Hello.

My group of students bellieve that education is simply a matter of filling students' heads with information. I tried to convince them otherwise. After engaging in a class discussion, many still remain skeptical. I have decided to continue this discussion with my students in a future class in hopes to convince them otherwise. Does anyone have any suggestions on what the essential feature of education is and why it is significant?

Thank you for your time and appreciate your every effort to help me answer this question as best as possible.

Anne,

The reason your students believe this is because it is more than likely true. They have been taught FACT over PROCESS. Real world significance has more than likely been absent from their teachings. In many types of education the WHY is ignored or glossed over. They have been taught to shut up and learn the facts presented. Free thinking is often punished and discouraged as it "disrupts" the class. If you are in a public or parochial school, then you may be fighting an uphill battle. A Montessori type method may be the antithesis of what your kids have been taught so far. The WHY and HOW are emphasized over facts or information. Do you really need to know how to spell Albuquerque unless you live there, or do you simply need to know how to quickly find out how to spell it in certain situations?

What about the kids who have trouble sitting still. Are they actually discipline problems or do they just need to move to think? How many brilliant children drop out of school because they are not able to learn from reading a book.
But I digress.
In my opinion, the primary function of education should be to teach people how to understand, survive in, and improve the world around them. Sometimes all we have to do is LET the children do those things.

Thanks so much for your reply. I understand where you are coming from. But is there anything I can particularly talk about or further explain that will help me to convince them otherwise?

How old are these students? (That information will affect my answer.)

Anne,
There is no one size fits all answer. The answer must be tailored to each child... your child that is interested in science must learn math because she will need to be able to compute formulas or do complex measurements. Your child interested in cooking will need to learn reading because cook books are rarely sold as books on tape. Instead of trying to convince them as a whole, why not have the kids each tell about the thing they like the most, and explain how the subjects relate to them. Even the Janitor has to be able to understand chemical reaction and simple machines like the lever--how else would he move that heavy furniture. So, my suggestion would be to take a different approach. Rather than trying to convince them, turn yourself to their side and ask "Why would this be important to me if I am interested in X?" Another suggestion might be to have each student do a project. They must list their favorite interest, then trade with the person across from them. The child who has newly acquired the interest could explain how each subject would relate to that particular interest. I hope this is helpful.

Just as an aside, in middle and high school, I never thought that math was relative to me in my career goal as an artist. I am an artist now, and sure wish I had paid more attention to geometry. I paint murals and design custom childrens' rooms. I had to relearn complex geometry to be able to calculate paint usage and fabric area. No teacher was ever able to show me why I might need these things so I ignored them. They were boring because I did not understand their purpose in my life. Had I known then that I would actually have an easier time with my own interests, I would have been a much more in tune math student.