Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ #occupytheclassroom

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community
In this item Karl Fisch writes, "when I first saw the hashtag #occupytheclassroom in my Twitter stream (can’t recall exactly where or I would link) I smiled . . . and then dismissed it.... [but] instead of blaming “the system,” we should realize that we are the system, and we should advocate for our students when we see things that we don’t believe are in their best interests. And that we, just like the protesters in the middle east, and just like the #occupywallstreet folks, have access to tools that [gratuitous name-dropping] make it much easier to not only organize, but to actually effect change. That, really, this thing we call school doesn’t happen without us."

Well - this misses the point. The protests are not protests against 'the system'. They are protests against chronic and growing inequality in society. Here's the point: if you wanted to do an education version of the 'occupy' protests, teachers and students would march down to that well-funded exclusive private school and occupy it, and ask the well-heeled one-percent that receives the best education money can buy, "what gives you the right?" Yeah, but who's going to do that? Who's going to write about that? Canada's 'occupy' events begin October 15.

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
stephen@downes.ca

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Last Updated: Dec 25, 2024 7:38 p.m.

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