Education is a battleground in the public realm. This is true for a very good reason. Education is worth fighting for because it is the way we pass on our way of life. It is how we prepare the next generation to assume the burdens of responsibility and leadership.
We want to thank Marc Abear for this Op-Ed. Please submit Yours to Editor@GraniteGrok.com.
What is success in education? Do we really have free will? Is life but a quest for power after power? Can we escape the conventions of our time? Is there a God … and if there is, what does He require of us? Does education depend on our moral formation? What is the effect of education on life?
Does good education translate into better public discourse? If it does, how do we explain the battle America is engaged in today? What is education? Do we need to be instructed by others to take a full part in human life? Is there something in human nature that urges some to instruct? Are the instructors tolerated or necessary? Are there parts of the soul of the individual in need of guidance?
Then there are the questions of the best means to use to provide instruction. What is the goal of education? Is it the accumulation of mountains of facts? Is it the organization of facts? Maybe it is an analysis of organized facts? But what good is there in any of that sans communication?
How do we put education into perspective? Is that something best left to education experts?
I think not.
Education is nothing more or less than a social tool. It is the common acceptance of the premise: Aiding the young in acquiring skills is beneficial to us all. Is the industrial model viable? How about optimal?
Like all tools, education can be used for good or for evil. Education, for all the faux expertise it shrouds itself with; it is nothing more and nothing less than what we make it. It is more dependent on curiosity than dollars. It is aided more by interest than by organizational theory. Education today is a battleground…
Ask yourself: why?
