A Review: “School and the End of Intelligence”
by Jak King
It has been about a month since I announced the publication of Tom Durrie’s “School and the End of Intelligence.” I took my time getting through it because this is an important piece of work and it deserves a close and thoughtful reading.
Durrie brings together an impressive array of contexts and disciplines including game theory, merchandising, psychology, philosophy, and music to illustrate his major point that school systems as currently structured are the worst possible places to get an education.
The book is divided into three parts. In the first, Durrie piles example on example of how modern consumer capitalism, often in the guise of “choice” or entertainment detracts from personal knowledge, leading to what he calls the gamification of society. Durrie provides a devastating critique of this neoliberalism and the role of schools in its continued dominance. He notes that for neoliberalism’s “supply-side economics to be effective, a culture of believers must be created [and] school is the perfect place for such training to occur.” He quotes a Jessica Braithwaite study:
“Neoliberal policy creates an illusion of meritocracy, where all students are perceived to have equal access to a high-quality education. Given this perceived equality of opportunity, poor outcomes are attributed to individual decision making and not the state or any existing racial or socioeconomic inequalities.”
The second part of the book is a detailed look at the history of education systems starting with the Prussian experiments of the eighteenth century and working its way through the ideas of Fichte, Pestalozzi, Vaughn, Mann, Ryerson, Locke, Rousseau, Dewey and others. Durrie notes the baleful legacy of Frederick Taylor (he of the assembly line) and B.F. Skinner’s behaviourism on educational design, leading to the inevitable decline in standards we see today.
In the third part of the book, which looks at schooling today, Durrie takes apart both the rationale for and the results of the modern infatuation with testing and grades.
Several times in the book, Durrie notes that the only similar situation for adults in our society to what happens in school (compulsory attendance, strict adherence to discipline, control of eating and toilet times, etc) is prison. Children in school have no rights. “They may only be allowed privileges, and those are strictly limited by authority.”
Durrie notes that modern education is “the triumph of mediocrity — the end of intelligence. When it comes to pliability there is nothing to beat a society dulled by shabby entertainment and the constant stimulation of digital media and sports.” Modern schooling is “not an educational endeavour, it is there to impede education, to maintain ignorance and gullibility.”
What Durrie wants to achieve is “education as intellectual and personal development, not training for a job … all real learning comes from curiosity and interest, not from being taught what someone else thinks you should learn.” He concludes that
“if we want people who are trained to be passive consumers of entertainment, who will follow orders without question, and who will be devoted followers of social media, all we have to do is continue with the present for of schooling. On the other hand, if we want a populace of thoughtful, literate, and creative people, people who are passionately curious, its time we did something different.”
I fear I may have failed to stress the breadth of knowledge and context that Tom Durrie brings to this subject. Moreover, while this is an important book on a serious subject, Durrie’s easy conversational style makes it a joy to read. It is larded with numerous anecdotes from his own extensive teaching experience, and I encourage everyone to read and learn.
You can order the book from Amazon or various other platforms.
Rants and Raves of Tom Durrie 