On Marcuse and Caring in Education

Abstract

Can caring and standardized testing coincide? Marcuse criticized the misuse of science because it also legitimizes social and economic hierarchy. By the same token, scholars develop standardized testing, claiming these tests are scientific and can measure objectively individuals’ learning and intelligence capabilities. However, if inclusive caring embraces human beings’ diversity and recognizes diverse learning styles and intelligences, the concept of standards promotes the opposite agenda. Standardized testing aims toward what Marcuse called a one-dimensional human being and social stratification. Can standardized testing promote learning and tolerance? The public and academic debate on this issue also needs to address the moral and social ramifications on society. If the emphasis in education is primarily on quantity, then society devalues human life and narrows it down, as Horkheimer & Adorno claimed, to zero. Such an agenda serves mostly those in power. Marcuse criticized the social ramifications and the portrayal and use of science as an accurate and neutral academic discipline. In a world that copes with violence, poverty, and intolerance domestically, nationally, and internationally, one needs to contemplate the danger that lies in the excessive quantitative measurement of human beings where there is scant qualitative value.