Noam Chomsky - The Purpose of Education (with subtitles)

United4Education2014-09-07

Education (TV Genre)#Noam Chomsky (Author)#Philosophy (Field Of Study)

33K views|10 years ago

💫 Short Summary

In the video "Noam Chomsky on the Purpose of Education," Noam Chomsky discusses the two different concepts of education: one based on the Enlightenment's emphasis on individual inquiry and creativity, and the other focused on indoctrination and conformity. He also talks about the impact of technological advances on education, emphasizing the importance of having a well-constructed conceptual framework when using modern technology like the internet. Chomsky believes that education should prioritize cultivating the ability to seek what's significant and being willing to question and challenge assumptions, regardless of the tools and resources used. In this video, Noam Chomsky discusses the purpose of education and the impact of standardized testing. He argues that education should focus on cultivating free and creative individuals who can appreciate and contribute to cultural achievements, rather than just producing workers for economic growth. Chomsky emphasizes the importance of encouraging independent thinking and exploration in education, rather than prioritizing test scores and rote memorization.

✨ Highlights

📊 Transcript

✦

The purpose of education is a matter of sharp differences, with one interpretation from the Enlightenment emphasizing inquiry and creativity, while the other emphasizes indoctrination and control.

00:00

The traditional Enlightenment interpretation views the highest goal in life as inquiry and creating, with the purpose of education being to help people learn how to learn on their own and determine their own achievements.

There is another concept of education that aims to indoctrinate and control young people from childhood, discouraging them from challenging existing frameworks.

✦

There is a constant struggle in the educational system between training for passing tests and promoting creative inquiry and pursuit of interests.

02:32

Liberal internationalists have pushed for measures to turn the educational system towards more control, indoctrination, and vocational training.

The speaker believes that an educational system, including research institutions, should follow the Enlightenment tradition of encouraging challenge, questioning of authority, and the pursuit of alternatives.

✦

There are powerful structures in society that prefer people to be indoctrinated and conform, but it is important for individuals in the educational system to make the choice to ask questions, be obedient, and not shake systems of power and authority.

05:30

The speaker believes that regardless of where individuals stand in the educational system, whether as students, teachers, or outsiders trying to shape it, they have the choice to influence the direction of the system.

There is a preference for conformity and obedience in society, but individuals can choose to challenge this preference.

✦

Technological changes in communication and information have significantly impacted the nature of culture and society, but the speaker suggests that the impact is not as dramatic as the technological advances of a century ago.

06:23

Shifts in technology, such as the transition from a typewriter to a computer, are significant, but they are not as dramatic as historical changes like the introduction of plumbing.

The speaker views technology as neutral, similar to a hammer, and its impact depends on how it is used.

✦

Technology, like the internet, is valuable for research if used with a clear framework and understanding of what to look for, but random exploration without a well-constructed conceptual apparatus can be meaningless.

08:03

The internet is valuable for research if the user has a clear framework that directs their search and helps them determine what is significant.

Simply exploring the internet without a clear understanding of what to look for can result in picking out random factoids that don't contribute to meaningful research.

Education, whether using computers and the internet or traditional tools, is about cultivating the capacity to seek what's significant and being willing to question whether you're on the right track.

✦

Education is often discussed in terms of its economic value in creating human capital for growth, but the speaker finds this perspective to be strange.

11:52

There is a focus on whether education is a worthwhile investment for economic growth and creating human capital.

✦

The value of education in creating better human beings and fostering technological and cultural progress

12:00

Society must decide if it wants free, creative, and independent individuals who can appreciate and contribute to cultural achievements.

The development of technology like computers and the internet was mostly funded and explored in the public sector, leading to scientific and cultural progress.

A lively cultural and educational system geared towards encouraging creativity and independence of thought is essential for technological and economic advancement.

✦

Concerns about the increasing focus on passing exams in education

15:00

Education should not just be about increasing GDP, but about cultural enrichment and creating better human beings.

The current education system is shaping towards passing exams, which can be useful for evaluation but may not contribute much to actual learning and understanding.

Passing tests is not as significant as searching, inquiring, and pursuing topics that engage and excite students.

✦

The importance of allowing students to explore and discover on their own

18:00

A sixth grade teacher shared an experience where a student was interested in exploring a topic but was told to focus on studying for a upcoming national exam.

Tests can be a useful educational tool for self-improvement and feedback, but they should not be the main focus of education.

Education should inspire students to discover, challenge, and master achievements on their own, as the ability to learn independently is crucial for lifelong learning.

00:10 you

00:37 well we can ask ourselves what the

00:41 purpose of an educational system is and

00:43 of course there are sharp differences on

00:48 this matter there's the traditional and

00:54 interpretation that comes from the

00:56 Enlightenment which holds that the

01:00 highest goal in life is to inquire and

01:04 create to search the riches of the past

01:11 try to internalize the parts of them

01:17 that are significant to you carry that

01:19 quest for understanding further in your

01:22 own way purpose of Education from that

01:27 point of view is just to help people

01:30 determine how to learn on their own it's

01:34 you the learner who is going to achieve

01:38 in the course of education and it's

01:42 really up to you what you'll what you'll

01:45 master where you'll go how you use it

01:48 how you'll go on to produce something

01:53 new and exciting for yourself maybe for

01:56 others that's one concept of education

01:59 the other concept is essentially a

02:01 doctor nation people have to the idea

02:06 that from childhood young people have to

02:10 be placed into a framework in which

02:15 they'll follow orders accept existing

02:21 frameworks and not challenge and so on

02:24 and this is often quite explicit so for

02:27 example after the in the after the

02:32 activism of the 1960s there was great

02:36 concern across much of the

02:40 educated spectrum that young people were

02:45 just getting to free and independent

02:48 that the country was going to democratic

02:51 and so on and in fact there's an

02:53 important study on what's called the

02:56 crisis of democracy too much democracy

03:00 arguing that there are claiming that

03:04 there are certain institutions

03:06 responsible for the indoctrination of

03:08 the young so their phrase and they're

03:11 not doing their job properly that's

03:13 schools universities churches we have to

03:16 change them so that they carry out the

03:19 job of indoctrination control more

03:21 effectively that's actually coming from

03:23 the liberal internationalist end of the

03:27 specter of the Internet of the spectrum

03:29 of educated opinion and in fact since

03:32 that time there have been many measures

03:34 taken to try to turn the educational

03:38 system towards more control more

03:41 indoctrination more vocational training

03:46 imposing a debt which traps students

03:50 young people into a life of conformity

03:53 and so on that's the exact opposite of

03:56 the what I referred to as the tradition

04:00 that comes out of the Enlightenment and

04:01 there's a constant struggle between

04:03 those in the colleges in schools in the

04:07 schools do you do you train for passing

04:13 tests or do you train for a creative

04:16 inquiry pursuing interests that are

04:20 aroused by a material that's presented

04:23 you want to pursue either on your own or

04:25 cooperation with others and this goes

04:27 all the way through up to graduate

04:32 school and research just two different

04:35 ways of looking at the world when you

04:38 when you get to a say a research

04:40 institution like the one we're now in at

04:43 the graduate level that it essentially

04:46 follows the

04:48 enlightenment tradition fact science and

04:50 couldn't regress unless it was based on

04:56 inculcation of the urge to challenge to

05:04 question the doctrine question authority

05:08 a search for alternatives

05:11 use your imagination that freely under

05:15 your own impulses cooperative work with

05:17 others as constant as you can see just

05:20 by walking down the halls that's my view

05:24 what an educational system should be

05:26 like them to kindergarten but there's

05:30 certainly are powerful structures in the

05:33 society which would prefer people to be

05:36 indoctrinated conform not ask too many

05:39 questions be obedient fulfill the roles

05:44 that are assigned to you and don't try

05:46 to shake systems of power and authority

05:51 those are choices we have to make there

05:54 as people that wherever we stand in the

05:59 educational system as students as

06:01 teachers as people on the outside trying

06:04 to help shape it in the directions in

06:06 which we think it would go

06:15 you

06:18 you

06:20 well this certainly has been a very

06:23 substantial growth and new technology

06:27 technology of communication and

06:29 information the axis interchange it's

06:33 surely a major change in the nature of

06:36 the culture in society so we should bear

06:40 in mind that the technological changes

06:42 that are taking place now while they're

06:45 significant probably come nowhere near

06:49 having as much impact as technological

06:53 advances of say century ago plus or

06:57 minus so the shifts as tech just

07:00 communication the shift from a

07:05 typewriter to a computer or a telephone

07:09 to the email is significant but then

07:13 begin to compare with the shift from a

07:17 sailing vessel to a telegraph I mean the

07:21 time that that cut down in communication

07:24 between say England and the United

07:26 States was extraordinary as compared

07:29 with the changes taking place now and

07:31 the same is true of other kinds of

07:33 technology like just introduction of say

07:36 plumbing the widespread plumbing in the

07:39 cities had a huge effect on health much

07:43 more than the discovery of antibiotics

07:45 so the changes are real and significant

07:48 but we should recognize that others have

07:50 taken place which in many ways were more

07:52 dramatic the as far as the technology

07:56 itself and education is concerned

07:59 technology is it's basically neutral

08:03 it's kind of like a hammer I mean you

08:06 can the hammer doesn't care whether you

08:09 use it to build a house or whether a

08:12 torturer uses it to crush somebody skull

08:15 hammer can do either same with the

08:19 modern technology say the internet so on

08:22 the Internet is extremely valuable if

08:25 you know

08:25 looking for I mean I use it all the time

08:28 for research I'm sure everyone does if

08:30 you know the kind of what you're looking

08:32 for you have a kind of a framework of

08:35 understanding which directs you to

08:38 particular things it lets you sideline

08:41 lots of others then this can be a very

08:44 valuable tool of course you always have

08:47 to be willing to ask is my framework the

08:49 right one maybe I ought to modify it

08:51 maybe if there's something I look at

08:53 that questions it I should rethink how

08:56 I'm looking at things but you can't

08:59 pursue any kind of inquiry without a

09:03 pretty relatively clear framework that's

09:09 directing your search and helping you

09:12 choose what's significant what isn't

09:14 what can be put aside what ought to be

09:16 pursued what ought to be challenged

09:19 well-developed and so on you can't

09:22 expect somebody to become a biologist

09:24 say like giving them access to the

09:31 Harvard University biology library and

09:34 say just look through it will give them

09:39 nothing and the Internet is the same

09:41 except magnified enormous ly if you

09:44 don't understand what know what you're

09:46 looking for if you don't have some kind

09:48 of a conception of what matters always

09:52 of course with a proviso that you're

09:54 willing to question it if it seems to be

09:57 going in the wrong direction if you

09:59 don't have that exploring the Internet

10:03 is just picking out random factoids that

10:07 don't mean anything so behind any

10:12 significant use of contemporary

10:15 technology the Internet communication

10:19 systems with graphics whatever may be

10:22 behind unless behind it is some

10:27 well-constructed directive conceptual

10:31 apparatus it

10:34 is very unlikely to be helpful it may

10:37 turn out to be harmful for example the

10:40 random exploration through the internet

10:43 it turns out to be a cult generator pick

10:49 up a factoid here and a factoid there

10:51 and somebody else reinforces it and all

10:54 of a sudden you have some created the

10:57 picture which has some factual basis but

11:01 doesn't do with the world you have to

11:03 know how to evaluate interpret

11:05 understand I mean the billet say biology

11:09 again they the person who wins the Nobel

11:11 Prize in biology is not the person who

11:14 read the most journal articles and most

11:17 notes on the person who knew what to

11:20 look for and cultivating that capacity

11:23 to seek what's significant always

11:27 willing to question whether you're on

11:29 the right track that's what education is

11:33 going to be about whether it's using

11:35 computers in the internet or pencil and

11:37 paper or in books

11:47 you

11:52 well educated is discussed in terms of

11:56 whether it's a worthwhile investment

11:58 that does a create human capital that

12:01 can be used for economic growth and so

12:04 on that's a very strange with that it

12:08 kind of a very distorting way to even

12:12 pose the question I think do we want to

12:16 have a society of free creative

12:20 independent individuals able to

12:23 appreciate and gain from the cultural

12:26 achievements of the past and to add to

12:28 them do we want that or do we want

12:31 people who can increase GDP not

12:35 necessarily the same then not the same

12:37 thing and a an education of the kind

12:43 that say Bertrand Russell John Dewey and

12:48 others talked about that's a value in

12:50 itself of whatever whatever impact it

12:55 has in society it's a value because it

12:57 helps create better human beings that

13:01 after all that's what an educational

13:02 system should be for on the other hand

13:04 if you want to look at it in terms of

13:07 costs and benefits pick the new

13:11 technology that we were just talking

13:13 about where'd that come from well

13:15 actually a lot of it was developed right

13:17 we were sitting down below where we now

13:21 are was a major laboratory back in the

13:25 1950s where I was employed in fact which

13:29 was had lots of scientists engineers

13:36 people of all kinds of interests

13:39 philosophers others who were working on

13:41 developing the basic character of the

13:45 and even the basic tools of the

13:49 technology that is now common computers

13:52 in the internet for example were pretty

13:55 much in the public sector for decades

13:58 just funded in places like this where

14:01 people were exploring new possibilities

14:03 that were mostly on photo the heard of

14:07 it time and some of the work some didn't

14:10 the ones that worked were finally

14:12 converted into tools that people can use

14:14 that's the way scientific progress takes

14:18 place it's the way the cultural progress

14:21 takes place generally a classical of

14:26 artists for example came out of a

14:29 tradition of craftsmanship that was

14:32 developed over long periods with master

14:37 artisans with others and something

14:39 sometimes you can rise on their

14:41 shoulders and create do marvelous things

14:46 but it doesn't come from nowhere if

14:50 there isn't a lively cultural and

14:58 educational system which is geared

15:00 towards encouraging creative exploration

15:06 independence of thought willingness to

15:09 the challenge to cross frontiers to

15:13 challenge accepted beliefs and so on if

15:17 you don't have that you're not going to

15:18 get the technology that can lead to

15:22 economic gains though that I don't think

15:26 is the prime purpose of cultural

15:30 enrichment and education as part of it

15:41 you

15:45 there is in the recent period

15:49 particularly an increasing shaping of

15:55 Education from the early ages towards on

16:00 that's words passing examinations that

16:05 can be taking tests can be of some use

16:08 both for the person who's taken the test

16:11 see what I know where I am what I've

16:14 achieved what I have it for our

16:17 instructors what should be changed and

16:20 improved and in developing the course of

16:24 instruction but beyond that then really

16:28 tell you very much I mean I know for for

16:31 many many years I was on I've been on

16:34 admissions committees for entry into a

16:39 advanced graduate program maybe one of

16:43 the most advanced anywhere and we of

16:45 course pay some attention to test

16:48 results but really not too much I mean

16:51 you can that a person can do the

16:56 magnificently on every test and

16:58 understand very little I mean all of us

17:01 who've been through schools and colleges

17:04 and universities are very familiar with

17:05 this you can be assigned you can be in

17:11 sums a course that you have no interest

17:14 in and there's demand that you pass a

17:17 test and you can study hard for the test

17:20 and you can ace it to use the idiom into

17:25 fine and three we had a couple of weeks

17:28 later you forgot what that what the

17:29 topic was I'm sure we've all had that

17:31 experience I know I had

17:34 it's it can be a useful device if it

17:37 contributes to the constructive purposes

17:41 of Education if it's just a set of

17:44 hurdles you have to cross it can turn

17:47 out to be now meaningless but can divert

17:49 you away from things you want to be

17:51 doing actually I see this regularly when

17:54 I talk to teachers just if you want

17:58 experience from a couple of weeks ago

18:00 was plenty like it I have to be talking

18:03 to a group which included many school

18:05 teachers that one of them was a sixth

18:08 grade teacher teachers kids it's an or

18:11 11 or 12 something like that now she

18:14 came out to me afterwards and I'd been

18:16 talking about these things and she told

18:18 me that I would experience that she had

18:21 just had in her class after one of the

18:25 classes a little girl came up to her and

18:28 said she was really interested in

18:30 something that came up and she asked how

18:32 she could do could the teacher give her

18:34 some ideas about how to look into it

18:36 further and the teacher was compelled to

18:38 tell her I'm sorry but you can't do that

18:41 you have to study the past this national

18:45 exam that's coming that's going to

18:47 determine your future the teacher didn't

18:49 say it but it's going to determine my

18:52 future like whether I never be hired and

18:56 so on the system is geared to getting

18:58 the children to pass hurdles but not to

19:02 learn and understand and explore that

19:05 child would have been better off if she

19:08 had been allowed to explore what she was

19:10 interested in and maybe not do so well

19:12 on the test about things she wasn't

19:13 interested in i'ma go come along when

19:16 they fit into her interest in concerns

19:19 and so a test I don't say that test

19:25 should be eliminated they can be a

19:27 useful educational tool but ancillary

19:30 something that's just helping improve

19:34 for ourselves for instructors and others

19:36 what we're doing and tell us where we

19:38 ought to be

19:40 moving but they don't him passing tests

19:42 doesn't begin to compare with with

19:49 searching and inquiring and into

19:54 pursuing topics that engages and excite

19:58 us that's far more significant than

20:00 passing tests and in fact if you person

20:04 if you if that's the kind of educational

20:08 career that you're given the opportunity

20:10 to pursue you will remember what you

20:12 discovered she was a famous physicist

20:17 world famous physicist right here at MIT

20:20 who like a lot of the senior faculty was

20:25 teaching freshman courses he once said

20:29 that in his freshman course students

20:32 will ask what are we going to cover this

20:35 semester and his standard answer was it

20:38 doesn't matter what we covered it

20:39 matters what you discover and that's

20:42 right teaching ought to be inspiring

20:46 students to discover on their own to

20:52 challenge if they don't agree to look

20:56 for alternatives if they think they're

20:57 better ones to work through the great

21:01 achievements of the past and try to

21:03 master them on the run because they're

21:05 interested in if that's the way teaching

21:09 and as done students will really gain

21:14 from it and will not only remember what

21:18 they studied but will be able to use it

21:19 as a basis for going on in their own and

21:22 again education is really aimed at just

21:26 helping students get to the point where

21:30 they can learn on their own because

21:31 that's what's going to do for their free

21:34 for your life not just absorb materials

21:37 given to you from the outside and repeat

21:43 you

21:45 you

💫 FAQs about This YouTube Video

1. What are the two different concepts of education discussed in the video?

The video discusses the traditional interpretation of education that values inquiry and creativity, and the modern approach that focuses on indoctrination and control.

2. How does Noam Chomsky describe the purpose of an educational system?

Noam Chomsky describes the purpose of an educational system as a means to help people learn how to inquire and create, and to search for the riches of the past, emphasizing the importance of individual learning and creativity.

3. What is the impact of technological changes on the educational system discussed in the video?

The video mentions the significant impact of technological changes on the educational system, emphasizing the neutral nature of technology and the importance of having a well-constructed conceptual framework to make the use of technology helpful.

4. How does Noam Chomsky characterize the shift in the nature of culture and society due to technological changes?

Noam Chomsky characterizes the shift in the nature of culture and society due to technological changes as a substantial growth in new technology of communication and information, highlighting the significance of the changes while also acknowledging more dramatic shifts in the past.

5. What does Noam Chomsky emphasize as the essence of education, regardless of the tools used such as computers and the internet?

Noam Chomsky emphasizes the essence of education as the cultivation of the capacity to seek what's significant and always be willing to question, whether using computers and the internet or traditional tools like pencil and paper.

6. What is the speaker's view on the purpose of education?

The speaker emphasizes the importance of education in encouraging creative exploration, independence of thought, and willingness to challenge accepted beliefs, rather than just focusing on passing exams and tests.

7. According to the video, where did the development of new technology like computers and the internet mostly take place?

The development of new technology like computers and the internet mostly took place in the public sector, with scientists and engineers exploring new possibilities in major laboratories.

8. How does the speaker believe teaching should be done to benefit students the most?

The speaker believes that teaching should focus on inspiring students to discover on their own, challenge their own beliefs, and master the achievements of the past, ultimately leading to the ability to learn on their own.

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