Reply to comment

In order to get to a closer approximation of what the purpose of receiving an education should be, we should that a look at how our present attempts is not working. If we at look at the little environmental continuum students undergo described in the Learning Disabilities (LD) section of the Culture as Disability article, we can see that the way in which the education system gets more specific and intricate, the further away the students are from familiarizing him/herself with the reality that lies outside of those four walls, that pen and paper.

For as the authors of this essay puts it, “it is only in response to the arbitrary demands of the school culture ( i.e. score a perfect score on your SATs) that he is shown to be disabled,” to appear less than adequate in accomplishing (literally) unrealistic goals/ unnecessary tasks for surviving in everyday life.

My question is why is education- school in itself- a life separate from the everyday, more specifically, so isolated from the everyday life, is a totally different world? The fact that you must survive school before stepping into the arena that is the “real world” is in itself conceding to the extreme difference the two environments have to offer and expect from students. Although schooling is part of our everyday lives, it is definitely separate from the life we lead/who we are once we get out of the classroom door. Why then should it be expected that once these students successfully abide by all of the expectations placed on them by the school that they will also be prepared to strive in the rest of their life post-schooling?

In a lot of ways the way the education system is set up now can water down to gaining the “books smarts” but not supplementing it with any of the “street smarts” necessary to make it in the real world.