“You
and Your Schoolchild” - The Whole Truth About School
by Maria Teresa De Donato & Horst Koeltze
Review by Elisa Rubini
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“You and Your Schoolchild” argues that the
transformation of schools into systems focused on OECD international
assessments has fundamentally undermined pedagogical freedom and the human
dimension of education. By examining how students and teachers are pushed into
a production-oriented model that prioritizes efficiency and control, the essay
argues that this shift has far-reaching consequences for the essence of
learning.
The book highlights the role of Ministers of Education in championing this
conversion of schools into “learning factories,” and demonstrates how the OECD
has exerted a decisive influence in redefining priorities and assessment
methods. In this context, the student is treated as raw material to be molded,
and the teacher is a mere operational instrument within a performance-driven
system.
Among the most significant chapters is the testimony of a teacher who resigns
from her position rather than turn her students into slaves to standardized
learning. This constitutes one of the book’s most powerful passages, as it
restores a human face to the consequences of global educational policies.
In the chapter “Education and Freedom,” the authors connect today’s ideas to
Kierkegaard’s philosophy and a feminist reading of Aristotle. They offer an
alternative vision with children’s innate desire to learn as the true driving
force in education.
“You and Your Schoolchild” is an
invaluable essay for teachers, parents, and education professionals who want to
understand the effect of global policies on schools today. It helps rediscover
a freer, more sustainable, and more humane concept of learning.
“TU e Il tuo alunno” - Tutta la verità sulla scuola