Correctly done, education gives the child the basic knowledge and skills they will need in life – and the skills to deal with adversity and change. This starts with a heavy emphasis on reading, writing and math, as these are the foundations upon which all other learning is built. However, these Basics need to be taught properly with a step-by-step, gradual approach that enables the child to feel a sense of achievement at each stage. Just as a stable, loving home will allow them to develop emotionally, so will a rock-solid base of reading, writing and math allow them to develop intellectually.
With a solid foundation of the Basics, the next step is to teach the child how to study properly – not so they can pass a test – but so they can understand and apply what they have learned. We are educating, not indoctrinating. We don’t want our students just to be able to parrot a bunch of facts – real knowledge is certainty. We want them to be certain about what they know and how they can use it – but also to be aware enough of what they don’t know, and to have the study skills and curiosity to find out for themselves.
It is this that will give students the self confidence – built upon real knowledge and real accomplishment – that they can think for themselves. An education based on these ideas will do more than anything else to protect our children from false information, group think, and propaganda, and to prepare them for change.
To answer the question we asked at the beginning: probably there can never be an end goal of education, as every person will need to become a life-long learner to cope with the changes that are coming. However, maybe we can narrow our terms and look for an end goal of schooling.
If a student can maintain his inquisitiveness and interest and has the desire, skills and confidence to learn anything easily, and then is able to apply what he has learned, perhaps that should be the end of schooling for him. He is then in a position to continue his education on his own terms and towards his own goals, whether in higher education or his chosen profession.
Life can sometimes be hard and is very often not fair, and change can certainly be difficult. But if our kids know that hard work and education can overcome the obstacles they may face, they will have a tremendous advantage. In fact, their success and happiness are dependent on how well they can do so.
