What is education for?

[Dave2002]

Hinted at, but not followed up, on another thread.

[ardcarp]

For passing exams, of course.

I can't remember whether it was Eisenck or Binet who, when asked 'What exactly is IQ ?' replied, 'It's what my tests measure.'

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Life.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Sharing.

[vinteuil]

.

... who do we see as 'paying' for this education? If it is the state / society / taxpayer / public - then "society &c" might wish to have a say in what they are paying for. In other words, you have to encompass some instrumental thinking as well as idealist utopian dreaming. And then the question becomes a political / democratic issue, in terms of what kind of future members of society should be nurtured. How do we ensure that not only do we have enuff surgeons / bassoonists / candlestick makers, but that they are, as far as is possible, fully rounded, developed to the best of their potential, surgeons, bassoonists, &c, &c....

(If it's a matter of private schooling, presumably the parents are sole arbiters.)


.

[Dave2002]

That went well!

[ardcarp]

Sorry Dave. I guess you think some of our replies are cynical/flippant. Guilty as charged. Actually, your OP is quite a big ask. I'll maybe mull it over a bit and try to contribute something as profound as a Bear with a Very Small Brain can.

[pastoralguy]

Economic growth?

[Pulcinella]

Amongst other things, to help us learn from the mistakes of previous generations.
Sadly, we don't seem to be very good at it.

[Richard Barrett]

This https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U is worth 11 minutes and 40 seconds of anyone's time.

[Sir Velo]

Amongst other things, to help us learn from the mistakes of previous generations.
Sadly, we don't seem to be very good at it.

The one lesson of history is no one ever learns from history.

[Dave2002]

Sorry Dave. I guess you think some of our replies are cynical/flippant. Guilty as charged. Actually, your OP is quite a big ask. I'll maybe mull it over a bit and try to contribute something as profound as a Bear with a Very Small Brain can.

OK. I’ll add a cynical one of my own.

To keep teachers in a job

Keep ‘em coming.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

To keep teachers in a job

That - along with keeping most kids off the streets - might well be what schools are for; but that presupposes that what goes on in schools is somehow concerned with "education".


(You call your post "cynical"?! Spend time with anyone who has spent a third of a century working in the institutions and you'll quickly realize that you're the epitome of charity, Dave.)

[Mary Chambers]

For enriching the one life you have, and for passing on to your children if you have any.

[Lat-Literal]

The schooling requirement in the modern age is principally one of assimilation. Possibly the most interesting aspect is the framework for defining acceptable levels of rebellion so that rebellion is simply an extension of social conformity. "We don't need no education, we don't need no thought control". On the surface, this is the epitome of the unacceptable. In reality such sentiments are actively encouraged for they represent conflict which for some reason is a social requirement of adults. What is actually unacceptable is non-attendance.

For a fuller understanding of this quaint phenomenon, just two points need to be borne in mind. One, in order to make a new law one effectively has to break an old law so the law makers are also habitual law breakers. Two, in order to enforce the law, you have to pretend that everything preceding it even if it occurred yesterday was always totally irrelevant.