Market

Photo: Roel Krabbendam. “Mohamed el Amied Ben Hedili Ben Mohamed Ben Romd’hane, Shopkeeper, Kairouan, Tunisia 2007”.

Except for that annual career fair or college fair, how often do students get to see a broad swath of options and opportunities presented in a way that invites comparison?

Why is this so rare?

I imagine the library or media center could host thematic exhibits for example, perhaps on a weekly or biweekly basis. These exhibits could highlight practical themes (“48 careers of the future” or “12 local businesses open for internships” or “8 guides to rocking the SAT”), or they could explore more emotional terrain (32 novels exploring jealousy”, or “adventure in 20th Century literature” or “anger as a positive force in feminist literature of the 1960s”).

The general idea is this: school is not just about learning facts and procedures. It is also about learning how to be and what the world is like and how you might fit into it. Those lessons, in the most visceral way possible, is what the Market is all about.

The Market: bringing comparative shopping to school.