In the 1980s, German philosopher and provocateur, Peter Sloterdijk, proclaimed ‘the end of the belief in education’. Despite society’s declaration that Knowledge Is Power, young people, he said, live…
…with the risk of learning without prospects. Those who do not seek power will…not want its knowledge…and those who reject both are secretly no longer citizens of this civilisation.
How much more do Sloterdijk’s words resonate today than they did three decades ago? Today knowledge is power, still, of course, but we can also say that knowledge is currency, knowledge is economic lifeblood, knowledge is culture, and so much more.
Education for education’s sake is fine as a mantra, but in the real world, we need to be able to offer our young people hope. How many young, and not so young, people see little if any hope today? Too many!
Too many will therefore question the point of education in the formal sense. And who can blame them?