Thoughts On The Purpose Of Education
Hat tip to Lapaz for this interesting conversation.
I came in late to the conversation, but it has been an interesting read. Over at Barefoot Meandering the lines between parenting, life, unschooling, limits, and more were explored very deeply. And sometimes crudely as well. It began when KathyJo, the blog’s writer, read an article on limiting video games for children and teens and had some rather blunt ideas about them. From there a fight sparked in the comments section that really led some people to explore their own ideas of parenting with and without limits.
And yes, there are some attacks flung about as well.
So, trying to ignore the negative parts and not continue on the fighting, I wanted to look at a couple things mentioned. In part of the discussion in the comments section there was talk about what makes an educated person. One responder, Drew, said
My concern is not with “gaps” - every education has those - but with an utter lack of distinction between what is important and what is merely entertaining or amusing in the moment. In my view, an educated person *may* know something about Elvis Presley or the process of tanning leather, but she *must* know the Bible, the Iliad, Dante, and Shakespeare; she must know Julius Caesar and the Crusades and the Constitution; she must be able to multiply fractions, prove the Pythagorean Theorem (preferably in more than one way), and graph polynomials. Knowing these things does not preclude researching pop culture of the 1950s, but with only so many hours in the day, to which body of knowledge will you give priority?
To this responded Sylvia with
My experience of trivia (as one whose head is filled with trivia, admittedly) is that so much of what is dismissed as trivia is really an essential part of the rich tapestry of what it means to live in our world. It’s kind of like my favorite Star Trek-Next Generation episode — the one where Piccard lands on a planet where they speak only in metaphors and he knows no history of their culture so he can’t communicate. Or in Blast from the Past, where Brendan Fraser walks out of a bomb shelter after 35 yrs totally clueless — in his own country. Without a head full of trivia — really comprehensive, contextual knowledge of what has come before — how do people understand what’s being presented today? Yeah, I’m a history geek, with a crazy-glue memory, so I think the value of ‘trivia’ is seriously under-rated.
I couldn’t help but think this was worth looking at. On one hand there are certain texts, though they will vary by person, that a knowledge of build a great foundation for other knowledge to build on. On the other hand trivia, as the comment above shows, can be a part of that foundation as well. I think it’s certainly a division worth thinking about when planning and deciding what to teach your own children.
Of course then it takes me to thinking more on the purpose of education. Is it to build a solid foundation from which they can grow, or is it helping them learn how to build their own foundation. I can see benefits of each really. There are many things that it can be very important to have a working knowledge of in which to understand more. However, teaching “trivia” in the sense of letting your children learn about the topics they are interested in provides them an opportunity to take control of their education and determine their own foundation.
Definitely go over and read the rest of the comments, there is a great conversation going on about this there that is food for thought. No matter what your style or method it’s something to think about more.
education, purpose of education, home schooling, unschooling
May 21st, 2008 at 7:32 am
I’ll go check out the conversation after I ingest some more caffeine, but I’d like to say here that one person’s essential knowledge is another person’s trivia. I once memorized pi to the umpteenth place, and I can still quote “The Raven”, but for me those are trivia, while understanding how to calculate cost per ounce and the nutritional value of food and how to remove various stains from different materials is essential.;)
May 21st, 2008 at 8:34 am
Well, I’ll tackle the list of “In my view, an educated person … *must* know ”
And granted there’s a lot on the mentioned list I *do* know, but the bits I don’t do NOT make me an uneducated person.
The world is full of stuff we can know, but what people aren’t realizing it literally takes a lifetime to amass even a portion of knowledge. It’s not about what we know, really. It’s about *learning* and whether it gets killed as a child or whether as adults we continue to leanrn.
And I’ll point out while I did excellent in trigonometry and calculus in high school, and I now work with computers all day, I don’t use one bit of what I learned 20 years ago.
Thew trivia and the video games, and the things children are doing that some parents can’t see the sense of is ultimately important to the child and thus, should be allowed and given some sense of importance to the parent. Even if they don’t understand it now. Ultimately, it’s often one are where the child has direction and control over their own lives. It’s practise for the real world, and a figuring out that makes sense in their own mind.
Education, I think, is ultimately an understanding of how the world works and this is based on both history and trivia.
In the end, when all our children are adults (as some of mine are) the methods and techniques aren’t near as important as how we dealt with our children and how they saw us deal with others, and whether they can fly on their own.
May 21st, 2008 at 10:17 am
What I think we are talking about here to some extent is cultural literacy. I agree with Drew that there are certain things that are important (not necessarily essential) to making someone a well-rounded, well-educated person. To have a knowledge of gardening, Star Trek, and Thoreau are all very important, but for different reasons.
The first is practical. To grow your own food will save you money or provide enjoyment in leisure. All good things!
To know about Star trek and the like enables you to join in casual conversation without feeling like a social misfit. Also good!
But to have a knowledge of Thoreau, the Bible (even if you don’t believe it), Shakespeare, the Iliad, etc enables you to step into the “great conversation.” These are works that explore the eternal truths, the human condition, the nature of God and man, etc. They are a part of our heritage and our culture and have been for a long time. Sure this “canon” will vary over time and place and includes many more important works than any one person can possibly hope to read thoroughly, but it is important that we explore them as much as we can.
I am exaggerating here, but if all we ever read are computer manuals then we may have a great prep for a great job. But will that make us educated? And though it is awesome to be able to quote lines from the Brady bunch “Marsha, Marsha, Marsha…” are we educated if we don’t catch the reference of “All the world’s a stage..” or know what is meant by “Orwellian policies”?
And I don’t think reading the great works has to be in opposition to following our children’s interests. These works are classics for a reason. They have broad appeal that has stood the test of time. They resonate deeply, though differently for each of us. Why shouldn’t our children be interested in them? We can’t assume our children will only pick up pop lit. That assumes they are happy to be shallow!I think our children thirst for more. Our job as parents is to lead them to the deep water and though we cannot make them drink, we sure can show them how tasty it can be!
May 21st, 2008 at 12:00 pm
On quick mention about pop lit and being educated… pop lit is FULL of references to classical lit, history, common knowledge and other things that we think we have to “study” to ever be exposed to. How can we get through a summer of new movies without hearing at least a dozen times about the Bible, for example. How many pop movies and TV shows are rehashes of clasical stories?
The vast majority of what I know about the Bible comes from pop culture references, since I shunned religion very early on. (I’m just now, at 36, starting to have an appreciation for the Bible and its contents.)
Star Trek was used an as example - is it just me, or does every episode have some reference to “real life”, often times making direct commentary on current politics and culture?
Even World of Warcraft is chalk full of cultural, historical, literary and political references.
I think being shallow has little to do with WHAT we read or watch or are interested in, but with how we see life and the interconnectedness of it all. If our kids are curious, interested, and enthusiastic about the world, it will all come together, whether it’s through video games, movies, art, or theater, or anything else.
I don’t know what that has to do with limits, but there ya go.