The Lobotomy of Postmodern Public Education

Sheesh, right? Before you get your torches and pitchforks, let me qualify myself for a minute….

Independent educator and administrator (8 years). Tutor (18 years). Geneticist (15 years). Mentor (20 years). But yeah, none of the M.Ed.’s and Ed.D.’s. I’m not against those folks; in fact, some of those alphabet soup folks are my favorite people ever. But they’re going against the grain, and I’m going to tell you why.

Education is braindead, and deserves a “lobotomy”.

Nobody is teaching genuine and comprehensive education. Sure there are little pockets here and there, but who in these trenches is getting their shine? Nobody, just like I said.

Don’t get me wrong, LeBron James’ I Promise school (among others) is doing some great things out there, but man, a pocket amongst tens of millions of kiddos? That's not nearly enough service to our young people.

And even then, we treat things like “trade school” and “vocational school” with this nasty, oily film of mediocrity (particularly in black America), when many of those schools produce autonomous businessmen with crazy work ethic. But when another group does it, it’s lauded as revolutionary.

Why? Because as a wise man once told me, “education is the sacred cow in black America”.

Before I continue, let me say as a black man, I love all people, and would love to live in a post-racial world where all hard work is viewed equitably. None of the statistics, particularly those in education, point to such a reality. Quite honestly, the inequity turns education on its ear.

But what even is education in 2021? I’m not even talking about what Covid-19 has produced with distance learning, but the default paradigm. Unfortunately, many kids, particularly those of color, get these TV dinner educations for 10+ years, then go off to college to be molded into societal drones, and spend the next 40 years of their lives flunking at thinking. And there doesn’t really seem to be a way to produce superior thinkers in this system.

I said I was going to “lobotomize” postmodern education though right? Let’s do that now.

For instance, why does the person with two or three Graduate/Medical/Dental degrees (the super academics) not understand how the real world works? Why does the young man “on the block” not understand anything beyond the four-radius in his ‘hood? Why is the Fortune 500 CEO a “white-collar thug”, ruining people’s lives with unethical and destructive practices, from behind a desk?

The above description is essentially every learner (there are pitfalls everywhere) and that’s not okay. I would contend that comprehensive education that teaches the academic skills to reason through the workforce, the practical skills to navigate through life, and the character to use these skills to build people and communities was imparted to them during their formative years.

In short, education is failing our kids. Sure I could have made the article this one line, but maybe, just maybe, you wanted to know why. From a perspective you don’t hear that often.

The 360 Institute of Higher Learning seeks to buck this trend by instructing math, science, the humanities, and character development from a personal empowerment and accountability perspective. I feel like by partnering independent educators who have knowledge of systems with classroom educators who are in systems (you know, actual grassroots and community approaches), we can provide more comprehensive education to students.

By doing this, young people can see multiple perspectives, and be better equipped for independent thought. Independent thinkers who are invested in will inevitably perform better academically, navigate their chosen discipline practically, and with their skills, choose service.

Thank you for coming to my TYRONEx talk. Because TED can’t cover this.