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There is currently an expression among people who are fighting to ch- ange the school system, that our minds have been 'all schooled—up'.

In school reform, it means that‘we continue using teaching procedures and other mechanisms that we are used to, without ex— amining their implicat— ions. Quite simply this

is because everyone has attended school and is shaped by it.

“' But the expression app— xlies not only to school reform but to our way of thinking and looking at

5the world around us. § To be all"schooled—up"

{is to be rigid and thick in the head.

This becomes particularly obvious when some of the chains on our thinking are thrown off. For ex-

ample,on¢g we stop equating

learning with schooling and start considering other approaches,many good ideas break through. Well, what are some of these chains? To start off with a sacred cow, _,I believe that logic or more properly the eval— fuated status and obsess— ;ion with logic can rigid- '3ify our thinking. Logic, of course, is a very useful and effect- ive method of organizing

thought.But it has faults' ‘ logical think-_

O-F‘i‘ly @ng has this damned habit iof immediately looking g‘for what's wrong (illogical) 1n inew idea and dismissingfif “(instead of looking for what's good or what other ideas that prOposed idea may lead to).Logic is one tool for thinking— but it has nothing to do with creating new ideas.- ‘Belief is probably the second biggest thinking pattern. People may indeed need belief systems for thier personal integrity, stability,or other reas- ons. But if logic can be binding by saying "no" to new ideas, and solutions, belief can be binding by fixation on one idea and saying "yes" only to it. For example,if you believe that you are the reincarn- ation of Napoleon and are destined to take over the world,then everything that . :happens can be interpreted - gas efforts to stop or ass— gist you in this. '-; On a more common level, ‘Efiprejudice of any sort can .1;prevent people from look- 3 ing at thingspfrom a diff— ? erent perspective,from wg learning from their misc

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takes, from finding new understanding to their problems,and from creating solutions and ideas. ‘There are other chains to thinking, of course,(e.g. drug addiction,magic think- ing,surface thinking,etc.) The truth is, I'm not sure how to approach these. Should they be considered methods of thinking or ways of looking at things (world views)? Anyway,for those who are interested in new ideas, a book called Po:Beyond Yes and Eg_by Edward DeBono (Penguin Books) could be very useful and entertain— ing.

Mind~Set

Anyone concerned with change and political action, 6f necessity, must consider

the blocks in people against,

that change.We live in a society that is increasing being dominated by social services and hence over- programming. In all sec- tors people adopt a cer-

_taintmind-set or mental—

ity pecular to their occ—. upation and often are lucked into that frame

of mind even when it is obviously disfunctional or harmful-witness cops, bureaucrats,teachers, etc. This phenomena may even fit an equation: nature of man. 4F meth— ods of thinking }}' soc- iological influence = world view.

School plays an extreme- ly important role in

this process. I wish here to discuss how it affects our thinking and schools our imagination into a rigid mentality. Besides the previous general argu- ments against logic and belief,there are several influences peculiar to school—specifically,the signatures; .dlogae;

the rightzwrgng jud e- matmfideas; and the a]: ienatipnQfJgnpwleslse. The following paragraphs

' briefly elaborate on these.

Established ideas or ideas from the old gener— ation pass on intact without thinking from the teacher to the taught. Depositing of a whole framework of knowledge- into students seems to be the easiest way of teaching for it relieves the teacher and student of the necessity of thinking about it. Al— though the teacher may get great satisfaction out of the brilliance of his orgmizatton, the student is de-humanized

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Your minds,

by being an object into which dead knowledge is set. This in turn becomes a further block on think— ing.

The right—wrong judge— ment of ideas is also a powerful influence in shaping our thinking. En— couragement and approval 1A avsf‘gtdemearly years are given as reward for being right. Being wrong in class is a cause for em? barassment and shame.

The ego is so tied to being right that later on in life people are afraid of being wrong and most reluctangtgadmit this. They are defending not their ideas but their self—esteem.Furthermore this fear of being wrong paralizes their ability to think of and propose new ideas. . I

Thirdly, the alienation? of knowledge is a process

,we've all become used to ~by university.School is

a closed and artificial world. What we learn,even -those ideas which we con- sider most important,have their validity inside this world.flka| motivation for ideas is cut off and peo—. ple either stop thinking : or become involved in petty arguments.Both the drunk and the'academie

I are common at, university": .

But this alienation of knowledge belies a fur- ther point, so I wish to' now leave this discussion on schooled thinking and very briefly pursue the further consequence of this alienation. VW’

"It is said that you can haVe an open heart only if you have an open mind. "Understanding" is very ' different from "mental- ity" because it is mot— ivated by human concerns. Unlike the rigid mind- set approach,challeng— ing problems through' ethical reflection and action is a very human- izing experience.

In general students miss out on this. There is an immense loss in having learning separa- ted from the world not only for those cut off‘ from any theoretical understanding of their world but also for stu— dents who are unable to develop any sense of pr- iorities, ethical judge- ment,or ability to learn from otherss

In my own experiences at

they're a” schooled up."

.1} _ attempts toward dééschool- ing in Anglo‘Tignisfi}I‘ve found the biggest lessonx I've learned is to accept~ other persons views and proceed from that point

axon. At times it is a most difficult process because our schooled men- tality compel s us to re- ject what we disagree with instead of looking at what is good in that Viewpoint or what other good understanding might that viewpoint lead to. It is a" terrific ' experience to work in solidarity and dialogue with others but for anyone helping others it is

imperative to be a co-1earner.

Einally,since this is my last article, I wish to answer a question I was asked : what I thought the best educata ion system could hes WWW

Tb put it brief V;$!mfihihk

‘that the most'in erently

dynamic system is the world

and all of the problems it has. Reflection and action, ethical decis- ionemaking and compass- ion are demanded by it.

aThis is never possible‘

.in an artificia1,auth— oritarian or seductiVE, environment~called school.

(much thanks to Barry Chandler

for his terrific artworkEI

new _ r ,.

Tl" Problem 55, . a.egy-°bfim4,-. we " magi immediately _, upgrade this J ‘ g curriculum U?!“ _ E7 _ f a V _. ,, Mmmsfllmou .7 gm", ' © (9 \c,,/ o o ' o 9 ' .. g «Q