Offers some ideas for solving or ameliorating the problem of students not having an inspiring reason to be active in their education. His solutions are metaphorically termed "gods," which offer narratives for explaining the past and guiding the present and future.

There are still salient points in this book for education but the near diatribes against multiculturalism are very much a strawman argument. The points on technology education at the end are more relevant than ever.

I loved this book and now have a minor intellectual crush on Postman. In my graduate program, there are so many elementary/secondary teachers who bemoan NCLB and the current education system- all want to start incorporating technology and global issues into their classroom, but have little power to do so. Postman's idea of restructuring the system around a grand narrative- gods that will stand the test of time and mean something- is fantastic. The ridiculous thing is that most of the people who wield the power to review/change the educational system will write this off as sensational or overly optimistic. The educational system in America needs just as much- if not more- attention as health care, airport security, and climate change-- but we're letting it rest on the back burner.

Postman's argument that American public schooling should create an American public made sense and yet seemed strangely novel. As an elementary school teacher (in another life) I felt swamped with meeting benchmarks, maintaining order, teaching the basics, etc -- none of which included fostering a love of country.

Postman, like Ken Robinson, roundly criticizes education for failing students; Postman, for lack of civic minded-ness, a sense of history, and understanding that each person on "space-ship earth" is connected, Robinson for lack of creative cultivation. Indeed, after reading these authors back to back I feel formal education is almost beyond the scope of reform. But it is what we have and somehow, most students that complete grade twelve emerge with tools enough to apply for school loans and college.

Dated, dense writing style. Curmudgeon-toned.

"Profound but contradictory ideas may exist side by side, if they are constructed from different materials and methods and have different purposes. Each tells us something important about where we stand in the universe, and it is foolish to insist that they must despise each other."

A renewed sense of responsibility, curiosity, awareness and growth enabled by diversity in religion, culture and language. That should be the foundation of education according to Postman. There is great potential is schooling but it is lost in a sea of unwarranted rules and backwards requirements. Teachers proudly say they attempt to teach critical thinking but don't think twice when they provide their students with scripted material that is not open to questioning. Quite disturbing when you think about it.

The teachers are not the only ones doing harm. In fact, they are often victim of the regulations they are forced to stick to. Schools haven't evolved nearly enough to keep up with our modern society. Students are taught how to use technology but not about what it has done and is doing for/to our society. Too often are they simply provided with rules and regulations they need to "know" by heart without being fully aware of the implications.

One of Postman's most compelling suggestions is to teach courses from a historical point of view, by means of treating our current knowledge on a subject to be the best we have to offer at the moment. From there, students should be taught where it comes from, including all the stumbled humanity made on its way to success and be given the opportunity to consider how it could be improved. It is an ambitious thought and not easily done but it would provide so much perspective for both learners and teachers.

It is quite the masterpiece... Postman does not only address the problems in our current educational system but dives deep into their origins and what we can go to turn things around. He acknowledges the difficulty in changing and remains critical, even of his own ideas. A very impressive book.

some parts of this were a bit dated though a lot of the concepts Postman posits about the American education system are worth considering in the pursuit of bettering how we teach, learn, and collaborate with one another

Had to read this for my graduate program. I found the writing tedious and boring. I would NEVER recommend this book to a fellow teacher or anyone else for that matter.

It is both impressive and depressing that a book about education written 23 years ago may have more salience now that at the time it was written. “The End of Education” addresses many of the complicated question about public education with a perspective that is simultaneously conservative and radically subversive. Postman defends the traditional role of public education in crafting a common culture, the conservative bits, while outlining curriculum content and pedagogical approaches that could please much of today’s SJW left.