In the world of the Tribe many parts of everyday life and society have changed in the world without adults – and one of these is education!
As Zoot says “No more schools! No more teachers! No more books!” – but what would education be like in Tribeworld? This Worldview article takes a look at education in the Tribe – and more…
Life after the virus
Okay. In Tribeworld (as you know) there are no adults. None. That means the whole infrastructure we have in the world today as it relates to education – with teachers, schools, colleges, even books, school stationary and equipment – all of that would be no more.
On one hand that might seem like a good thing. Education and school is not normally a very popular thing with kids. Without school and education that would mean no more homework! No more detention! No more exams! No more revision! Yeah!
But even though school may bring with it some “bad” things like bullying, peer pressure, some stressed out teachers – there are also some good things.
Although it can be hard at times, school and education is good for the brain. We all learn things at school – that’s why we go there. Education is a way of learning.
And in Tribeworld without formal education as we have today – there would be great consequences for society.
School’s out so what do we do?
To begin with in the early days of Tribeworld, there was no education at all. Kids were upset about the tragic and devastating situation brought on by the virus – but they loved the freedom they had to shape the world as they saw it.
With no education, what do you do during the day? If you are a kid or teenager, it means you don’t have to spend your time each day going to school, learning, doing homework – you can do what you like!
So kids and teens would get together in Tribes to survive and do whatever they felt. Some would roam around the city like the Locos or Demon Dogs – others would try to build a peaceful new world, like the Mall Rats.
Without education, kids do not learn how to read or to count. Without reading you limit the amount of knowledge your brain can get. True, you can still learn things about “life” in general by other ways – such as being taught or learning how to do something yourself. But without formal education each day, many kids and teens would become almost like “cavemen” of the 21st century – they would have no idea of history, culture, reading, maths -they would instead be resorting to a more primitive type of daily existence without using their brains as much as we do today.
Without formal education even things like language would break down. If there is no “central” rules about language as taught from educational establishments, then the very spelling and pronunciation of words would all be down to individual interpretation and it is likely the very structure of language would change. This is not good. It means you could talk to another kid from another sector of the city and they may not know what you are talking about because you would both literally be speaking another language.
So without education the world is very different in many surprising and unexpected ways…
Okay, your new teacher is 16 years old!
But some Tribes and individuals do try to bring back education in certain ways. People like Amber and Salene feel it is important to look after younger and more vulnerable members of society.
Part of caring for the younger kids is educating them. Amber started to teach Patsy and Chloe lessons in Series 1 of the Tribe. She felt Chloe and Patsy had to use their brains and be stimulated – that education could be a positive and beneficial thing, something to give hope and “improvement” to the daily life experiences of Chlose and Patsy in the difficult world of Tribeworld.
Similarly, Salene did not teach the kids maths or reading but tried to “teach” them about broader aspects of life. She taught Patsy and Paul how to use the piano in Series 1, thinking this is a good distraction but also a good thing to learn. It is good to do music by having a hobby and using your brain in other areas.
In Series 2 of the Tribe both Ryan and Salene started to bring kids into the mall and give them classes. Maths and reading was the important thing they felt because once you can read and count then you have the initial basic – but important – skills at your disposal which can allow you to do other things in life.
Why bother teaching?
As you may know if you saw the episodes, pupils may find education annoying at times but so do the teachers!
Amber was very frustrated at Chloe and Patsy’s constant in-fighting and bickering during classes as each would try to outdo the other through “one-upmanship”.
Salene became furious and agitated in her classes in Series 3 because many of the kids would prefer to muck around and have paper fights with each other instead of listening to Salene’s lessons. But Ryan saved the day with some forthright action!
So teaching – as well as learning – can be troublesome at times. But it is more important to keep going and to keep learning because education is good for the brain.
NEXT WEEK in PART 2 of this article we will look further at education in the Tribe – and compare the Chosen, Ryan, Amber and Salene as teachers! We will also check out issues such as what should be taught in Tribeworld – and who should be the teachers? More next week…