[DrNic]

Hi folks,

I wondered if I could ask for some recommendations for (reasonably well-known) SF novels, stories, films etc which deal with representations of education and/or childhood, particularly the change from childhood to adulthood? Taking a lead from something like Asimov's 'The Fun They Had', schools of one sort or another tend to crop up in a lot of SF. I'm thinking of things like Ender's Game (with the Battle School), or the sinister 'Academies' in things like Whedon's Firefly etc. Essentially I'm interested in how education is portrayed as creating future generations of civilisations, and the types of values it instils within its children. EG is a great example - the 'Xenocidal' perspectives the children are indoctrinated with, for instance. Can anyone think of any similar narratives? I'd be very grateful for any advice. Cheers, Nic

[homosap]

Interesting question, some that spring to mind are:-

Anvil of Stars by Greg Bear - is a sequel to The Forge of God so I want give any detail but it is a very unusual learning environment for young people.

Neutronium Alchemist by Peter F Hamilton - not quite what you're looking for but he does spend time looking at education/growing experiences for the children of the various human societies. I found the Edenist ideas particularly interesting.

Darwins Radio & the sequel by Greg Bear - some similarities in here to your requirements

Childhoods End by Arthur C Clarke - more a view of the maturation of society rather than the individuals within

[Hobbit]

Enders Game by Orson Scott Card.

Many of the Heinlein juveniles?

Mark / Hobbit

[psikeyhackr]

Rite of Passage by Alexi Panshin

http://www.eyrie.org/~eagle/reviews/books/0-671-44068-3.html

This is so much better than Catcher in the Rye it isn't funny.

How many millions of dollars have schools made students spend on that book?

That is curious, it never occurred to me to compare Ender's Game to Rite of Passage. As a personal growth story Ender's isn't as good as Rite in my opinion because the plot of the war with the Bugger's consumes too much of Ender's attention. The potential use of computers in education may be more appropriate from Ender's considering the technology we have now.

I suppose the psychological manipulation of children by AUTHORITY could be viewed as part of the lesson of Ender's Game. What was all that "duck and cover" crap about in the 50's and 60's?

http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=7398714418354815608&pl=true

http://www.sntp.net/education/gatto.htm

psik