Uniformity through Uniforms: One parent’s experience with school uniforms
uniform materials along with constant monitoring according to strictly defined metrics. In an education setting this implies a need for uniformity in the student populations and for strict control and measurement of teaching methods. This point of view is inconsistent with the notion of an autonomous material taking responsibility for its own manufacture. Such a material might choose unprescribed methods with goals, which might not fit within the domain of the metrics used to measure progress.
My own feeling is that the business executives promoting this point of view are considerably behind the times. Human material is ridiculously inefficient as a basis for the kinds of components these programs seem to be trying to create. We already have much better materials based on silicon for example. The reliability of silicon and silicon controlled devices in conforming to predicted behavior is many orders of magnitude greater than that of human beings. These devices can be cheaply constructed and operated in whatever quantities are desired. Further, the complexity of behaviors of which these devices are capable include all of the kinds of problems involving restricted domains and little or no creative analysis that fall within the domain of the metrics which are driving process improvement in education. In short, the products of this kind of educational process are more than likely to be obsolete before they’re even completed.
Human beings who are going to be useful in the present and future need to be just the opposite of uniform and predictable. Where human beings excel is in the creative and unpredictable. A system that encourages uniformity and blind acceptance of arbitrary policies de-emphasizes exactly the kinds of mental faculties our children and our society will need to survive.
My daughter ultimately survived her year of rebellion though I don’t believe she was unscathed. She certainly suffered various forms of harassment from teachers, administrators, and students alike. Her non-conformity seemed to be a point of obsession at the school. Strangely enough the harassment only increased as the year went on and climaxed at the very end of the year. After whatever harm or good my daughter’s nonconformity could have caused was over the principal decided on one final attack. He would not let her appear in her class graduation picture without a uniform – a policy clearly in violation of the California school uniform law. I will not go into the gory details of what followed, as they do not speak well of my intelligence. Suffice it to say that my daughter did appear in her class picture though her father was arrested for disturbing the peace at a school! Recently the principal was removed from the school as a consequence of his students failing to progress sufficiently relative to another piece of idiocy called the California Academic Performance Index. I almost felt sorry for him.
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