Education, education, education

Here I have compiled my main blog postings concerning education. It was Tony Blair who coined the phrase “education, education, education” when declaring his government’s priorities. While there was much I disagreed with Blair on, the sentiment he expressed is one that personally resonated. Education is one of my life’s passions and I am of the view that to be educated is a noble pursuit, as is being an educator. Teaching in secondary school was my first job and at the outset of my working life that was what I wanted to do. Circumstances meant it didn’t quite go as planned but even outside of school teaching, I have found many opportunities to teach and still do. I am proud to hold three degrees. I have a first degree in the sciences and one in the arts; I have a higher degree in education.

I take my inspiration in part from one Dr. Samuel Johnson, who considered it good to aspire to be a “man of letters” and be able to master a whole range of subjects. I fear our education system is too much about passing exams and being trained to do a job. I believe education should have social, practical, aesthetic, physical and spiritual aspects as well as merely academic and is something we should be attending to throughout our life. I also believe those being taught should be told pertinent facts, given the tools to interpret facts void of indoctrination and encouraged to question everything. While education doesn’t make one wise, done properly it can go a long way. In my blogging, there has been a bias toward addressing that which relates to schools, and that especially interests me, but I recognize a lot of education takes place outside of schools.

Some of my reflections on educational issues relate to other pet subjects: truth, culture wars and social justice. I fear our children are not always given the best deal and as a society we don’t value education enough. Ironically, we live in a society that thinks it is smart but has become dumbed down through lack of education. This is not helped by those who provide information, e.g. mainstream media, lie. I hope the insights offered here will prove helpful.

Book 4: Last updated 30/10/17