The Traditional Definition of 'Education' Is Fundamentally Flawed
- Rachel Denning
- Aug 20, 2019
- 3 min read
Updated: Aug 21, 2019
We've been defining education wrong for a hundred years and it's keeping our children from reaching their potential.
Most parents want to give their children the 'best education possible'.
The major challenge with this ideal is that many of them aren't quite sure what that means.
Does the 'best education possible' refer to the type of schooling, the quality of teachers, materials, or the curriculum?
It may mean different things to different people, or something else entirely.
However, there is usually one idea that most parents and teachers have in common when they refer to or define education...
An idea that is fundamentally flawed.
And that idea is to equate education with academic learning.
Whether they mean the type of schooling, the teachers, or the curriculum, the primary concern is often on teaching academics -- math, science, reading, writing, history...
Yet true education is and should be more broadly defined than that.
Ancient and modern teachers, philosophers, and thinkers view education differently than the 'masses'. Since Prussian times, the definition used in traditional schooling has been narrowed to focus on academic learning.
Learning from the past, we can see what thinkers throughout history have to say about what education truly is:
What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the soul. -- Joseph Addison, 1672-1719, English essayist, poet, playwright, politician
Education is the leading of human souls to what is best, and making what is best out of them. -- John Ruskin, 1819-1900, English writer, art critic, philanthropist
Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten. – B.F. Skinner, 1904-1990, psychologist, behaviorist, social philosopher
The great end of education is to discipline rather than to furnish the mind; to train it to the use of its own powers rather than to fill it with the accumulation of others. – Tyron Edwards, 1809-1894, theologian
When educating the minds of our youth, we must not forget to educate their hearts. -- Dalai Lama, spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism
Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or self-confidence. -- Robert Frost, 1874-1963, poet
The principle goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done. -- Jean Piaget, 1896-1980, Swiss developmental psychologist, philosopher
The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education -- Martin Luther King, Jr., 1929-1968, pastor, activist, humanitarian
It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. -- Aristotle, 384-322 BC, Greek philosopher, scientist
Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself. -- John Dewey, 1859-1952, philosopher, psychologist, education reformer
Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants. -- John W. Gardner, 1912-2002, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare under President Lyndon Johnson
The aim of education is the knowledge, not of facts, but of values. -- William S. Burroughs, 1914-1997, novelist, essayist, painter
The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives. -- Robert M. Hutchins, 1899-1977, educational philosopher
Compiled into a list, the true aim of education is:
Knowledge of values, not facts
The ability to educate yourself throughout a lifetime
Knowing how to 'grow your own flowers'
Learning from life itself
Entertaining and considering opposing ideas
Not accepting or believing everything you're taught or told
Intense and critical thinking
Character and intelligence
Capability to do and create new things (innovation)
Self-control (of body, mind, & emotions)
Self-confidence
Understanding of the heart
Becoming the best person you can be
Sculpting of the soul
Refinement and discovery of what is best and beautiful
Who we are, not what we know
With this list as our guide, it's clear that our approach to the education of our children has been off course.
If you set out to 'educate' a child by teaching them math, science, and history, you will take a very different approach than if you are trying to guide them to learn from life, develop self-control and confidence, and to understand their heart and soul.
An education of the heart and soul starts by understanding the Hero's Journey, and by helping future heroes to learn to be, learn to do, and THEN learn to know.
The flawed definition of education we've been operating with focuses mainly on the last one -- learn to know. This is a backwards approach to how humans naturally grow and develop.
As we focus instead on guiding our children and students to learn to be and learn to do, they will prepare themselves to learn to know. They will decide the facts, figures, and information they need and want to learn in order to BE and DO.
This approach helps our children to become all they are capable of becoming -- to reach their full potential and become their very best self, prepared to live a life of meaning, purpose, and contribution.
Measuring education through memorization and test scores has always felt like judging a fish by its ability to climb a tree and your article really articulates why this model keeps failing learners who think differently. Creativity, emotional intelligence and problem solving are the skills that actually shape successful adults but the system barely makes room for them. Talking to a team we recently hire children's book writers in usa for our publishing project showed me how many of them struggled in traditional school yet became incredible storytellers through self driven learning and curiosity. The definition of education needs to expand way beyond what fits inside a classroom wall.
Well written post ! We believe One of our most important lessons was changing our mindset of who we are and what we do. software development company in Dubai
Traditional education measuring intelligence purely through grades and standardized tests has always felt like an incomplete picture of what a person is actually capable of. Real learning happens through experience, failure and curiosity, none of which fit neatly into a classroom model. I felt this gap most clearly when I went through forklift training for individual certification, where two days of hands on practice taught me more about spatial awareness and machine operation than any manual ever could have. The system needs to evolve around how people actually learn, not around how easy it is to measure them.
This is an interesting subject because challenging the usual idea of education allows for more open and adaptable learning methods. Education is usually seen as just school, but it also involves self-improvement, thinking deeply, being creative, and learning from life. Many students use assignment help services in Ireland to organize their ideas and share them well. I believe that by broadening our view of education and explaining it better, we can create more valuable and effective learning.
I appreciate how clearly you explain the concept of education and its importance in shaping futures. It’s as helpful and insightful as using a Graduate CV services in Ireland to build a strong and professional career profile.