Schools: Factories to produce Mindless Individuals

by Omar Javaid, written for Homeworks Magazine (July Issue)

In view of Alvin Toffler and Sir Ken Robinson, the modern form of schooling was an offshoot of industrial revolution as it evolved around the human resource needs which emerged with emerging factories. Batches, fixed sessions, bells, unchallengeable supervision, uniforms, competition, number based evaluation, mindless-fragmented and compartmentalized activities, cut throat competition, disgrace to the failing ones, etc were all part of the school environment intended to produce a working class (or Human capital in view of Adam Smith) suitable for a very similar kind of environment prevalent in factories.

This was necessary to transform an agricultural age worker into an industrial age worker. The industrial age worker had to work without challenging the authority, perform mindless cyclic operation in a assembly or process line in a factory under the pretext of division of labor; as it was believed by champions of scientific management such as Frederick Taylor and Henry Ford, that such a division would result in increased productivity and profitability for the investors or capitalist.

An individual with no sense of purpose for his being and actions, unable to think critically and ponder over the bigger picture, willing to give away his freedom of his body along with his mind and soul in exchange of a buck, or willing to submit to the ideology of his paymasters was the kind of person required to get employed in the factory operating on scientific management techniques. Schools with an advent of industrial age were designed to produce just that. Noam Chomsky also asserted once that the prevalent system of education only entertain those who are at ease with blind and mindless obedience to authority.

John Taylor Gatto has even explained the role of such individuals in free markets. Gatto suggested in his books and speeches that such individuals with no sense of purpose were raised to get bored in schools, who subsequently needed to watch TV, play with toys, consume narcotics etc to keep themselves distracted. These individuals when physically grew up, remained childish psychologically, thanks to the same environment which chases them in collages and even universities. These grownup bored kids then demand bigger toys, gadgets and gas-guzzlers, to please themselves. This is the kind of generation, produced by the schools, which qualify as effective consumers as they consumes what is not needed, spends their life striving for more believing that new and better gadgets in their pockets, offices, roads and in their home would lead to a life more distracting or more commonly termed as ‘satisfying’. In view of Gatto if you gets bored, you are still a kid, because people with no sense of purpose, direction or self-worth are the one who gets bored, kids don’t know all this, says Gatto.

These bored and distraction-seeking individuals thus aspire to become what Alasdair Macintyre defines as Bureaucratic Manager; who possess only a morality which blindly justifies the greatest (financial) return possible from efficiently (read ruthlessly) exploiting his resources which includes others like him (Junior managers or workers) as well. This he (along with his juniors) does to achieve a desired state of a ‘Rich Aesthete’, in view of Macintyre, who lives luxurious, pleasure-filled (or gadget filled) and exotic life. Keeping the population on such a hamster wheel is a capitalist dream comes true, isn’t it?

In subcontinent even, the education system brought by Lord Macaulay has been doing a not so different job, as in his own view such a system was meant to produce a class which is Indian in appearance but have a mind of a westerner. Shahnawaz Farooqui has quoted in one of his articles that such individuals were termed as ‘Baboo’ which Britishers derived from the name ‘Baboon’ (a monkey species). It is the same form of schooling system in which our elite class today sends their kids, and the not so elite aspire to send theirs as well, in fact its low-end version are also available in the society. Only if they knew, tool of whose ideology they want their children to become, then they would think twice before choosing such a school.

The realization of the defects in the schooling model is also emerging among the western educational thinkers. Sir Ken Robinson, Alfie Kohn, John Holt, Parker J. Palmer, Frank Smith, John Hunter, Ricardo Semler, Sugata Mitra, and Kiran Sethi are just to name a few who are working on reforming the contemporary ‘factory type’ educational model. We can learn from them however being a Muslim what we need to see is that any reforms in the schooling system presented by westerners themselves may or may not help us make our kids better practicing Muslims, in fact the inspiration of these modern reformers is to induce spirit of freedom and liberty (in against the submission of all forms even to Allah swt) in the design of schooling system, which they think is seriously lacking in them.

In this regards Tarbiyah Project designed by Dawud Tauhidi (search Google for details) seems to take the best from all systems and synergize them into a single whole. The purpose of which is to holistically develop Muslims with enlightened souls, character and intellect necessary to achieve success in this world and Akhirah. This is the view of the author alone, and the concerned should browse through the model themselves and revert back in case if they find some problem.

In short alternatives to the conventional factory based schooling system or education models are available. Transferring to which is not such a big task perhaps. Only it requires a little bit of courage, strength and lots of prayers to Allah SWT, but only if there is a will to do so.