In your opinion, what should the purpose of education be? | A conversation
Portland, ME
United States
Founder/ Director, Treehouse Institute
This conversation is closed.
In your opinion, what should the purpose of education be?
Education is a prominent cultural institution used to perpetuate the prevailing values of a society.
Our modern education system has a sordid past largely rooted in industrialism. It's aim is to produce economically viable products--employable citizens. Nearly all our tweaks to the system in the last 100+ years are simply attempts to ensure that the products (graduates) are prepared for the work force.
I want to hear from YOU as I believe this conversation is crucial to lay a foundation to create significant and meaningful change.
Here is my answer:
I believe that education should be an empowering process that allows and guides children to develop their passions, critical thinking, compassion, and orientation towards wisdom for timely action.
In other words, self-cultivation should be the purpose of education. Understanding self-cultivation in terms of being a part of a unified field of relationships is key to the growth of a mature culture of peace. When the natural web of our relationships is used to strengthen our depth of knowledge, the feedback from the environment supports timely adjustments and refinements in our emotional and technical developments.
For this conversation, please focus on the question "in your opinion, what should the purpose of education be?"
We'll talk about the "how" in another conversation.
Related Talks:
Closing Statement from Adam Burk
Thank you all for joining this conversation. There are beautiful aspirations here of bringing for the best of humanity through the development of individuals, married with tensions to ensure that society is served and supported and that the basics are not overlooked.
There are currently 365 comments and 365 distinct articulations of "what the purpose of education should be." The process to develop a consensus on this is beyond the scope and purpose of this conversation. However, I do hope that it is understood that this question and its answer are the shapers of education systems and in turn cultures.
And so I invite you to ponder the question Thomas Brucia raised earlier, "Who should decide what the purpose of education is? /conversations/8190/who_should_decide_what_the_pur.html
Once we decide who should be making that decision then we can return to my original question and ultimately re-inventing education.
Thank you all again for sharing of your selves.Last I looked, Elon Musk was a clear winner of
Personally, I admire successful creators, scientists, and entrepreneurs a great deal, and Musk fits into those directions very well.
Still, the very top of my personal list would be shaped more by how much individuals had sacrificed.
Let me throw out a few options:
1. The members of the Mexican judiciary who have stood up to the drug gangs, often at the expense of their lives.
They believed in a better future for Mexico and I think eventually they will triumph.
2. Public health professionals who work under great hardship in difficult places, for years, to limit malaria or the spread of Ebola.
In addition to questionable living conditions, they often face high health risks themselves.
3. How about , who endured about fifteen years of prison to help bring greater liberty to Myanmar?
4. At a smaller scale, how about individuals who volunteer to work in the burn unit at the hospital?
That has to be fairly icky labor, yet as medical care it can be effective.
You can do variants on my 1-4, but I would start with examples such as those.
Not at the very top of my list, but I also would think about good parents who work as primary caregivers.
If we are restricted to political/public figures, I would opt for Ben Bernanke.
Overall I was surprised how few of you approached the question the way I have, rather as a group you picked too many nerdy white guys.
Now I don’t like to play “the PC card,” and if a process generates a lot of nerdy white guys, I don’t then assume that process is necessarily biased or requiring correction.
Still, the fact that my list creates so much room for women (and non-whites) suggests it reflects the universality of human experience more than what most of you came up with.
It is also notable how few of you picked entertainers or sports figures, as such individuals have figured prominently on such lists in the past (see my ).
In 1971 a lot of people would have said “John Lennon,” and in his day Ted Williams placed high in such surveys.
These days, for better or worse, the tech world and politics seem to exercise a stronger hold on our imaginations, all the more among MR readers I suspect.
Addendum: Here is .
Our Web Pages
Contact Us
Interesting People and Sites
Recent Posts
Supporters
CategoriesCategories
Select Category
Books&&(2,134)
Current Affairs&&(2,653)
Data Source&&(1,250)
Economics&&(8,193)
Education&&(1,656)
Film&&(417)
Food and Drink&&(851)
Games&&(205)
History&&(1,562)
Law&&(1,625)
Medicine&&(1,039)
Music&&(396)
Philosophy&&(638)
Political Science&&(1,672)
Religion&&(348)
Science&&(1,377)
Sports&&(361)
Television&&(200)
The Arts&&(451)
Travel&&(215)
Travels&&(241)
Uncategorized&&(3,098)
Web/Tech&&(1,774)
Weblogs&&(105)
Select Month
April 2015
March 2015
February 2015
January 2015
December 2014
November 2014
October 2014
September 2014
August 2014
April 2014
March 2014
February 2014
January 2014
December 2013
November 2013
October 2013
September 2013
August 2013
April 2013
March 2013
February 2013
January 2013
December 2012
November 2012
October 2012
September 2012
August 2012
April 2012
March 2012
February 2012
January 2012
December 2011
November 2011
October 2011
September 2011
August 2011
April 2011
March 2011
February 2011
January 2011
December 2010
November 2010
October 2010
September 2010
August 2010
April 2010
March 2010
February 2010
January 2010
December 2009
November 2009
October 2009
September 2009
August 2009
April 2009
March 2009
February 2009
January 2009
December 2008
November 2008
October 2008
September 2008
August 2008
April 2008
March 2008
February 2008
January 2008
December 2007
November 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
December 2006
November 2006
October 2006
September 2006
August 2006
April 2006
March 2006
February 2006
January 2006
December 2005
November 2005
October 2005
September 2005
August 2005
April 2005
March 2005
February 2005
January 2005
December 2004
November 2004
October 2004
September 2004
August 2004
April 2004
March 2004
February 2004
January 2004
December 2003
November 2003
October 2003
September 2003
August 2003