A very lovely piece! I am also grieving this death of this type of education.
I am living in a country that prides itself as being the social democracy dream (although there are certain areas where big government really isn’t working here which make for interesting case studies) and can confirm that social democracy requires secondary schools and universities to produce future bureaucrats who have had a strictly utilitarian kind of education, where they serve the system and don’t question it. My husband, who is very much a free thinker, had an incredibly difficult time with it and wishes he had the type of education I did in America.
I grew up going to private schools which had teachers perhaps not exactly like your professor (he sounds like one of a kind!), but who similarly taught me how to think for myself and to integrate information from multiple perspectives. I’m not sure how to give my child the same kind of education I had, especially with education deteriorating in the US.
Had an interesting exchange the other day with an engineer who replied to something I'd reposted criticizing "rote education" that learning by rote had been hugely important to his career in terms of mastering the basics to the point that they were completely ingrained like muscle memory. There definitely is a place for straight memorization, and probably especially in STEM and certain basics for younger students, and there are also a lot of literal-minded people who prefer to learn that way or can mostly only learn that way. Two of my favorite teachers in high school almost always seemed a little unfocused and off topic, which drove some of my classmates crazy, but if you were empathetically along for the ride the whole vision really came together over time. In reference to people who disproportionately likely become leaders in their fields, however, the mentality of blindly regurgitating whatever you've been told by an authority figure is a disaster. I hope your young one can find something more stimulating/rewarding than the strictly utilitarian system that you describe, or can cultivate that richer sensibility from extracurricular pursuits.
Definitely something to be said for discipline and mastery of basic concepts before moving on to deep inquiry in any field. Also something to be said for pure vocational training; people need jobs and in many cases it’s better in today’s crazy job market to have a hard skill in demand than many soft ones. But I hope there is still a place for education as a means of a deeper level of human development, whether that occurs inside formal education systems or not.
GL is the goods.
Thanks for this!
A very lovely piece! I am also grieving this death of this type of education.
I am living in a country that prides itself as being the social democracy dream (although there are certain areas where big government really isn’t working here which make for interesting case studies) and can confirm that social democracy requires secondary schools and universities to produce future bureaucrats who have had a strictly utilitarian kind of education, where they serve the system and don’t question it. My husband, who is very much a free thinker, had an incredibly difficult time with it and wishes he had the type of education I did in America.
I grew up going to private schools which had teachers perhaps not exactly like your professor (he sounds like one of a kind!), but who similarly taught me how to think for myself and to integrate information from multiple perspectives. I’m not sure how to give my child the same kind of education I had, especially with education deteriorating in the US.
Had an interesting exchange the other day with an engineer who replied to something I'd reposted criticizing "rote education" that learning by rote had been hugely important to his career in terms of mastering the basics to the point that they were completely ingrained like muscle memory. There definitely is a place for straight memorization, and probably especially in STEM and certain basics for younger students, and there are also a lot of literal-minded people who prefer to learn that way or can mostly only learn that way. Two of my favorite teachers in high school almost always seemed a little unfocused and off topic, which drove some of my classmates crazy, but if you were empathetically along for the ride the whole vision really came together over time. In reference to people who disproportionately likely become leaders in their fields, however, the mentality of blindly regurgitating whatever you've been told by an authority figure is a disaster. I hope your young one can find something more stimulating/rewarding than the strictly utilitarian system that you describe, or can cultivate that richer sensibility from extracurricular pursuits.
Definitely something to be said for discipline and mastery of basic concepts before moving on to deep inquiry in any field. Also something to be said for pure vocational training; people need jobs and in many cases it’s better in today’s crazy job market to have a hard skill in demand than many soft ones. But I hope there is still a place for education as a means of a deeper level of human development, whether that occurs inside formal education systems or not.
Huge Glenn Loury fan. I hadn't realized he had a memoir out.
I'll have to get a copy. Thanks.
Nice tribute to the influence a teacher that inspires you can have.