PHENOMA practical book for schools 2019 PHENOMA practical book for schools 2019 | Page 77

“The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives.”
~Robert M. Hutchins, educational philosopher
What common threads repeat in the quotations?
1. Education is much more than book knowledge. With all kinds of information just a Google
search away, being able to memorize and recite long lists of facts is not going to impress
anybody anymore. The real goal of education, either formal or informal, is to develop your full
potential, to teach you to look at everything with curiosity and an open mind, and to combine
your critical thinking with creativity so you can find new and better ways to solve complex
problems. Education also includes work ethics, manners, negotiation skills and interpersonal
skills.
2. Education is not the same as schooling. Your school years will be over soon. Eventually, you
will graduate and move on to have a life and career. But true education never ends and is not
limited to school. Every experience that you have, everything that happens to you can be
educational, if you choose to learn from it.
The above conclusions resonate with Paideia Principles. ‘Education is never completed in school or higher
institutions of learning, but is a lifelong process of maturity for all citizens’.
Teachers and educators are not just the providers of knowledge which is than absorbed by
students.
Learning is a complex process which must engage the learner. In education this engagement
refers to the degree of attention, curiosity, interest, optimism, and passion that students show
when they are learning or being taught. This engagement then naturally leads to motivation to
learn. In consequence , students become self-directed. It means they can monitor their own progress
and are able to reflect on their learning based on mastery of content.
In our project work we discussed lots of problems and challenges which stand in the way of effective
education. We are far away from dismissing the criticism. On the contrary, we believe that our