The New American Imprint

It wasn't really the fault of the “No Child Left Behind” act, but the law was new and available, and particularly after the attacks of 9-11 it worked. Here's how.

In order to implement that program a series of procedures and tests were developed and added to the practice of education in the United States. This included a cascading series of program measures and performance standards implementing several new and different methods of teaching and providing measurement of the effectiveness of all teaching. New standardized tests were designed so any qualified manager or administrator, including those with no knowledge of the profession of teaching, could evaluate the work of the teaching professionals and these controls were fed back into the schools. Teachers and administrators who trained their students to score well on those tests were rewarded and those whose students did poorly on the standardized tests were sometimes remediated, demoted or even eliminated. Retention of teachers began to depend upon their students’ scores.

One of the results of this program is that an increasing number of students are now being taught answers rather than processes. Instead of learning to observe, analyze, test, question, evaluate, make decisions and then express their conclusions in writing, they are learning that the finding and identification of answers is the ultimate objective and goal of the education process. Too many of our children now go through school, taking tests, passing them, graduate and go on into the workforce still looking for answers without ever having ever learned how to ask important questions or to explore unfamiliar circumstances.

Now come issues into their lives. Health care for example. Not having been truly educated, they quickly look for answers. And answers are always available. News programs appear before them. Some provide an overview of applicable events with discussion and analysis, others provide authoritative answers that are often attributed into or authorized by religious, cultural or regional belief systems which also provide only answers, and which also prohibit any observation, analysis or questioning.

Now, once you know the answer (THE answer) to an issue, any counter claim is clearly specious. If people attempt to develop counter-observations, it would have to be because they don’t know the right answer. If they continue after they have been told the right answer, their purpose is deemed false, insulting and pernicious, and often tied into alien religions, cultural, regional or even racial prejudices. Scientific theories fall under the power of religious "knowledge", progress into new technologies are regulated by laws and understandings of the late 1700s, economic conquest of the free market system is OK because it is good to be selfish - economically, that is.

Thus the groundwork has been set to develop and nurture a generation of young adults who appear smart, act confident and seem knowledgeable. Yet they are also unable to function in a political, economic and social environment that is or has been filled with confusion and uncertainty. Their training leads them to provide answers, or to look for them. Under these conditions, a SMALL GROUP OF INDIVIDUALS in any country can begin to insert their intentions into a stable order. An issue is made to become contentious. An assembly of the people is called, then interrupted by demonstrations, discussion by screaming and shouting. Claims are advanced and connections are shown to traditional religious, ethnic, cultural or regional beliefs. Under conditions such as these, particularly when people have been properly imprinted during their learning years, fascism and totalitarianism can appear to be friendly, familiar, comfortable and intelligent alternatives. Here is where the answers are provided after all, and the instructions can not be far behind.