Purpose of Education

Age old discussions focused on the purpose for education. These discussions still rage. You’d think by now mankind would understand the role of education. It’s not like this is a new concept; no, it’s as old as the hills.

Socrates, Plato, Augustine. So many came before us. So many came after them. Among us now are wise people who ponder the universe, the big question of ‘why?’ and much more. As kids we asked our parents ‘why?’ and we still do. The question is always present. A good thing, that!

We do not understand everything about life. It is elusive at best and an enigma at worst. But the question keeps us alert to the process of knowing. Knowing things. knowing why. Finding mysteries to solve. Problems to exercise the mind.

Long ago while in college – Knox College, Galesburg, Illinois, Liberal Arts – we argued the why and how and why of the world constantly. We did so at dinner table, breakfast and in the dorms. We formed discussion groups and discussed these topics, too. We read rich resource materials; we engaged faculty in these discussions, too. They were pleased to be part of it; and their smiles told us we were on the right track.

Of what? you wonder?

The struggle to understand is the core of the educational process. It is not the finding of the end result or fact that is important. No, it is the how – the process – that is the most important element.

Exercising the brain teaches it methods to use in various circumstances. It helps train the mind to process things in ways that broaden understanding of the universe. Just like we don’t know what we don’t know, we also don’t know what we do know. These two polar opposites create the tension in which education occurs.

Being told something is not the same thing as learning it. It is as simple as that. Learning a fact requires us to remember it accurately. It also challenges us to use the remembered fact well.

Life is not like that, however. Life is always changing and morphing into something else. What we knew before may not be relevant at the current moment. Discerning the differences becomes all-important.

My sister and I have long argued the role of education. She thinks of all education being vocational, that is, teaching someone how to earn a living. This mindset requires students to learn useful facts and methods to do useful things for which they are paid.

I think education’s role is to teach students how to learn so they can deal creatively with the real world and make the most of it. Finding one’s self in the process is important. We learn who we are individually so we can manage our lives well and live well with what’s important. Money is useful; but not all-important. Understanding how things work and what we can do differently with them to adapt to changing circumstances is, in my mind, much more important.

Thus, two views of education: one is vocational; the other is process.

The first teaches you something concrete that can be used to earn a living. The other teaches how the world works and how to adapt to it. From that comes endless adaption that fuels creation of useful means of creating a life in changing conditions.

Today our nation reels with recent changes in industry, technology, social interactions, and much more. Millions of jobs have disappeared. Not because they were shipped overseas, but because the usefulness of those jobs faded away. New industries appeared. New processes appeared. New technologies replaced old ones. New methods of engineering and manufacturing came into being. Old manufacturing industries continue to fade away.

People who were aware of the changes adapted to the new. Opportunities popped up and some were ready to answer the call. Many were lost in their old methods and understanding of the world. They missed the opportunity. They still do; they remain on the sidelines awaiting a return to their old job that no longer exists and will never come back.

If the worker of the past fails to learn, he doesn’t know how to adapt. That’s the vocational mindset.

The workers of the future are aware of change because they learned how to learn. They see the process. And they use it to adapt.

The America of the past has always been inventive and creative. That is the hallmark of America and its value structure of personal freedom.  Removing personal initiative and self-understanding, removes creative forces we dearly need to nurture.

Education can do that. Education does that. But it must be used properly and constructively. Not for the student, but so the student can do it for himself. Self actualizing. Creative. Discovering. Vitally developing.

Yes!

January 31, 2018