- #1
Dissident Dan
- 238
- 2
People often complain about inequalities and inadequacies in education, and they are right. They complain about the disadvantages that children in poor and unstable areas often face, and they are right. When you hear of some wonderful teacher doing something miraculous to increase the quality of the education of some group of children, you might hear praise for how that teacher gave the students a future.
This is an admirable feat, and it is something to strive for. But I believe that what people are focusing on, what the education allows the students to do, is too narrow. There should be more. The goals of education should not solely be to allow people high-paying jobs, but to provide tools for critical decision making so that they may not only make good decisions for themselves, but for others their decisions affect, as well. I think that this civic ethic and logic in education are very much lacking.
Our decisions, individually and/or collectively affect ourselves, those near us, and people whom we've never met (generally, the less close the relationship, the more collective the effect is). Take, for example, representative government. The effects of governmental actions spread far and wide, and the make-up of the government is affected by average joe-schmoe. Our philosophical decisions can also have profound effects on how we live our lives, yet many people do not seem to have a natural propensity for logic and have not been adequately educated in logic--and logical abilities are paramount for philosophical inquiry.
I desire to see a society of rational, concerned, and informed decision-makers, and I think that education should serve as more than a system of job preparation. Any opinions?
This is an admirable feat, and it is something to strive for. But I believe that what people are focusing on, what the education allows the students to do, is too narrow. There should be more. The goals of education should not solely be to allow people high-paying jobs, but to provide tools for critical decision making so that they may not only make good decisions for themselves, but for others their decisions affect, as well. I think that this civic ethic and logic in education are very much lacking.
Our decisions, individually and/or collectively affect ourselves, those near us, and people whom we've never met (generally, the less close the relationship, the more collective the effect is). Take, for example, representative government. The effects of governmental actions spread far and wide, and the make-up of the government is affected by average joe-schmoe. Our philosophical decisions can also have profound effects on how we live our lives, yet many people do not seem to have a natural propensity for logic and have not been adequately educated in logic--and logical abilities are paramount for philosophical inquiry.
I desire to see a society of rational, concerned, and informed decision-makers, and I think that education should serve as more than a system of job preparation. Any opinions?