Education and reproduction

I have written before that education is reproduction, and that I conclude we owe the next generation everything we had and more: maths, language, literature, philosophy should all have a place in our economy.

The Gonski project for school funding in Australia is about supporting the needs of the disadvantaged children of the Australian underclass.  Children of parents who live underemployed, or working very hard to bring home all too little, or who are absent because of prison or gormlessness have a tough time. 

I remember in the Australian documentary series 'life at five', one of the boys had an absent father, and his mum was 17 (very young, anyway) and then (I think), his mum had another child to a different guy.  The next child had a developmental problem that meant he would never be mentally or physically self sufficient.  He was still only 2 or 3 during filming, and carrying him, feeding him and changing his nappies were manageable, but he would live 50 or 60 years or more and never crawl or say first words.  But for the little boy of 5, there was not much time or energy.  His school teacher said (approx): "X is a lovely little boy, really have enjoyed having him, but there's only so much we can make up here and he doesn't get a lot of help at home (understandably)." The main researcher closed out by saying (approx),"We know that the resources and experiences of very early childhood are strongly determinative - if a child is wounded and not keeping up below the age of 5, they are unlikely to ever catch up that gap."

Abused children, children of broken homes (not just failed relationships, but homes which are not stable, loving environments), will do even worse. If you learn before you are three that authority is a trick of abusive people, it is going to be hard to believe that learning your times table is of value.

All of which brings me to the legitimate problem of where to put your investment.  Negatively, I would say that conventional school is not great, and particularly so if the prerequisites are lacking: familiarity with knowledgeable and kind adults, the usefulness of books and thinking, sitting still and listening.  The difference you can make for many students even with a heck of a lot of money may not be great.  The good thing about Gonski is its suggestion of devolved control.  But education may always be too little, and too late.