An Education

A historical perspective on how American school was conceived, and why it kills the desire to learn.

I write essays such as this one to understand better the string of complexities of the past, so I can find a light and direction to the future. To do so involves not just re-learning how to think about events in a more comprehensive light, but to value the nuance of how language and narrative influence culture. This one includes a ‘Who’s Who’ cast of characters.

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Children would rather learn than do anything else. They ask questions, not to annoy, but to figure how the world works. Just like scientists, researchers, and poets, they play with boundaries to see how reality unfolds.

The Vitruvian Man (c. 1485) Accademia, Venice [Image: Public Domain]

Every child at birth has the potential of Leonardo da Vinci. What happens afterwards is the product of context. I wish school teachers had to take the Socratic Oath, like doctors the Hippocratic Oath:¹ ‘first do no harm.’

Mine did alright. Though no one stood out as particularly inspiring or memorable, at least they didn’t beat my desire to learn out of me. The same cannot be said for the experience of many who go through the school system.

In Italian ‘to teach’ is insegnare, from the Latin insignare—‘in’ combined with the verb ‘signare’ means to mark, to impress; the noun signum translates into brand or seal. The teacher therefore leaves an impression on the student’s mind.

Transmission of knowledge is not an end in itself, but the tip of the iceberg that has as a foundation the imprint of a method to approach reality. This goes far beyond academic subjects in the culture we inherited from the Romans and the Greeks.

As I discovered a couple of decades into my education in Italy, not every school system was based on the same principles and ideas. This essay is an exploration of the origins of the Anglo-Saxon ways and methods.

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Today’s school system was not designed to develop the potential of every individual, and for that matter, it isn’t even the product of scientific knowledge of how children learn, but rather of the past—history.

Schools were created to serve religious and political purposes. The school system of today was designed deliberately between the 18th and 19th centuries, with the specific intent of indoctrinating children and raising them to obey.

The history of public schools in America offers a very clear overview of what has—alas—happened all over the world…