Editing Neil Postman (section)

==On education==
In 1969 and 1970, Postman collaborated with the [[New Rochelle, New York|New Rochelle]] educator [[Alan Shapiro (education reformer)|Alan Shapiro]] on the development of a model school based on the principles expressed in ''[[Teaching as a Subversive Activity]]''.<ref name=":2">{{cite web|url=http://www.joshkarpf.com/3i/proposal1970.html|title=3I Program: Proposal, 1970|work=joshkarpf.com}}</ref> In ''Teaching as a Subversive Activity,'' Postman and co-author Charles Weingartner suggest that many schools have curricula that are trivial and irrelevant to students' lives.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Wardhaugh |first=Ronald |date=1970 |title=Review of Teaching as a Subversive Activity|journal=The School Review |volume=78 |issue=3 |pages=429–434 |issn=0036-6773 |jstor=1084165|doi=10.1086/442921}}</ref> The result of Postman and Weingartner's critiques in ''Teaching as a Subversive Activity'' was the "Program for Inquiry, Involvement, and Independent Study" within [[New Rochelle High School]].<ref name=":2"/> This "open school" experiment survived for 15 years and in subsequent years many programs following these principles were developed in American high schools; current{{when|date=January 2022}} survivors include Walter Koral's language class at the [[Village School (Great Neck, New York)|Village School]]<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/12/education/12village.html | work=[[The New York Times]] | title=Profile Rises at School Where Going Against the Grain Is the Norm | first=Winnie | last=Hu | date=November 12, 2007 | access-date=April 6, 2010}}</ref> in [[Great Neck, New York]].

In a 1973 address, "The Ecology of Learning", at the Conference on English Education, Postman proposed seven changes for schools that build on his critiques expressed in ''Teaching as a Subversive Activity''.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Postman|first=Neil|date=April 1974|title=The Ecology of Learning|journal=The English Journal|volume=63|issue=4|pages=58–64|doi=10.2307/813650|jstor=813650}}</ref> First, Postman proposed that schools should be "convivial communities" for learning rather than places that try to control students through judgment and punishment. Secondly, he suggested that schools should either discard or dramatically change grading practices that lead to competition in school rather than an attitude of learning. He also proposed getting rid of homogeneous groupings of students that reinforce social and economic inequalities, [[standardized test]]s that promote competition and permanently kept student records that are used to punish and control students. Proactively, he suggested that industries and professional schools, rather than K-12 schools, should develop criteria for selecting students and that schools should focus on [[civic education]] that teaches students their rights as citizens.<ref name=":04">{{Cite journal|last=Postman|first=Neil|date=1974|title=The Ecology of Learning|journal=The English Journal|volume=63|issue=4|pages=58–64|doi=10.2307/813650|jstor=813650}}</ref>

Later in his career, Postman moved away from his work in ''Teaching as a Subversive Activity'' with the publication of ''Teaching as a Conserving Activity.''<ref>{{Cite web|title=Teaching As A Conserving Activity|url=https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1252046.Teaching_As_A_Conserving_Activity|access-date=22 November 2021|website=Goodreads}}</ref> In it Postman calls for schools to act as a counter to popular culture dominated by television and highlighted the need for an emphasis on literacy education.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Postman|first=Neil|date=1979|title=Neil Postman – Teaching as a Conserving Activity (1979) Interview|url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5nbH4Zubpiw&t=2847s|access-date=22 November 2021|website=Youtube}}</ref> Postman also argued for the need of teachers to separate themselves from students in dress and speech, offering an alternative role model for children. Postman was concerned with the degradation of the culture caused by technology and saw education as a means of conserving important cultural ideas.

In a television interview conducted in 1995 on [[PBS]]'s ''[[MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour]]'', Postman spoke about his opposition to the use of personal computers in schools. He felt that school was a place to learn together as a cohesive group and that it should not be used for individualized learning. Postman also worried that the personal computer was going to take away from individuals socializing as citizens and human beings.<ref name="ReferenceA">From interview from [[PBS]] on ''[[MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour]]'' (1995).</ref>