Why We Should "Re-Brand" the Word "School"

by Clay Burell · 2009-04-09 07:04:00 UTC
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One of the books I'm reading right now is Richard E. Nisbett's The Geography of Thought: How Asians and Westerners Think Differently . . . and Why.¹ I had to drop it to share this passage with you:

Our word "school" comes from the Greek scholē, meaning "leisure." Leisure meant for the Greeks, among other things, the freedom to pursue knowledge. The merchants of Athens were happy to send their sons to school so that they could indulge their curiosity (Nisbett, 4).

Arne Duncan wants to "re-brand" No Child Left Behind by renaming it (but keeping its essence of high-stakes, high-pressure tests). He also wants, he says this week, to lengthen the school day, week, and year - six days a week, at least 11 months a year — if American students are to compete² with students abroad³ (says the AP).

Sort of makes me think we need to re-name "School." What we have now is certainly no thing of leisure and the indulging of curiosity.

So what's the new name, the new brand?

It's on the tip of my tongue. Starts with a "w." CEO runs it, businessmen shape it, marketing and branding are everything (so is "incenting"). It competes in test-score production, even pays some of its charges for good attendance and grades now. What's that thing called?

Of course: "Workplace."

--

¹ That my wife of little more than a year is Korean has absolutely nothing to do with that choice. I swear.
² Does anybody else hear Bush telling Americans to go shopping after 9/11 when they hear Obama and Duncan discuss education in terms of "competition in the global economy"? We've gone from "Go shopping!" to "Work harder!"
³ Though in all fairness, he wants to use those longer days for more arts and other non-academic pursuits.

Clay Burell
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