I Learned…
I learned that the education system we use today was shaped by many over hundreds of years. I learned that the essay “What Knowledge is of Most Worth” was published in 1859 by Herbert Spencer. Herbert Spencer wrote that we should be preparing students for complete living. He thought that the best way to prepare for the future was to teach with an emphasis on the Sciences. I am not completely sold on this point of view, but other ideas of Spencer’s are appealing to me. Spencer thought that students should not be passive acceptors of their educations, but rather active creators of knowledge. At the time Spencer’s ideas were extreme and radical. Today active, creative, inquiry based education is the norm; Thank goodness!
References
Ellis lecture, What Knowledge is of Most Worth, 2011
