While many people resort to metaphors of “business” and “customer service” when describing education, the fact is that these are metaphors rather than truths, and we must be careful not to confuse a description of the thing for the thing itself.
The following statements are closer to the truth about education: 1) Education is a process not a product. 2) Students are presented an opportunity to succeed, not success; therefore, they are not customers but co-creators of the educational experience, the same way an audience is a participant and co-creator of a live performance. 3) Teachers are not customer-service representatives, but experts in a field, who are chosen to represent their fields/disciplines in a classroom and to give those fields/disciplines
The following statements are closer to the truth about education: 1) Education is a process not a product. 2) Students are presented an opportunity to succeed, not success; therefore, they are not customers but co-creators of the educational experience, the same way an audience is a participant and co-creator of a live performance. 3) Teachers are not customer-service representatives, but experts in a field, who are chosen to represent their fields/disciplines in a classroom and to give those fields/disciplines