the uses of education

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DdNAUJWJN08#!]

Noam Chomsky is not someone i always take at face value.  he often makes broad proclamations that are hard to refute, but also hard to believe.  that being said, i think this is an interesting video exploring the purpose of education.  a few of my notes:

from the Enlightenment tradition: inquire, create, search the riches of the past and carry on the quest for understanding.  the purpose of education then is to teach students how to learn on their own

debt traps us in conformity

science is always based on questioning

a framework can help us choose what is significant when doing research and give us a concept of what matters

searching, inquiring, pursuing topics that excite and engage us

to discover on their own, challenge if they don’t agree, look for alternatives, to work through the great achievements of the past

helping students learn on their own because that’s what they’ll be doing for the rest of their lives

i came across this video via the good work of the people at Brain Pickings.