Do We Need Education: Another Brick in the Wall
“We don’t need no education
We don’t need no thought control
No dark sarcasm in the classroom
Teachers leave them kids alone
Hey, teachers, leave them kids alone
All in all it’s just another brick in the wall
All in all you’re just another brick in the wall”
This is the lyrics of a song called “Another Brick in the Wall”, by the famous rock band Pink Floyd. In this piece of music, Roger Waters, the writer of the lyrics, interprets lines that expresses rebellious and negative attitude towards the current education system. The lyrics says that they do not need no more education and thought control from the school. Through such lines, Waters points out the downside of the conventional education system, where no variation of educations is possible for different students that learn differently.
In fact, just like the title of the song, the lyrics states that “All in all you’re just another brick in the wall”. Through this line the band once again emphasizes on the lack of originality and personalization of education for the children, by comparing students to a brick in the wall. Thus, implying that every student is educated in a strictly same way, that they are losing their originality, specialties, and creativities.
In addition, the visualization of students coming out of a factory on a product line, in the music video, again conveys what the governments and the schools are doing to the students with the conventional education system. The students coming out of the factory like a conveyer belt shows how the governments are treating the students nothing more than the products that are mass produced from a factory line. This implies that the students as they come out of the factory (school), their originality has been destroyed, and all students are only taught to act and work the same way.
With such old and conventional way of education, our society would not be able to produce people that are specialized in their strengths or interests. Since everyone would be “programmed” to think and act same as each other. With such immense disadvantages and downside, shouldn’t the traditional education system be changed?
The good news is that, there are changes being slowly made in the educational systems. Many schools have started interpreting competency-based education which allows students to master skills at their own pace. Learner profiles that helps the understanding of students’ abilities. Or even flexible seating arrangements that allow the students to choose their own environment.
In conclusion, students are the next generations and the future of our society. Thus, providing the students a personalized and flexible education that allows students to reach their potentials would lead to a brighter and more advanced future of our societies.
