Lifelong Learner

Lifelong learner.  That has such a nice sound and brings to mind such a wonderful picture of people constantly at awe and treasuring each and every new discovery.  How can we possible get to that place?

I must admit that at this point in time, I lean toward Horace Mann’s vision of education.  By providing a common curriculum to students, they have the opportunity to become successful American citizens.  I agree that learning the same body of knowledge teaches the same body of values, those being American values.  I agree that a broad base education gives students the opportunity for social mobility.  Although it has been noted that universal education led to a discrepancy between parents’ and their children’s attitudes & values, I do not believe that this is necessarily a bad thing.  Students are presented with the same information and then asked to form their own opinion about it.  This allows students to become independent thinkers and not just regurgitate what they hear either from their parents or their teachers in school. 

I think a combination of approaches at different ages could provide an overall better education.  At lower levels, I think the universal approach is most appropriate.  Let’s face it, students can not go on and investigate what interests them if they can not read.  All students need the same foundation of reading, writing – that being the process of putting thoughts down on paper in a coherent manner  not penmanship- and arithmetic.  I think through the middle grades kids should be exposed to all sorts of topics.  If a student finds a subject which interests him, he will most likely always be interested in it.  He should not stop there but continue to explore.  As much as he may enjoy trains, once he learns about planes and flight, he may have a new love.  In the upper grades as students prepare to head to college, trade school or the workforce, education could become more interest led.

I do believe that at any age, technology must play a role.  It is simply how knowledge is now acquired.  There is no denying this.  As the students progress through their years of school, the technology will change but it will never cease to exist.  To ignore that fact is not doing the students justice in their education.  I am just hesitant to give complete control of the direction of education to the individual students.