I like this quote from H.G. Wells. Education is that function of society which is nurtured in order to perpetuate the dominant culture. As pressures from inevitable change mount, causing society to face imminent catastrophe, education is typically forced to research a solution that leads to a paradigm shift warding off the catastrophe.
An example was the oil crisis of the early ’70s. Fears of oil shortages induced a national gas rationing program as a temporary remedy to a potentially catastrophic demise of our energy resources. However the pressure caused by this new environmental stressor paved the way for researchers at Universities to discover ways to drill deeper as well as invent the fuel injected engine. These two developments might not have been discovered had there not been the crisis to cause them. And the two combined took us from 25 years of oil reserves remaining to over 150.
And so the race between education and catastrophe continues. Today it is an economic disaster that we confront. What will education research discover this time? Virtual substitutes? Technological solutions to ease the financial burden on local school districts?
While Universities fight the internal wear on aging infrastructure and the external loss of enrollments, we encounter increasing involvement of Universities inside virtual platforms to relieve the stress by offering low cost substitutes for the material losses.
Whether on the track or from the grandstands, enjoy the race! I know I am. (posted 4/10/09)
