ABSTRACT
This chapter explains that people should stop worrying about the problems of education, declare it a disaster, and let teachers and students get on with their lives. The trouble with the endless concern over "problems" in education is that many well-meaning but often misguided and sometimes meddlesome people believe that solutions must exist. The chapter presents an example of a current educational disaster and examines "assessment". Assessment is the only thing many politicians can think of when they take a problem-solving approach to education. Assessment has become a full-fledged disaster in its own right. It is discriminatory, and it stigmatizes and disempowers individuals for life. Language is another example. Despite the widespread assumptions to the contrary, language is neither a rational design nor an ideal system. Mathematics is the same. Like language, mathematics doubtless developed in many separate places and in small ways. Many of our troubles in education arise from the fact that we are so concerned about learning.
