Calls to Action: Noam Chomsky on the dangers of standardized testing

Summary

The speaker critiques the current educational system's focus on standardized testing, arguing it undermines creative and individualized learning. Teachers are pressured to 'teach to the test,' neglecting students' diverse interests and needs. The ranking system is deemed artificial and harmful, fostering a competitive mindset over valuable education. The speaker also discusses the broader societal impact, including the creation of 'economic man,' driven by wealth and status, and the role of industries like advertising in perpetuating consumerism from an early age.

Takeaways

• 📚 The current educational system has a strong tendency to require assessments, leading to teaching to tests and a focus on test outcomes rather than meaningful education.
• 👨‍🏫 Teachers are unable to be imaginative and pay attention to individual students' needs due to the pressure of assessments and tests.
• 👶 Students are not allowed to pursue their interests because they have to memorize for tests, which hinders their overall development.
• 📉 The focus on ranking and assessment is artificial and does not truly measure a teacher's ability to help children reach their potential or explore their creativity.
• 🚫 Constant assessment is not necessary and can be harmful, as it turns education into a competition for rank rather than a pursuit of valuable and important activities.
• 🏫 The ranking system in schools, such as tracking students as 'dumb' or 'smart', is damaging to children's self-esteem and has nothing to do with real education.
• 🎨 Education should be about developing potential and creativity, not just academic success, as there are various paths to a fulfilling and significant life.
• 💼 The concept of 'economic man', which prioritizes rational calculation for self-improvement and wealth, is being instilled through education and societal structures.
• 📊 The industries of public relations, advertising, and marketing contribute to creating a certain type of consumer-driven individual, disregarding the impact on others.
• 👶 The influence of advertising starts from a young age, with strategies developed to make children nag their parents for products, shaping consumerist behavior from infancy.

Q & A

What is the main issue discussed in the transcript regarding education?

The main issue discussed is the strong tendency to require assessment of children and teachers, which leads to teaching to the test and can destroy meaningful educational processes.

How does the focus on testing affect teachers' ability to teach?

The focus on testing prevents teachers from being creative and attentive to individual students' needs, as they are pressured to ensure students perform well on standardized tests.

What impact does the testing culture have on students' interests and pursuits?

Students are unable to pursue their interests and explore their creativity due to the pressure to memorize and perform well on tests.

Why is constant assessment considered harmful according to the speaker?

Constant assessment is seen as harmful because it creates an artificial ranking system that does not accurately reflect a teacher's ability to help children reach their potential or a student's true interests and abilities.

What is the concept of 'economic man' as mentioned in the transcript?

The concept of 'economic man' refers to an individual who rationally calculates how to improve their status, primarily through wealth accumulation, disregarding other aspects of life that cannot be measured.

How does the speaker describe the effect of tracking students into 'dumb' and 'smart' categories?

The speaker describes the effect as extremely harmful, as it can lead to early division among children and negative self-perceptions based on their perceived academic abilities.

What is the speaker's view on the purpose of education?

The speaker believes that education should be about developing individual potential, creativity, and allowing students to explore their interests, rather than just academic performance.

How does the speaker connect the testing culture to the creation of a certain type of human being?

The speaker connects the testing culture to the creation of 'economic man,' a type of individual who is focused on maximizing consumption and wealth, rather than personal fulfillment or the impact on others.

What role does the speaker attribute to the public relations and advertising industry in shaping human behavior?

The speaker attributes a significant role to the public relations and advertising industry in shaping human behavior, as they are part of a massive propaganda industry designed to create consumers who can disregard the impact of their actions on others.

What historical context does the speaker provide about the origins of the public relations industry?

The speaker provides historical context by mentioning that the public relations industry was called propaganda in the 1920s, with Edward Bernays being one of its early figures, and that it has evolved into a massive industry that influences human behavior.

Outlines

00:00

📚 The Perils of Standardized Testing in Education

The speaker critiques the current trend in education towards standardized testing and assessment, arguing that it undermines the educational process by forcing teachers to 'teach to the test.' This approach, according to the speaker, stifles creativity and individual attention to students' needs. It also pressures students to memorize for tests rather than fostering a love for learning. The speaker suggests that constant assessment is unnecessary and artificial, and that it leads to a harmful ranking system that prioritizes status over genuine educational development. The speaker shares personal experiences with how tracking in schools can negatively impact children's self-perception and peer relationships. The critique extends to the broader societal implications, warning against creating an 'economic man' focused solely on wealth and status, at the expense of creativity and personal fulfillment.

05:00

📈 The Propaganda Machine: Shaping Consumer Behavior

The second paragraph delves into the influence of industries like public relations, advertising, and marketing, which the speaker refers to as a 'propaganda industry.' This industry, the speaker argues, is designed to instill consumerist values and maximize consumption, starting from a young age. The speaker mentions a study that highlights advertisers' efforts to target children, even though they have no income, by encouraging them to nag their parents for purchases. The speaker criticizes the early 20th-century origins of the PR industry, which was more openly acknowledged as propaganda, and laments the current pervasive and subtle nature of this influence, which shapes individuals to disregard the impact of their consumer choices on others.

Keywords

💡Assessment

Assessment in the context of the video refers to the systematic evaluation of students and teachers based on standardized tests. This process is criticized for promoting a 'teach to the test' mentality, which stifles creativity and individualized learning. The video argues that constant assessment is artificial and does not accurately measure a teacher's ability to help children reach their potential or a student's true interests and abilities.

💡Educational Process

The educational process, as discussed in the video, involves the methods and activities through which knowledge and skills are imparted. The speaker contends that the current emphasis on testing disrupts this process by forcing teachers to focus on test preparation rather than fostering a love for learning and creativity. This leads to a narrow view of education that prioritizes test scores over holistic development.

💡Bureaucrats

Bureaucrats in this video are depicted as individuals in administrative roles who design and implement policies, such as standardized testing, without fully understanding their impact on education. The speaker suggests that while these bureaucrats may not be malicious, their actions are guided by an ideology that can be harmful to the educational experience of children and teachers.

💡Ranking

Ranking, as mentioned in the script, refers to the practice of ordering individuals or groups based on certain criteria, often test scores. The video criticizes this practice for being artificial and for promoting a culture where the value of individuals is determined by their position on a scale rather than their unique qualities or contributions.

💡Creativity

Creativity is highlighted as a crucial aspect of education that is being undermined by the focus on testing and assessment. The video argues that a meaningful educational process should encourage students to explore their creative interests and develop their potential in diverse ways, not just academically.

💡Economic Man

The concept of 'economic man' is introduced as a figure who rationally calculates actions to improve their status, typically in terms of wealth. The video suggests that the current educational system and societal values are shaping individuals to fit this model, prioritizing material success over personal fulfillment and societal contributions.

💡Human Capital

Human capital in the video refers to the skills, knowledge, and experiences that an individual possesses and can utilize in the labor market. The speaker criticizes the idea of viewing people as commodities to be improved and sold, arguing that this perspective devalues the intrinsic worth of individuals and reduces their potential for diverse contributions to society.

💡Propaganda

Propaganda is discussed in the video as a tool used by industries such as advertising and public relations to influence public opinion and behavior. The speaker points out that these industries are part of a larger system that aims to create consumers who prioritize material consumption over other aspects of life, starting from a young age.

💡Track

Tracking in education refers to the practice of dividing students into different groups based on their perceived abilities, often resulting in 'smart' and 'dumb' categories. The video describes how this practice can be harmful to children's self-esteem and social dynamics, as it labels them at an early age and limits their opportunities for diverse learning experiences.

💡Advertising

Advertising is mentioned as a powerful industry that shapes consumer behavior and desires. The video notes how advertising targets children, using psychological tactics to influence them to nag their parents for products, thus fostering a culture of consumption from a young age.

💡Psychology of Nagging

The 'psychology of nagging' is a concept mentioned in the video that refers to the study and application of psychological techniques to encourage children to persistently request items from their parents. This is seen as an unethical application of psychological knowledge to manipulate behavior for commercial gain.

Highlights

The current educational system's emphasis on testing and assessment is detrimental to meaningful learning.

Teaching to tests limits teachers' creativity and ability to address individual students' needs.

Students are pressured to memorize for tests rather than pursuing personal interests.

Assessment systems can destroy the educational process by prioritizing test scores over development.

Continuous assessment is not necessary for all individuals, especially in educational settings.

Artificial assessment measures do not accurately reflect teachers' abilities to help children reach their potential.

Ranking systems in education are harmful as they focus on status rather than valuable achievements.

Education should foster creativity and individual potential, not just academic performance.

Early tracking in schools can lead to harmful labeling of students as 'dumb' or 'smart'.

The concept of 'economic man' drives people to focus on wealth and status over personal fulfillment.

Assessment and evaluation mechanisms force individuals to develop characteristics that prioritize wealth accumulation.

The idea of maximizing human capital for market sale is a flawed approach to human development.

The educational system's focus on testing and assessment creates a harmful cycle of economic man ideology.

There are significant industries devoted to instilling consumerist values from an early age.

Advertising and marketing industries are designed to create consumers who prioritize material possessions.

The psychological manipulation of children to nag parents is a tactic used by advertisers.

The culture of consumption is propagated through media and advertising, impacting children's values.

The historical shift from 'propaganda' to public relations and marketing maintains the same manipulative intent.

Transcripts

take what's happening in education uh

right now last recent years there's a

strong tendency to uh require assessment

of children and teachers so that you

have to teach to tests and the test

determines what happens to the child and

what happens to the teacher that's

guaranteed to destroy any meaningful

educational process it means a teacher

cannot be created

imaginative pay attention to individual

students needs the student can't pursue

things that maybe some kid is interested

in something you can't do it because you

got to memorize something for this test

tomorrow and the teachers's future

depends on it as well as the students

these are all ways of uh you know the

people who sitting in the offices the

bureaucrats and designing this like you

say they're not evil people but uh

they're working within a system of

ideology and do Rines which turns what

they're doing into something extremely

harmful first of all you don't have to

assess people all the time I mean if a

person's kind of doing their job kids

are getting along and things that's fine

then go ahead I mean people don't have

to be ranked in terms of some

artificial the the assessment itself is

completely artificial it's not ranking

teachers in accordance with their

ability to help develop children who

reach their potential explore their

creative interests and so on those

things can you're not testing so you're

giving some kind of a rank but it's a

rank that's mostly meaningless and the

Very ranking itself is harmful it's

turning us into individuals who try who

devote Our Lives to achieving a rank not

into doing things that are valuable and

important it's uh

it's highly destructive at the lower at

you know this is say Elementary

education so you're training kids this

way and it's very harmful I could see

with my own children when my own kids

were in elementary school a what's

called a good school you know good

quality suburban school by the time they

were in third grade they were dividing

up their friends at the dumb and

smart uh you're dumb if you're lower

track you're smart if you're upper

tracked I mean think what that does to

the children doesn't matter where

they're track the children who take it

seriously like we could kind of you know

help them not take it seriously but uh

if you're caught up in that it's just

extremely harmful and it has nothing to

do with

education education is uh developing

your own potential and creativity I mean

maybe you're not going to do well in

school and you'll do great in art that's

fine you know what's what's wrong with

that that's another way to be a live a

fulfilling uh Wonderful Life and a one

that's significant for other people as

well as yourself people and but so the

whole idea is is first of all wrong in

itself and it's harming the it's

creating a kind of it's kind of a system

of creating something that's called

economic man there's a concept of

economic man which is you know economics

literature and so on and economic man is

somebody who rationally calculates how

to improve his own status and Status

means basically wealth so you rationally

calculate uh how what kinds of choices

you should make to increase your wealth

and you don't pay any attention to

anything else and or maybe maximize the

number of goods you have because that's

what you can measure those are things

you can measure so those we that and if

you do that properly you know you're

kind of a rational person making

informed judgments you can improve your

what's called your human capital you

know what you can sell on the

market what kind of a human being is

that I mean is that the kind of human

human being you want to create and the

all of these mechanisms that you're

describing like uh you know testing

assessing evaluating measuring they

force people to have to develop those

character characteristics the ones who

don't do it are considered maybe

behavior problems or some some other

deviant maybe something goes wrong then

they drop out and maybe try to survive

on drugs or something that's uh or take

if it's in Mexico they become what are

called illegal immigrants because you've

driven them off the land uh that's uh

these things

have these ideas and Concepts have come

consequences and it's not just that

they're ideas there are huge Industries

devoted to trying to instill them uh the

public relations industry advertising

and marketing and so on it's a huge

industry it's maybe a sixth of gross

domestic product and it's a propaganda

industry it's a propaganda industry

designed to create a certain type of

human being the one who can maximize

consumption and can disregard uh the his

actions on others U it's massive it

starts with H infants you know in fact

there was a I remember a study recently

which made some publicity about uh the

advertisers discovered you know realized

that there's a segment of the population

that they're not reaching you have to

reach everyone but there was a segment

they weren't reaching children uh

because children don't have incomes so

the advertisers had sort of not targeted

them but some smart guy realized that

you can get the children to be consumers

by inducing them to nag their parents so

a branch of psychology developed

literally in the universities and

applied psychology psychology of nagging

how you can nag this way if you want

that thing and you can nag the other way

if you don't want the other and so on

and you take a look at um remember

watching television with my little my

grandchildren when they were little

they're Deluge with

uh propaganda that tells them you've got

to have this uh you know $400 uh

mechanical uh something or other so make

your get your parents to do it you know

get them to understand that you're just

not going to you're going to be

miserable and your friends will hate you

and your life won't be worthwhile unless

you get this thing that's what our

culture is designed to do and it's a

huge industry actually in the early back

in the 1920s it was called

propaganda uh the major text of the pr

industry by one of its gurus Edward

bernai back in the 20s was called

propaganda and that's what it was we

don't call it that anymore the word

propaganda has a kind of a bad

connotation so it's called I don't know

what but but it's exactly the same thing