Postman suggests that the current crisis in our educational system derives from its failure to supply students with a translucent, unifying “narrative” like those that inspired earlier generations. Instead, today's schools promote the false “gods” of economic utility, consumerism, or ethnic separatism and resentment. What alternative strategies can we use to instill our children with a sense of global citizenship, healthy intellectual skepticism, respect of America’s traditions, and appreciation of its diversity? In answering this question, The End of Education restores meaning and common sense to the arena in which they are most urgently needed.
“Informal and clear. . . . Postman’s ideas about education are appealingly fresh.” —The New York Times Book Review
Table of Contents
Part One 1. The Necessity of Gods 2. Some Gods That Fail 3. Some New Gods That Fail 4. Gods That May Serve
Part Two 5. The Spaceship Earth 6. The Fallen Angel 7. The American Experiment 8. The Law of Diversity 9. The Word Weavers/The World Makers
Epilogue
Neil Postman was a University Professor, the Paulette Goddard Chair of Media Ecology, and the chair of the Department of Media, Culture, and Communication, all at New York University. Among his 20 books are studies of childhood (The Disappearance of Childhood); public discourse (Amusing Ourselves to Death); education (Teaching as a Subversive Activity and The End of Education); and the impact of technology (Technopoly). His interest in education was long-standing, beginning with his experience as an elementary and secondary school teacher. He died in 2003.
View titles by Neil Postman
Postman suggests that the current crisis in our educational system derives from its failure to supply students with a translucent, unifying “narrative” like those that inspired earlier generations. Instead, today's schools promote the false “gods” of economic utility, consumerism, or ethnic separatism and resentment. What alternative strategies can we use to instill our children with a sense of global citizenship, healthy intellectual skepticism, respect of America’s traditions, and appreciation of its diversity? In answering this question, The End of Education restores meaning and common sense to the arena in which they are most urgently needed.
“Informal and clear. . . . Postman’s ideas about education are appealingly fresh.” —The New York Times Book Review
Table of Contents
Part One 1. The Necessity of Gods 2. Some Gods That Fail 3. Some New Gods That Fail 4. Gods That May Serve
Part Two 5. The Spaceship Earth 6. The Fallen Angel 7. The American Experiment 8. The Law of Diversity 9. The Word Weavers/The World Makers
Epilogue
Author
Neil Postman was a University Professor, the Paulette Goddard Chair of Media Ecology, and the chair of the Department of Media, Culture, and Communication, all at New York University. Among his 20 books are studies of childhood (The Disappearance of Childhood); public discourse (Amusing Ourselves to Death); education (Teaching as a Subversive Activity and The End of Education); and the impact of technology (Technopoly). His interest in education was long-standing, beginning with his experience as an elementary and secondary school teacher. He died in 2003.
View titles by Neil Postman
