T-shirts only $10, badges only $3.50. Buy, buy, buy from DIY. Like hula-hoops in a disposable craze, another fast food fad to throw away… (with apologies to Anarchy For Sale by the Dead Kennedys)
So I finally come around to taking a look at The Edupunk’s Guide, well a PDF of it anyways, which seems to miss the whole point of edupunk, which at least one other critic seems to get. Sure, it’s like what Green Day or Blink 182 is to punk; palatable, accessible and easy for the mainstream to swallow, but with a hint of rebellion. We wouldn’t want to upset the status quo too much, would we? While the Edupunk Guide talks a lot about taking responsibility for one’s own education. In fact, taking responsibility for one’s education is something millions of people do on a daily basis. Whether it’s how to fix an excel spreadsheet at work, how to do a calculus equation at Khan Academy or connecting with a foreign language speaker over Skype, people do that already on their own. That’s not edupunk, that’s daily life. Of course, it wouldn’t be the first time someone made a career out of stating the obvious. Where the edupunk moniker really holds weight (with me) is that it accepts an idea that a course (but could extend to a program of study or less than that too) can be done differently than what has already been done. It’s a good primer, missing a lot of the “so what” moments and crucially missing that the majority of the world is already past it. And that’s where Edupunk (with a capital E) Guide sort of falls down. Really, it’s too late. Missed the boat. Jumped the shark? Maybe.
It’s already 1978 in edupunk. The Sex Pistols have broken up, Jim Groom’s now in PIL. Sid’s dead.
Don’t worry, 1978’s not all bad. Ramones put out Road To Ruin. Two of my most influential records were released Crass – Feeding of the 5000 LP and Black Flag – Nervous Breakdown 7″ EP.
The word is EduPunk and it sums up the need for educational reform — reform that to some extent has already begun.. What were doing now as EduPunks is were kind of taking the same concept the same ethos of the punk era and were applying it to education says Steve Wheeler a self-proclaimed EduPunk educator at the University of Plymouth.