ABSTRACT
Learning as a form of meditation and self-formation has been erased or, worse yet, subjectivized as something beyond the reach of efficient and effective schooling. Workers were handed simple instructions for repeated tasks, set to specific time limits and "quality" control measures. They each worked on an isolatable and definable piece of the overall task such that there would be no confusion or thought required, and also such that, if there was a problem with the end results, the specific site of the problem could be found and fixed. If a child has trouble, for example, with certain grammatical forms, the specific grade in which this was "taught" can be located and assessed for its effectiveness in the production of knowledge of this grammatical form. One of the most pernicious threads of this line of thinking is not simply that it has re-cast the nature of public schooling in light of industrial production images of manageability and efficiency.
