What's in an education?

It's about how to think, not about how to do.

By Rodger Lewis
May 20, 2008

» Discuss Article (6 Comments)

Esther Jantzen's article, "Literacy begins at home" provides an excellent explanation of what parents can't or won't do by themselves.

However, I greatly fear that, unlike Alexander Pope's warning that "a little learning is a dangerous thing," our leadership prefers a little learning, but not too much. American consumerism supports the oligarchic wealth that rules this country. And a truly well-educated majority, well-versed in history, might threaten the "greed is good" axiom that has enslaved so many by seductive credit options.

There is another, perhaps more obvious problem that consistently hampers a real education in this country: To my knowledge, we have never had a serious national debate on just what constitutes a good education. Nineteenth century English poet and school inspector Matthew Arnold and contemporary American educational theorist Robert Hutchins had it right when they, in different ways, maintained that an Education (with a capital "E") involved acquaintance with the best that has been thought and said in the world. That is, Education comes from being informed about history and the world of ideas. A society so educated is well equipped to deal with the problems of a rapidly changing world. Instead, we have made education a job-training exercise at all levels, including, most perilously, in higher education. Course work requiring analysis and original critiques of ideas has all but disappeared from curricula.

Learning "how to do" is fine, but it is not a substitute for "how to think." If we are seriously pursuing literacy for more people, let us do this with a higher purpose than training for whatever is hot in the job market.

Rodger Lewis was a librarian at Cal Poly San Luis Obispo. He is retired and resides in Florida.

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1. Teaching kids factoids only makes sense if we expect them to grow up and win on Jeopardy. We need less standardized tests and more analytical thinking and writing. All of the schools that I know of now spend 2 to 3 months preparing their students for standardized tests as if they are important skills or knowledge to have.
Submitted by: Rep. Mike
5:00 PM PDT, May 20, 2008

2. Education, what is it? I'm now a student at SDSU and I have long thought about this question. The answer may depend on the type of class you're taking. For example, if you are taking a math or english class, it is a class to actually teach the student to do something. Some classes teach the student basic fundamental concepts. For classes that teach how to think, there are critical thinking classes like philosophy 100 which teach those fundamentals. Some classes have a mixture of both. But both are a necessary part of education.
Submitted by: Michael White
4:28 PM PDT, May 20, 2008

3. The best explanation yet as they are "predatory oligarchical capitalists masquerading as philanthropists". The two tier systems are in operation in Chicago, The Louisianna Recovery School District and coming to L.A. through Villagairosa and his non-accountable private forces. After all our reform board's reform program is to give the district away because they are incapable of managing it. Why is the public taking this charade?
Submitted by: accountability
1:16 PM PDT, May 20, 2008

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