Dickens Relevant in Our Education System

“Now, what I want is facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but facts. Facts alone are wanted in life.” ~Thoma Grandgrind (p. 7).

Hold up, does this guy talking about facts remind you of something? If it doesn’t let us give you a good feminist critique:

When he mentions facts it is almost like the STEM (Science, technology, engeneering, mathematics)/Arts dichotomy. If this doesn’t ring a bell think of how many research grants are given to the math and sciences compared to WSU closing its Theater/Dance department 3 years ago. Currently, much funding is being taken out of our schools from the music, theater, and dance departments. This happens at the k-12 levels and even in higher education. What could be the outcome of cutting the arts? There is a lot of research that shows that the arts aid students in critical thinking. They are also a good creative outlet.

Let’s take this critique to another level, is it coincidental that STEM careers are ruled by men? The implications of the STEM/Arts dichotomy extend to gender and race relations. As English majors we understand how creative writing is critical to our field. We also make emphasis on the importance of critical thinking. So the utilitarian elitist critique Dickens’ makes parallels to the issues that we find in our education system.

Another important factor of facts is that there are race relations in them. Think of how little writers of color we study in our English courses. People of color and their knowledge have not been recognized by many academics. History books and even science have posed people of color as lesser to white people. Back in the 18^th and 19^th century, there were many taxonomists who did research on brain sizes and falsely accused people of color to have smaller brains; thus, they posed people of color as inferior to white people. History books also lack diversity in the people that they study; an intersection to think about is queer people. LGBT (Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender) history is rarely found in history books.

Without critical thinking and creativity, which occurs in the arts, we ignore the power relations that occur in facts. Facts are biased through the heteronormative patriarchal AND white supremacist ideologies of our country. Thus, the utilitarian education critique that Dickens’ makes acts as a warning to readers. The arguments we make are grounded on feminist theory and we hope that you open your mind to these ideas. We also hope that you begin to think of how facts are presented in your college courses.