Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich

A Book Review

Illich, Ivan. (1971). Deschooling Society. New York: Harper & Row.

http://fatherhurley.com/2010/02/deschooling-society-by-ivan-illich

Category:

Education

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• Deschooling
• Society
• by
• Ivan
• Illich

[FutureIran]

but isn't descoling itself another form of schooling? the fact that you are reading a set of instruction and lable it with the word "deshcooling" wouldnt change the reality that human needs disiplined teaching to gain some basic skills..like reading, wirting,,etc,, inorder to become able to do what you call "deschooling"... I think social scientists like to talk about obvious realities using complicated wordings..

[fatherhurley]

@FutureIran I think you're missing the point here. I'll give you an example, Albert Einstein couldn't read until he was nine. Our US school system would say a nine year old who couldn't read was slow, learning disabled, etc.

I don't necessarily believe everything in the book. I do believe in the general idea that the educational system isn't perfect and can always be improved. Read the book for yourself for a better understanding of the overall message.

Thank you for viewing.

[glendamnit]

Wise words. I don't know what else is on your reading list, but I'd suggest you get to John Holt's "How Children Fail" and "How Children Learn" next.

[fatherhurley]

@glendamnit Thanks

[Leibo07]

@CaptainBluebear08

Another gloomy and alarming example: GP's advertising in local newspapers with POSSIBLE illnesses, so people are constantly checking on their little aches and complaints, like dry nails. "But if you wanna be sure, just stop by".

Yet another example is the purchase/use of bloodpressure and glucose meters, for own, private, and constant use.

Everything predicted/criticised by Illich, early 70s already. 

[CaptainBluebear08]

Nice to see/hear that good ol' Illich is still among us these days. Although I wonder what has become of his insights. In the 70s, he had quite some political influence in Holland, which is where I write from, f.ex. in smallscale and green initiatives, and empowering patients in the health system, etc. His Medical Nemesis was a real bestseller.

[CaptainBluebear08]

But these days, with pandemic neoliberalism in all walks of society, you see where the health system is arriving: private enterprise grazing on "that being with infinite needs", the 'demand for care', etc. Shocking, when you re-read Illich's book, how acute it still is.

Likewise, the education system. Sponsorship via McDonald's and Coke are being seriously discussed, incompetence of teachers in bedrock competences, an apalling corruption, and curriculums that consist of modular chunks.

[openmindedproduction]

Deschooling Society by Ivan Illich is one of my favourite books of all time that I got for about a dollar from a university used books store when I was about 13 years old and it really hit me hard and helped and opened my mind to how the education system works and how it should change . Highly recommended for everyone to read.

[kearlstig1961]

Good presentation, sir.

[kevbrav]

Great speach! I find it really frustrating when trying to convey my issues with the education system. People agree that there is a problem, that children leave school and they have lost their interest in leaning, but they just wont take it 1 step further and come up with some solutions. The idea of change is to difficult for them.