You are NOT in charge of your education

The other day I was subbing in a second grade classroom in my favorite suburban district when I heard the most amazing proclamation. It's something that I have long suspected about most educational institutions. However, it's a sentiment that's most often expressed implicitly, tacitly. It's expressed in the activities chosen, the forms of assessment, the way children are weighted and measured and systematically turned into number, data, and statistics.
It was during Math class, and students were completing an assignment in their "Everyday Mathematics" workbooks. We had just read a passage in the textbook about "calendar math" and now students were completing related workbook pages. When they finished they were expected to go back to the previous unit and completed any unfinished "Math Boxes" pages. One of the students was attempting to circumvent this rigid procedure. He wanted to skip right to the Math Boxes. At which point I heard Ms. Mavis, the paraprofessional in the room sternly say, " Abdul, you are NOT in charge (of your education)! You do NOT get to choose! Remember that."

"Well, why the hell not," I thought. If there could be no higher purpose of education, it would be to make students feel ownership of their own education. Self-sufficiency and a love of learning is always the highest goal. One of this particular districts often touted values is "becoming a life-long learner." Does life long learning mean a life time of currying somebody else's favor? Winning someone else's approval? Apparently, a lifetime of learning means a lifetime of subjugation to someone else's goals, needs, and values.