The Disappearance of Adulthood |
| |
Authors: | Lawrence Quill |
| |
Institution: | (1) Department of Political Science, San Jose State University, San Jose, CA 95192, USA |
| |
Abstract: | In 1982, Neil Postman wrote The Disappearance of Childhood. In that work, Postman recounted the invention of childhood in the modern world and its demise at the hands of, among other
things, the electronic media (principally television). In Postman’s view, television had transformed education into ‘edutainment.’
The implications of this loss were devastating. Taking up where Postman left off I wish to reexamine his claim and amend and
update his thesis by suggesting that, after the latest electronic turn, we now live in societies where a meaningful conception
of adulthood is disappearing. It is disappearing, in part, because of an impoverished conception of citizenship. Yet it is additionally
undermined because, claims to the ascendancy of the ‘knowledge worker’ notwithstanding, the fundamental connection between
education and employment is unraveling. In this climate, the purposes of education are constantly queried and scrutinized
as its telos is redefined by criteria external to the practice of education: cost-effectiveness, value-for-money, and so on. I suggest
that only be reclaiming a meaningful conception of adulthood can education be defended and only by so doing can individuals
hope to understand the world around them. |
| |
Keywords: | |
本文献已被 SpringerLink 等数据库收录! |
|