It’s the classic paradigm: I (the omniscient teacher) know stuff, and you (the ignorant student) don’t.
Also, you believe, or have been led to believe, that by knowing some, if not all of the stuff I know, you might be able to one day be where I am, imparting more of the same stuff to others who are where you are now.
What’s more, you think that this is probably a Good Thing.
Well stuff that!
Education’s purpose is
to replace an empty mind
with an open one.[symple_spacing size=”10″] ~ Malcolm Forbes (đŠ Tweet Me!)
â Click HERE for a BIGGER Version! â¶
At some point in the past it might have been OK for ‘educayshun’ to consist of stuffing young heads full of pointless names and dates and factoids before sending them out into the world to fend for themselves, but no longer.
Modern life demands much more than simply being good at remembering stuff. Happily, because the skills we really need today are far better aligned with what us humans are actually exceptionally good at, given half a chance: working out clever solutions to unexpected problems.
The disturbing subliminal suggestion lurking behind this quote is that a lot of education actually closes our minds down. We’re rammed so full of ‘true facts’ imparted by unassailable ‘experts’ (to our impressionable minds) that we end up losing the ability to think for ourselves and question dubious opinions and received wisdom intelligently and naturally.
That’s why much of my ‘teaching’ consists of asking questions, in the hope that the habit will rub off.
P.S. Here’s another pretty awesome item with ‘Educashun’ in its title; check it out…
[embedyt] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKcWu0tsiZM[/embedyt]
~ Sab Will
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Notes on ‘SCRIBBLISMS Empty To Open’
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Scribblisms is where we have fun sharing and thinking about some great learning quotes from down the years. Feel free to join in the discussion – the more the merrier.
Rainbow English School is a non-profit educational organisation based in France. We aim to improve the level of English and the effectiveness of teaching in general. We work with teachers and educational organisations to help them adapt and personalise their teaching methods.
Our method and approach is based on the latest scientific research into how we best memorise, recall and usefully apply k
nowledge. We provide innovative tools and techniques which people can immediately use in their current learning or teaching situation. And we have fun doing it!
© 2016 Rainbow English School / Sab Will