The sad Case of City Spring

The educational approach in The Case of City Springs is entirely different from the Albany Free School and other democratic school systems we have encountered in class so far. The employed method called Direct Instruction is an explicit teaching approach for mere technical skills through repetition and memorization, and stands in strong contrast to the exploratory, inquiry-based method of the Albany Free School. The Direct Instruction program is highly structured and shows militaristic and dictatorial elements. During the movie I couldn’t help thinking about Nazi Germany and how Direct Instruction would have been a useful method to foster conformist and obedient citizen who don’t ask questions. But even in a contemporary context ID seems almost like a political program, designed to domesticate children from lower socio-economic backgrounds and to make them fit into society. However, fitting into society does not mean to get along in society.

The school does not foster creativity and problem-solving skills; in fact, children are encouraged to let adults solve the problems for them. As a result, children become highly dependent on authority and are not able to think for themselves. Direct Instruction is not concerned with elements such as critical thinking, responsibility or decision-making. Not only are the children manipulated and oppressed but also the teachers (“that’s makes a good teacher, one who is able to bend the way the principle tells her to bend”). A radical rigid curriculum and strict behavioral rules handcuffs teachers and inhibits the creativity of children. What the teacher says is carefully scripted in the program and the main concern becomes stern discipline. Even though a sense of discipline is necessary I believe it is important that children learn to discipline themselves rather than enforcing discipline onto them.

Comparing The Case of City Springs and Free to Learn made me reconsider the purpose of education. ID’s purpose is academic achievement and to help children fit into society as in the sense of fitting behind a machine in a production line. Democratic education, on the other hand, focuses on individual character-development and prepares children to creatively cope with society. Unfortunately, many people share the perception that only measurable learning is worthwhile. And as the movie shows in the end, ID delivers empirical evidence that underlines its academic success. However, while ID concerns itself only with academic achievement, democratic education emphasizes critical information-seeking and active, fruitful participation in social discourse, goals that cannot be easily measured by traditional empirical methods.

Marco