Charles Warcup

Education is an admirable thing ... Charles Warcup

In the course of a long, erratic and frequently involuntary journey through the educational solar system, the author has gained many and varied insights and transitioned from being an undiscerning pupil and teacher to becoming an outspoken critic of many core aspects of mainstream western education systems. The inspiration to write this book came from his professional and personal concern for environmental and sustainability issues, which led him to the observation that progress in these areas has largely taken place without significant or substantial support from the 'educational-industrial complex'. For many schools, a 'sustainable lifestyle' is something to be taught, written up by pupils, marked, assessed in a test or an examination and then forgotten about.'Education is an admirable thing ... A wake-up call' sets out the need to revolutionize education by means of a radical rearrangement of priorities. Sustainability is not something to be dealt with within education as just another subject, but it is something that must be the driving force behind any and every educational activity. If it's not sustainable, then don't do it!This approach has far-reaching consequences for practically every aspect of life inside and outside school. While acknowledging the tremendous and well-intentioned efforts of thousands of people working in education, and especially the visionary work of those who pioneered the idea of universal education against massive opposition from established opinion, the book first analyses the shortcomings of present educational practice and then opens up perspectives for remedying them.