From Judith McDaniel
Phil Hands cartoon
I’m tired of reading about the “race to the top” as though education was a prize for a few who can grasp the gold ring. I don’t want to hear about teacher’s pay being tied to their student test results. This is gross stupidity.
What is education? I agree with these educators and thinkers—it is NOT what we force our students to memorize.
Thomas Kempis: The object of education isn’t knowledge; it’s action.
Herbert Spencer: The great aim of education is not knowledge, but action.
Albert Einstein: Learning is experience. Everything else is just information.
John Dewey: “I believe that education, therefore, is a process of living and not a preparation for future living.”
To me, the important part of education is simply that education isn’t about what you put in your head, it’s what you do with what you have learned. And if your education hasn’t equipped you to use the information you are learning (whether found or instilled) then you aren’t in the realm of education.
Or, in the words of twentieth century educator Francis Keppel, Education is too important to be left solely to the educators.
I think we’d be much better asking: How does the education we provide equip our students to use their new information? It won’t be tested on a multiple choice exam.
