Education for the Collaborative Commons

Schools as we know them today were established to train children to become obedient workers in industry and the military. Over the decades, education pioneers have tried to innovate, but these innovations are invariably contested by the establishment. Education is far too effective as a means of controlling the masses to allow anything more than tinkering at the edges.

“The biggest educational experiment of the last hundred years is the experiment that we now call mainstream education. After years of research I have not been able to find a scientific basis for mainstream education.” - Professor Rob Martens

Time Between Worlds

Today's education systems emerged during a time between the world of feudalism and the world of capitalism. Significant dates include:

• 1760 to 1840: Industrial Revolution
• 1763: King Frederick William II of Prussia issued a decree to establish a standardized framework for schools throughout the kingdom. The Prussian Education System became a model for educational reforms in other European countries.
• 1837: Horace Mann was appointed as secretary of education of Massachusetts and proceeded to promote the Prussian System across the US.
• 1870: The English Parliament passed the Education Act, which established mandatory schooling based on the Prussian System.

At roughly the same time as the Industrial Revolution (with the exception of Harvard, which was much earlier and Cornell, which was much later), wealthy industrialists established Ivy League schools where their offspring could hone their capitalist skills (and earn a place outside the factory and the military).

• Harvard University: Founded in 1636, John Harvard was the first benefactor, who provided a large endowment for the university.
• Yale University: Established in 1701, Yale was founded with the support of King George II of England.
• University of Pennsylvania: Founded in 1740, Penn was chartered by the British government and received a significant endowment from Benjamin Franklin.
• Princeton University: Originally founded as the College of New Jersey in 1746, Princeton was renamed and received a significant endowment from John Witherspoon, a prominent American Presbyterian minister.
• Columbia University: Founded in 1754, Columbia was established with the support of King George II of England and received a significant endowment from the estate of Augustus Low.
• Brown University: Established in 1764, Brown was founded by the descendants of Rhode Island's founders and received a significant endowment from the Pew family.
• Dartmouth College: Founded in 1769, Dartmouth was established by King George III of Great Britain and received a significant endowment from the estate of William Dartmouth.
• Cornell University: Established in 1865, Cornell was founded by two benefactors, Ezra Cornell and Andrew Dickson White, and received a significant endowment from the estate of A.D. White.

These institutions in particular—and our education systems in general—defined the cultures that shaped human behavior ever since the Industrial Revolution.

Today's Time Between Worlds

The 21st Century is a similar time between worlds, where the sociological experiment that developed a Capitalist Interstructure is giving way to a Post Capitalist Interstructure. This is part of a regularly-repeating cycle of civilization, so we must expect signs of a transition. Timothy Gieseke has eloquently described how governance styles have evolved in Collaborative Commons: The 4th Social Sector and Roger Briggs has eloquently described how social structures—and hence consciousness—have evolved in his book, Emerging World. There are thousands of others amplifying the weak signals now rapidly emerging pointing to a transition that is already underway.

The Role of Education

Education's role is to transmit cultural values, norms, and knowledge from one generation to the next. It helps individuals learn about their society, understand societal expectations, and acquire the skills necessary for participation. By definition, education perpetuates the status quo.

During a time between worlds, existing cultural values are questioned. The role and structure of education systems come under scrutiny. In some cases, the depth of societal change during a time between worlds may necessitate radical transformations. This involves the emergence of entirely new education systems that better resonate with the values, needs, and challenges of the transformed society. Think Prussian Education System and Ivy League, which have now both run their course and are ripe for replacement.

[On a side note, the recent Harvard plagiarism scandal with Claudine Gay is just the tip of the iceberg, and there will be many more similar instances. What we are witnessing is Elite Overproduction, a term coined by Peter Turchin in his recent book, End Times: Elites, Counter-Elites, and the Path of Political Disintegration.]

Which sector is best suited today to birth entirely new education systems?

Both public and private sectors are deeply embedded in the cultural values and norms that led to their emergence. As a result, both sectors do everything they can to maintain the status quo, while paying lip service to education reform. The non-government sector is, similarly, largely beholden to funding intent on maintaining the status quo. (See The Revolution Will Not Be Funded.)

This leaves the emerging Collaborative Commons as the fourth and ideally suited sector to birth an education system that transmits cultural values, norms, and knowledge from one world to the next.

Is the fourth sector ready to birth entirely new education systems?

Across tens and possibly hundreds of thousands of initiatives globally, we have all the thinking and material required for such an education system to emerge. We already have extensive maps of all the initiatives forming the building blocks of the Collaborative Commons. However, Professor Eelco H. Dykstra —in a Scoping for Implementation exercise conducted in Q4 2023—identified two significant roadblocks: Fragmentation and Lack of Impact (FLI). In short, without the equivalent of a "Prussian Education System template" meaningful results will remain elusive.

How Do We Birth an Education System for the Collaborative Commons?

Extensive dialog over the festive period has resulted in the following proposal (with much of the detail left out in the interests of brevity):

• Establish a nucleus consisting of three elements, connected by semi-permeable membranes: Executive, Round Table, Council of Elders.
• Provide the nucleus with a 4-6 month executive mandate to develop a strategic plan and project plan with work packages and budget lines.
• Mobilize a coalition of the willing to seed the Collaborative Commons and to obtain feedback.

How Good is Good Enough?

This is a question Professor Dykstra asks regularly to check our commitment to transcending wicked challenges. What the question means is, what are you willing to settle for in the Collaborative Commons work you're involved with?

If we look forward to 2030, a mere 6 years away, we envisage a thriving "marketplace" of roles (not jobs) in the Collaborative Commons, all in high demand and therefore well-compensated. The "job seekers" will be educated by an ecosystem of many vetted and approved learning organizations, both in theory and in practice. Importantly, the Commons will be "singing from the same hymn sheet" and graduates will have been through a robust peer certification process. As a result of our professional governance and coordination, the Fourth Sector will be a key sector of society, highly respected by the three sectors which came before it.

Opportunities to Get Involved

1. The benefactors of Ivy League schools left an indelible mark on society. Their forward-thinking endowments left a legacy that endured for centuries and enabled the significant progress the world has enjoyed since the Industrial Revolution. That spectacular progress is now witnessing unintended consequences. This creates a new opportunity for another generation of benefactors to leave their mark on society.
2. Those already active in the Collaborative Commons can enjoy revenue-sharing opportunities as we cross-promote ideas across the education ecosystem, as described in Graham Boyd 's work on Fairshares Commons.
3. Parents of Gen Zs and Gen As can rest easy at night, knowing that a significant commitment is being made to birth education systems for a post-capitalist world.

Please connect if you feel called to support or if you could benefit from the Collaborative Commons. Please also share your feedback and experiences.

References

1. A Short History of Education: https://bit.ly/Comp-Edu
2. Prussian Education System: https://bit.ly/PruEd
3. Elite Over-Production: https://bit.ly/Elite-Over
4. Collaborative Commons Ecosystem: https://bit.ly/Net-of-Net
5. FairShares Commons: https://bit.ly/FS-Com