[timetraveler]

I am a lecturer at University in the UK. I have also taught in Further education. I have children of my own who are going through the system, and who have just exited it. I do my best to sway my children and students out of the realm of indoctrination, but it is not easy, especially after the years of programming they have received.
In my experience, the education or more realistically ‘indoctrination’ system is designed to beat out any semblance of free thought, creativity and to discourage any actual ‘education’ from students from the moment they enter pre-school, right up to Doctoral level.

The largest percentage of educators I have worked with (thankfully some are aware and do what they can to fight the system) are wholly oblivious to this indoctrination, and are simply working their hardest to prove themselves as ‘good teachers’. They attempt to prove themselves by ensuring they hit all of the unrealistic and often un - achievable benchmarks laid out by the system. Teachers are kept in a perpetual void of stress and blind panic, to ensure they are hitting these benchmarks to ‘prove’ themselves to a rigged system, whilst in reality having absolutely zero time to prepare lessons, converse with students and improve their own subject knowledge. Teachers are not to blame here, they are also victims of the rigged ‘by design’ system.

The way in which education programmes or ‘syllabus’ are devised (By large private corporations, Pearson Edexcel, City and Guilds et al) and managed, the vast amount of the time by none educators (CEO’s are often prior Hoteliers, Accountants, Managers) ensures that teachers have to indoctrinate students to enable them to hit the pass criteria of the curriculum in which they teach. Even within creative subjects free thought is discouraged throughout, as is creativity. Whatever the level of education, the repeating and acceptance of ‘proven’ known facts is expected. The passing on of ‘known’ facts is what masquerades as research and real discovery and success.

The pressure on teachers to keep the indoctrination bus wheels turning is massive.

Bums on seats. Education is a business, it is there to make money. The pressure to recruit students on to Further and Higher Education courses is all powerful. That pressure is placed by managers directly at the feet of teachers. Teachers exist with the constant fear that if you do not recruit well, you will lose your job. This responsibility is not given to the CEO, or Managers, it is laid solely at the feet of teachers. If the course on which you work does not recruit enough bodies, the CEO will most likely cancel the course, and therefore the teacher’s job.

So in reality courses are being populated by any student with a pulse. Students who traditionally would not be accepted on to any course (those who are only doing it because they have to etc) The academic entry level requirements for university are at an all-time low, as is the requirement for you being a decent and able human being. In the UK, you can scrape through your A levels or a level 3 diploma with a minimal pass and a charge sheet as long as a Tony Blair lie and walk right on to a degree. Students who in reality should not be anywhere near mainstream education, because of mental, social and or other issues are accepted on to courses by teachers, under pressure from management to make sure the numbers look good, it has nothing to do with equality and diversity.
What happens in reality is that teacher’s workloads become larger, to the point where the social work aspect of the role has overtaken teaching as the main function of the teacher. Along with this social working role (Which is written in to job descriptions and contracts) teachers are now also expected to parent the student, in areas which traditional the parent or guardian would, and should be responsible. There is so much pressure on teachers to be anything other than teachers, that even if they are aware of the indoctrination, they have no time, energy or good will to change it, and therefore the system carries on churning out indoctrinated robots. Yes teachers have a duty of care to students, but to the point where they literally have to take an adult to the toilet?
Having said all of this, if we look at the whole system for what it is designed (indoctrination) then what appears to be good and excellent teaching (indoctrination) and the success of students is apparent. The indoctrination of students, enabling them to hit the pass criteria (some more thoroughly than others, hence high grades) can be measured as being successful. The system works for what it was designed.

However, when you investigate the actual abilities of the majority of students we as a nation are currently producing, then education is the last thing that is actually happening. Just look at the soulless and apathetic robots around you (Yes there will always be exceptions)

Of course I can only speak from my own experience, and from speaking with colleagues, but when we have masses of graduating students, students with a Degree, an MA, A PhD who cannot tell you simple, common sense facts such as they what area of a country they reside in, how long they have lived in the country, how to get from north to south, which way is east or west, what the capital of the country is, who do not know how to read a bus timetable, go for a job interview without a parent or friend, students who are incapable of a genuine intellectual argument, who do not question facts which they have been told, yet the same students can blindly recite facts from the indoctrinated syllabus which they have been brainwashed with for 16 or so years, you must realise that very little education is actually occurring and exceptional amounts of indoctrination are.

Things will get worse, indoctrination is here to stay. Distance learning is now being promoted heavily. Teachers are told it is ‘policy’ that 10 percent of learning must now be delivered online… In universities and colleges timetables have space for classes which are delivered ‘online’ so no students are physically present, which means no interaction with teachers. In the USA, trials are being carried out where students enter a room and the whole lesson is delivered by a suite of software, no teacher is present, just a security guard ensuring students engage and behave. There are companies offering full syllabus online, under the guise of helping students who have social problems.

Brainwashing at its finest eh. It is easy.

People (including teachers) have forgotten what education should in fact be. In my humble experienced opinion, education should be simple, and I use the following analogy:

Listen to the experience of others, converse with others, investigate all of the information put to you, discover and create your own experiences and draw your own conclusions through much honest and critical reflection and evaluation.

Only then can you come to a conclusion which is not simply stamped on you by others.

In my pinion, anything other is indoctrination, and that is exactly what the ‘education’ system is design to be, and this is not going to change anytime soon.
All we can do as people, as teachers, is attempt to make students aware of this, and to divert them to their own discoveries and self-expression.
Good luck all!