Brave New Education?

First off, I would like to draw the comparison between the RSA Animation video and Brave New World and then I'll tell you what I think. The strongest comparison to me was the ADHD drugs and soma. Sir Ken Robinson points out that Ritalin among other ADHD drugs are given to children that seem to be unable to force themselves to focus on the boring material they are being force fed in schools. They are given drugs that make them "turn their senses completely off" in order to 'pay attention' in school. Instead of livening their senses and stimulating them with exciting activities and information, they are basically putting them to sleep to say they are learning through paying attention in class. Soma has a similar purpose in Brave New World. Lenina showcases this purpose when she tells Bernard, "..take soma when you have these dreadful ideas of yours. You'd forget all about them. And instead of being miserable, you'd be jolly" (92). Instead of letting natural senses take place in the society, the government issues soma to make the citizens so apathetic they are just happy all the time.

Now back to the education system itself, I like Robinson's point that all these problems educators are seeing have risen along with the rise of standardized testing. Instead of students figuring out what they like and teachers being able to dive even deeper into subjects it seems their students are genuinely interested in, they are made to force feed facts to their students so they can regurgitate them on a test. Instead of learning to question and be creative, all anyone learns anymore is the Declaration of Independence was signed in 1776 and 2+2=4. Especially considering the economic system no longer guarantees a good job along with a high school or even college diploma, students should really be allowed to study into what they like to learn about. If a student got to specialize starting in high school or even maybe junior high, in the subject area that interests them, they would be such specialists in that area they would be much more competitive for jobs once they get out on their own. I understand that everyone does need a basic knowledge of all subjects, but specializing even earlier could greatly improve a student's chances of finding a job once they are fresh out of college.