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The Case against Education: Why the Education System Is a Waste of Time and Money

par Bryan Caplan

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Despite being immensely popular--and immensely lucrative education is grossly overrated. In this explosive book, Bryan Caplan argues that the primary function of education is not to enhance students' skill but to certify their intelligence, work ethic, and conformity - in other words, to signal the qualities of a good employee. Learn why students hunt for easy As and casually forget most of what they learn after the final exam, why decades of growing access to education have not resulted in better jobs for the average worker but instead in runaway credential inflation, how employers reward workers for costly schooling they rarely if ever use, and why cutting education spending is the best remedy. Caplan draws on the latest social science to show how the labor market values grades over knowledge, and why the more education your rivals have, the more you need to impress employers. He explains why graduation is our society's top conformity signal, and why even the most useless degrees can certify employability. He advocates two major policy responses. The first is educational austerity. Government needs to sharply cut education funding to curb this wasteful rat race. The second is more vocational education, because practical skills are more socially valuable than teaching students how to outshine their peers. Romantic notions about education being "good for the soul" must yield to careful research and common sense - The Case against Education points the way. -- from dust jacket.… (plus d'informations)
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5 sur 5
I think there's good case against Education. But I think the author did not quite make his case.

When he said, Philosophy as useless -- I think, I had to chuck his thoughts on it.

I've spent enough time in reading, understanding Philosophy. It's complicated, requires intense effort and understanding to finish a simple Kantian Book.

What do we gain after it?

- We engage with best minds in Human Civilization
- Our thoughts are raised to a higher level
- Our thoughts are shaped by best thinkers
- They become systematic
- We can learn abstract, conceptual thought by reading Philosophy.
- We can expand and understand new fields of Human Knowledge as Philosophy is the foundation

Overall, I would recommend this to someone who want to rant against Modern Education. There's a lot we can work on improving Modern Education.

But I wouldn't throw a blanket statement on calling it useless.

Deus Vult,
Gottfried
( )
  gottfried_leibniz | Jun 25, 2021 |
Readers expecting a “contrarian for contrarianism’s sake” stance will be disappointed to find plenty of systematic evidence and well-reasoned arguments. Caplan is utterly convincing; I’m ashamed of the flowery beliefs I had before reading this book.

Caplan’s ideas are amusingly consistent with some traditionally lefty agendas - like “make education more relevant to students’ lives” - and the policy reforms Caplan proposes would disproportionately benefit the poor. Yet it’s hard to imagine many lefties reading the book, let alone publicly endorsing it or even suggesting it should be discussed. Too bad for the students and for everyone else. ( )
  marzagao | Jun 1, 2021 |
Caplan makes an excellent case against the Education-Government Complex on multiple grounds — that the value of education is primarily (80%?) signaling vs skill, that the skills taught are largely irrelevant to most students, that students don’t get much skill or viewpoint change from their time in education, and more. In general I agree with him, although I do think he undervalues a class of quantitative, mathematical, scientific, and analytics skills to a large number of workers — things which one learns incidentally to STEM education but which could easily be taught in a more vocational or even primary school to high school context.

Making any kind of argument against education is extreme wrongthink; I’m amazed even a tenured professor is able to do this in modern America. In addition to touching on issues of inherent intelligence and social class, the “education makes sense for women as a place to find mates, even if they don’t intend to remain in the labor market” is probably difficult to admit.

He does seem to think employers wouldn’t use IQ tests if they were allowed; while the Supreme Court ruling prohibits tests with “disparate impact”, there are enough state and other concerns that firms seem to shy away from tests.

Overall, a great book and interesting argument. ( )
  octal | Jan 1, 2021 |
An economics professor at a prestigious university arguing that our current educational system is a waste of time and money is automatically interesting. Add to that the way it is presented is both interesting and backed by data. Loads of data. Ultimately he may not want to agree with the author but you can't say the position isn't backed by data. He even gives a link to a spreadsheet where you can change things and see the ultimate effects.

The other remarkable thing about this book is that the author is very upfront about his biases and offers space where he lets others disagree with him. Two things that just aren't usually done, but should be done all the time.

Highly recommended. ( )
  Skybalon | Mar 19, 2020 |
This book was ok. I really liked that the author poses tough questions about the role of educators: Are we sculptors or appraisers? While I agree with the author that education is not focused enough on skills, my goal is very different from his.

I had hoped that the book would go more in depth about education, its purpose and potential. Unfortunately, the author's goal seems to not be the improvement of education and empowerment of people, but de-funding education and going back towards a more individualistic society. My goal was to know how we can create a better functioning society, where people are equipped with the skills to participate in debate and policy-making and invention.

As an engineer, I completely disagree with the claims that engineering is the only valuable skill to the economy. Humanities teach critical thinking skills much better because they actually have students debate and engage in critique. In engineering, we solve highly constrained problems.

The author never really discusses what skills are or the different types of values. He just uses a limited view of monetary worth - what are people paying for degrees in that area? Which is weird since he also stated that degrees aren't signals of skills anyways.

The chapter on social benefits of education is equally lame and basically a cop out.

I was home-schooled because of issues in public education. I have a PhD in engineering. I fully care about and educate myself on learning sciences applied to my work as a professor. I agree that education seems to be focused on pieces of paper more than skills and that my role seems to be characterized as an appraiser - and I would like to be more of a sculptor, one who teaches students how to sculpt themselves. This book did not provide me with a new tools and concepts for improving public or private education.

I actually read Bryan Caplan's op-ed in the LA Times before reading this book - a coincidence since the book was chosen for Georgia Tech's Center for Teaching and Learning book club months after I read the article. You can skip this book and read the op-ed to get all of the useful content. Then, go read books on learning science to help address the problem. ( )
1 voter CassandraT | Sep 23, 2018 |
5 sur 5
Caplan is more optimistic about vocational than academic education, arguing that it does more to improve high school graduation rates, raise income and reduce unemployment. Yet even improved or expanded technical training is not worth an outlay of taxpayer money. In his view, “Government should get out of the way and take stock of all the opportunities the labor market provides.” That includes reinstating child labor.

For someone who chafes at Caplan’s often-specious reasoning and disagrees with most of his conclusions, there is still something refreshing about the cheeky questions he raises about the role of vocational education, the value of college, and the mismatch between educational offerings and job opportunities. Moreover, the conversation about education is often dominated by debates over governance: who should run schools and control the purse strings. Even the debate over the Common Core curricular standards centered less on what should be taught than on perceived (or misperceived) federal intrusion into states’ and districts’ jurisdiction over their schools: the perennial question of who has control.
ajouté par SnootyBaronet | modifierThe Washington Post
 
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To my homeschoolers,
Aidan and Tristan.
You are the case for education, my sons.
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When I started writing this book, I knew I’d need to read piles of research but failed to foresee the enormity of the piles.
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The best education in the world is already free. All complaints about elite colleges’ impossible admissions and insane tuition are flatly mistaken. Fact: anyone can study at Princeton for free. While tuition is over $45,000 a year, anyone can show up and start attending classes. No one will stop you. No one will challenge you. No one will make you feel unwelcome. Gorge yourself at Princeton’s all-you-can-eat buffet of the mind. Colleges do not card. I have seen this with my own eyes at schools around the country.
If you keep your learn-for-free scheme to yourself, professors will assume you’re missing from their roster owing to a bureaucratic snafu. If you ask permission to sit in, most professors will be flattered. What a rare pleasure to teach someone who wants to learn! After four years of “guerrilla education,” there’s only one thing you’ll lack: a diploma.
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Despite being immensely popular--and immensely lucrative education is grossly overrated. In this explosive book, Bryan Caplan argues that the primary function of education is not to enhance students' skill but to certify their intelligence, work ethic, and conformity - in other words, to signal the qualities of a good employee. Learn why students hunt for easy As and casually forget most of what they learn after the final exam, why decades of growing access to education have not resulted in better jobs for the average worker but instead in runaway credential inflation, how employers reward workers for costly schooling they rarely if ever use, and why cutting education spending is the best remedy. Caplan draws on the latest social science to show how the labor market values grades over knowledge, and why the more education your rivals have, the more you need to impress employers. He explains why graduation is our society's top conformity signal, and why even the most useless degrees can certify employability. He advocates two major policy responses. The first is educational austerity. Government needs to sharply cut education funding to curb this wasteful rat race. The second is more vocational education, because practical skills are more socially valuable than teaching students how to outshine their peers. Romantic notions about education being "good for the soul" must yield to careful research and common sense - The Case against Education points the way. -- from dust jacket.

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371.010973Social sciences Education Teachers, Methods, and Discipline

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