"Children should be educated and instructed in the principles of freedom." ~~John Adams
One of the basic and essential functions
performed in every society is that
of education. (Some social sciences
call this process "socialization" but
all that really means just teaching
children what they need to know.) Without
education a society ceases to function
after a time and everybody dies. It
is really that important.
We all recognize that in the modern
world, those with more formal education
earn more on average than those with
less formal education do. It is true
that part of that difference has
card" aspect of a college or
other advanced degree and also some
of that difference is a result of
the more academically gifted people
being better at functioning in a
bureaucracy. But some of that difference
in income is a result of their actually
learning things that make them more
productive. Learning to read is one
of those really obvious things that
help a person to be able to not only
learn more things by reading about
them but also to be able to do things
that a person who cannot read simply
is unable to do.
(Picture trying to get information
from Google without knowing how to
We can be quite sure, therefore,
that with the non-POM money that
we propose be used, those who educate
others will definitely be paid for
their successes. But how is that
different from today? Don't we already
have lots of schools both public
and private with lots of teachers
earning lots of money teaching lots
Yes we do. But think about it. Are
those teachers really being paid
based on what and how much their
students learn? We hear of tests
that the students take and we hear
that schools lose out if the students
don't do well enough on those tests
but are the teachers really being
rewarded for doing a good job educating
the students or are they being rewarded
for glorified babysitting, and arranging
for the students to do well on those
tests? (Doing well on a test does
not necessarily mean that the student
has learned anything meaninful)
Also, think back to when you were
in school (assuming that you were).
How much of the time in school were
you bored? Remember how much homework
you were assigned? Was that boring?
Remember being in a class in which
you had already learned what was
being taught but you had to sit through
going over it again and again? Remember
being in a class in which you had
no idea what was going on and yet
couldn't or wouldn't stop and explain
things so you did understand?
These are quite common experiences
in a normal school today because
of the model of education being used.
That model is the "prison factory"
model. This model was developed in
the 19th century to support the factory
system of production in the cities.
It's purpose was to make obedient
and docile factory workers who would
tolerate endless hours of boring
work without complaining.
School is like a prison for the
students except that they actually
have less freedom in school than
do convicts in most jails. Their
bodies, which literally need activity,
confined to hard seats. Their minds,
which should be learning at great
speed as they did when they were
toddlers, are slowed to a crawl,
going over things which have little
no interest. But as in a factory,
each student is considered to be
exactly like every other student
of the same age/school year. If you
are seven years old you must be in
second grade and since it is October
you must be learning this and that
rather than these things and those
things. Each of the "identical" children
is processed in identical ways to
produce identical products. It's
just like a factory. Deviants are
punished by the administration and
the other children. Every child is
required to use the same learning
style whether that fits their talents
and abilities or not.
The result of the prison factory
model is that formal education actually
harms most children and the children
learn at about half the speed of
their potential. The result is that
children generally dislike school.
They find it punishing and boring.
They much prefer vacation.
So what would be different when
the non-POM money is used instead
of our current physical object money?
To start with, anyone who helps someone
else learn something useful will
be paid for it. In other words, home-schooling
parents would be paid for educating
their own children. Persons who tutor
others would be paid for providing
that help. But that's just a beginning.
The Payers, who will pay for the
consequences of people's actions,
will be paying teachers based on
their students' accomplishments in
later life. If you teach some student
to read who becomes very rich, you
will be rewarded accordingly. If
you give your students an attitude
toward work and working with others
which makes them very productive
in later life, you will get paid
more so long as those students are
productive. In short, it isn't just
some multiple choice test which determines
a small part of your pay, maybe,
it's everything that student does
for the rest of your life that contributes
to your pay. Not only that, but the
more students you successfully teach,
the more you will continue to be
paid for the rest of your life as
long as they continue to be productive
as a result of your actions. Residual
income. Long after you decide not
to work any more.
But let's consider something else.
In today's schools the teacher is
the one who tests the students and
assigns grades to them. This makes
the teacher a threat to the students.
It also gives the teacher a means
to punish students by giving them
bad grades for behavior which may
have little or nothing to do with
what the student has learned. The
is that many teachers are viewed
as the enemy, as an opponent, as
a threat. This is not a relationship
that promotes education and learning.
In the non-POM economy it is beneficial
to students, teachers, parents and
others to know how the students are
doing. Therefore, those who provide
such information will be paid for
gathering that information and making
it available to those who should
know. There currently exists a testing
industry which does things like the
SAT and ACT and the Iowa Tests and
the GRE and so forth. This testing
will not stop since it is useful.
But I would expect that others would
take up that task at all levels in
school from kindergarten through,
well, throughout one's entire lifespan.
They would be in the business of
the knowledge levels of those they
test. If one wants to obtain work
doing something which requires certain
skills, one can be tested and
knowledge of that job's duties. The
testing of school-aged children by
independent evaluators can be most
useful to the educational system.
One of the most beneficial aspects
that the efforts of all those who
educate can be evaluated. This helps
the payers because it validates who
taught what to whom for later credit.
This helps the teachers because they
will have knowledge of each child's
level before they work with that
child, and will have confirmation
progress. But most of all it helps
the teachers because they will no
longer need to assign grades and
focus on punishment. They will
be like "coaches" who may
be demanding: but who are obviously
on the side of their students, rewarding
and working with them to ensure success.
Next consider the organization of
the school itself. With everyone
in the school being paid based on
how the students benefit from being
there, the emphasis will be on the
actual learning the students do.
Who is most important for that (other
than the student herself)? Why, the
person who is interacting most with
the student, right? Is that a teacher,
a teacher's aide, a tutor? If it
is a teacher, look at the power that
teacher will have. The teacher
will be determining the pay of the
not the other way around. The
teacher only has to indicate a need
supplies and those who have supplies
to give will rush to provide them.
There will be no need for school
budgets. Each teacher will be responsible
for his or her
students, no matter what the school
policy is and no matter what the
state laws are regarding what is
supposed to be taught and how. The
do what works best for the students.
Helping teachers by providing education
which work well can make anyone rich.
The faculty, especially the master
teachers who are succeeding best
with the students, will rule all
schools. The education process in
the schools will evolve away from
the prison factory model toward diversity.
School will become fun, interesting
and even exciting for students. Why?
Because learning things you are interested
in learning about is fun! Ask
any five-year-old boy if he would
to learn more about dinosaurs. Ask
any nine-year-old girl if she would
like to learn more about horses.
Children, like everyone else, learn
best by doing. Schools will incorporate
that into education so a school will
look very busy. Children will be
grouped by interest, knowledge
and learning speed because they will
learn best that way. There will be
far less stress in schools for everyone.
This all comes about when there
is consistent feedback and rewards
for the success of the students.
Next: Non-POM Fears
Ready to discuss the book and articles? Please join us at
Care to comment? Please click here to email us!