“I’m saying that it is inconceivable that school as we’ve known it will continue. Inconceivable. And the reason why it’s inconceivable is that little glimmer with my grandson who is used to finding knowledge when he wants to and can get it when he needs it, and can get in touch with other people and teachers, not because they are appointed by the state, but because he can contact them in some network somewhere. These children will not sit quietly in school and listen to a teacher give them predigested knowledge. I think that they will revolt.”
Seymour Papert in conversation with Paolo Freire in Brazil during the late 1980s. It was sponsored by Pontifícia Universidade Católica, the Catholic University of São Paulo; and the Afternoon Journal TV show. It was broadcast in Brazil by TV PUC São Paulo and KTV Solucoes.
See the complete video (with transcript) here.
That would be a quote you might anticipate hearing from a forward thinker nowadays, but he said that in the 1980s?! WOW!
I would love if the education system can change and innovate, because even though Seymour was totally right and we see this happening more and more, teenagers in general do not have enough discipline to educate themselves alone and they need peers and grown-up around (mentors, couches, facilitators, dificultators, etc). Plus the social life of a high school is important to their development and growth as well, off course a healthy social environment….