Chapter 6: Rethinking Education in the Age of Techonlogy

This chapter, The Three Eras of Education, began by summarizing the eras of education, first there was apprenticeship then universal-schooling, and now we are entering the lifelong-learning era of education. The chapter then goes on to describe different aspects of education that have changed throughout these three eras. To me, the biggest difference between the apprenticeship era and the universal-schooling era was the involvement of the state. I thought it was really interesting to learn about apprenticeships because it was something I had never really thought about before. I learned that before universal schooling children usually learned through their family, so if they grew up on a farm they would learn how to farm. Then, in the universal schooling era the state took control and students went to school to learn about a variety of topics.Now, as we enter the lifelong learning era the author argues that we are kind of shifting back because parents and families are becoming more involved and the state less involved. I'm not sure if I agree with this. I do agree that students and parents are beginning to have more choices but I think the state still is, and should be involved. I still think it is important for children to learn about a variety of topics because it will only expand their knowledge base and in the long-run their opportunities.

However, as a teacher I hope to give my students options. I hope to have students learn about several topics but I also hope to allow students some freedom to expand on the topics in which they are most interested. I don't agree with having students becoming extremely knowledgeable about just one topic and during middle school and high school because I think they are missing out on other things that will help them succeed in the future. I think it is great for students to become knowledgeable in topics they are interested in but I still think they should learn about other topics as well. For example, if a student loves writing and wants to expand on it, that's great, but in order to become educated and to succeed that student should still spend sometime studying social studies or math. All in all, after reading this chapter I do believe that the life-long learning era is an improvement of the apprenticeship era and the universal-schooling era.