Posts on Education

I would not say that our society is one for bringing out the excellence in people
our education system for example only really focusses on learning things and writing them out again in exams
besides reading, writing and arithmetic (and memorisation) it does not teach people many skills
it is also very authoritarian and does not foster independent thought, initiative or critical thinking
so what we are really seeing when we look at humans are humans with one hand tied behind their back
I am all for education but a different kind of education that edifies people and helps them feel confident in taking on challenges and learning from mistakes (I was a piano tutor for 8 years or so and I have also been a classroom assistant)
then we will see a different kind of human being
in this day and age memorisation is really not a very important skill, because you can get all the info you need at the click of a mouse. People need skills if they want to live independent and self-responsible lives, if they want to have options instead of having to take what they can get (be it from employers, or the state.)

Higher Education is so screwed up right now that the stuff that should be considered a worthy hobby is seen as vocational; and the stuff that is actually vocational is considered to be an unworthy hobby! C'mon people we can do better in the 21st century lets teach about the Socratic question: how is a good life lived?