What is the purpose of education? A friend of mine was with me and shared her anxiety over her children’s education. The kids are ready to move to school – to the mad scramble of life. Like that song goes in 3 idiots, ‘…saari umra bhar mar mar ke ji liye – ab to hume jeene do…’
She shared as to how she took the plunge to put her little ones in an alternative education school. A school that teaches that education is not about learning to read and write, but about exploring. Where children for the first 3 years learn to be with nature – with home – with all the things we do at home – with sound, with art, with play. And only later on, do they migrate to learning how to write the A-B-C and the 1-2-3. And se is worried; because, her friends come and ask, ‘Oh, did you get the new counting book? I’ve got different coloured pens for my son so that he develops an interest in writing.’
Upon some probing, I figured out her clarity. When I asked her, ‘What is the purpose of education according to you?’ she replied with, ‘…to be able to find happiness in life…’
And indeed such a fine answer. A few days ago, I too had been thinking something like that. What is education after all? Is it about knowing facts or learning how to find the facts? As JK (most likely) said, ‘I shall not teach you philosophy, but I shall teach you to philosophise.’ Thus, is knowledge education? Is 'knowing' facts, the names and places education? Is thought education? Or is the ability to think education?
If I look back at it, I feel that despite a blessedness of growing up, I still did not grow up educated. I ‘know’ a lot and that is a hindrance to my learning. It is a hindrance to my being. The holistic organismic being that I am. Do I have thoughts? Yes. Do I know how to think? Maybe. Have I learnt how to think and what is the best means of thinking? No. And to that extent, my life is poor. It is limited – by the limitedness of my own knowledge – of my own thoughts.
They say that this would fall under the topic of ‘philosophy of education’. But after all, is learning to learn not the biggest learning of life? And how I wish I was taught that. Today, I feel lucky that I at least have this realization of my ignorance – but the weight of this ignorance lies heavily on me. there is a stage in life, when one learns to question – to question what he/she has and what is considered the given. And is that not the purpose of education – to question the givens and to strive to find your own purpose and meaning.
But is purpose and meaning in life not pre-ordained? To a certain extent? Pre-ordained not necessarily by the cosmic or the divine, but by my own limitations of understanding? And if that is so, then is it not a conundrum – that brings me back to the question, ‘what is the purpose of education?’
Tuesday, January 5, 2010
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