> In some sense Gutenberg ought to have obviated the need for the lecture format in college but it didn't. Radio didn't, television didn't and I suspect the internet won't either. At least not for the majority of students.
Keep in mind where universities and lectures come from: they are ex cathedra, literally. Gutenberg and Martin Luther are the ones who obviated the need for the "lecture format" and yet Catholicism still stands, only incrementally changed from those many centuries ago.
The lecture format is necessary for reasons that have only indirectly to do with education: it's about power structure and power flow. The more deeply I've looked into education reform, the more strongly I feel that the necessary reform can't be isolated to education. It simply can't be "fixed" without dealing with the weight of centuries attached to it.
When you look at education, you're looking at a societal concept of what a child is. Our concept is that a child is something to be lectured. How could we then not have lectures? (And yes, I am a fan of Montessori.)
Keep in mind where universities and lectures come from: they are ex cathedra, literally. Gutenberg and Martin Luther are the ones who obviated the need for the "lecture format" and yet Catholicism still stands, only incrementally changed from those many centuries ago.
The lecture format is necessary for reasons that have only indirectly to do with education: it's about power structure and power flow. The more deeply I've looked into education reform, the more strongly I feel that the necessary reform can't be isolated to education. It simply can't be "fixed" without dealing with the weight of centuries attached to it.
When you look at education, you're looking at a societal concept of what a child is. Our concept is that a child is something to be lectured. How could we then not have lectures? (And yes, I am a fan of Montessori.)