers would be called care providers since they no longer teach; they only need to provide basic care. But what if the kids fight with each other, or trashes the computers, would the care providers intervene and “teach” the kids appropriate behavior. Or would hyperlearning tools cover that too?

I do not agree with Perelman (1993) that “there is no job in this economy that truly requires an academic diploma or degree for its successful performance”. I feel that there are many jobs that requires years of learning and training before a person can be pronounced as proficient. Although a diploma or a degree may not be needed as credentials, they do serve a purpose. Besides the academic diploma or degree also serves to impart confidence on those who the person with the credential serves. Imagine going in for a surgery, and not seeing the surgeon’s credentials. I partially agree with Perelman in the issue of employment decisions based on academic diplomas. Employers should not hire or promote based on the academic diploma alone but take into consideration other factors as well. A Harvard degree should never be judged more valuable than a Lehigh degree. And by the way, Perelman received his doctorate from Harvard University, and I’m sure this credential has worked to his advantage.

Education is for everyone, so let’s not forget the special education population. Parents and advocates have for years fought to have students with disabilities included in regular education classrooms with typical students. Fifty years ago most students with mental retardation do not get to participate in public education or be in the same school with typical peers, and we have only recently made progress in including students with disabilities and according to Gaskin settlement (Court orders/Gaskin, 2006), we still have a long way to go. If school’s out, I assume for regular education students, so then where is inclusion for special education students? Would students with disabilities return to their homes where historically they've been educated (or not) or will they remain in “schools” that will once again segregate them from their typical peers?

References

Court orders/Gaskin. (n.d.). The Pennsylvania Training and Technical Assistance Network (PaTTAN): A Professional Development Network. Retrieved April 18, 2006, from http://www.pattan.k12.pa.us/regsforms/CourtOrdersGaskin.aspx

Perelman, L., J. 1993. School’s Out. Wired Magazine. Issue 1.01. Retrieved on April 14th, 2006 from http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/1.01/hyperlearning_pr.html