The Legacy
Education’s legacy is hope…
freedom…
and the power to change the world.
May we bequeath this inheritance to our children…
“He who opens a school door, closes a prison.”
Victor Hugo
“Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom.”
George Washington Carver
“Education is the most power weapon which you can use to change the world.”
Nelson Mandela
“Education is the transmission of civilization.”
Will Durant
The Experience Journey
I knew a great deal at 18 and even more when I was 21. By the time I reached 25, I was not quite as certain. That was the age when I realized experience was the mechanism for integrating knowledge. And that was when the journey began…
“I think everyone should go to college and get a degree and then spend six months as a bartender and six months as a cabdriver. Then they would really be educated.”
Al McGuire – Coach/Basketball Hall of Fame 1992
“The great difficult in education is to get experience out of ideas.”
George Santayana – Philosopher
Education – Are we still learning?
“Why should society feel responsible only for the education of children, and not for the education of all adults of every age?”
Erich Fromm
Schools and universities have a mandate to educate. To that end, they have created measurements systems and standardized tests to quantify whether or not learning has occurred.
As adults, how do we know we are still learning?
Education & Learning – Are they the same?
“The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.”
Albert Einstein
“We have sold ourselves into a fast food model of education, and it’s impoverishing our spirit and our energies as much as fast food is depleting our physical bodies.”
Sir Ken Robinson
The age old debate of whether education and learning are the same is gaining momentum. Never before has education been so valuable and yet, whether learning has occurred is now being questioned. We have the technology that allows us to communicate and transfer knowledge across the globe in a matter of seconds; the possibilities for advancement are virtually limitless. Yet, in our dangerously divided world, this potential can only be realized when our learning institutions raise the hopes and spirits of humanity. Only then can we, as a global community, learn to seek peaceful solutions, embrace diversity and experience a renaissance.
Education – The Gift of Life
“Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.”
John Dewey
The measure of any civilization is how they transfer knowledge from generation to generation. A culture that grants exclusive knowledge rights to their chosen elite will never experience long term well-being or sustainability. Education breathes life into a society that believes everyone should be endowed with the gift of learning.
I want to live where I can breathe the air of life-long learning. What better place than within our blogger community?
The Mark of an Education
“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.”
Aristotle
Just a question – has anyone figured out how to do this?
Education – Does it Matter?
My son is in the middle of his university mid-terms. As I watch him study, his brows drawn in concentration, I am reminded that learning is a complex and multi-dimensional activity that demands our full and unequivocal involvement. Even the most brilliant have moments of doubt and uncertainty. Memorizing and repetitive training may generate a “good mark” which provides a small measure of comfort, even arrogance in some cases. Yet, integrating learning into our thoughts, goals, desires and life strategies, takes creativity, ingenuity and intuitive imagination. This week will spotlight education from the perspective of individual effort and life-long learning. Who better to start off the discussion than Benjamin Franklin and Alvin Toffler – two men from different centuries, who saw the future with clear and steadfast eyes.
“An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.”
Benjamin Franklin
“The illiterate of the future will not be the person who cannot read. It will be the person who does not know how to learn.”
Alvin Toffler
The things one wants to know…
“I wish life was not so short, he thought. Languages take such a time, and so do all the things one wants to know about.”
J. R. R. Tolkien
Knowledge is increasing exponentially – everyone agrees. Whether wisdom is growing at the same rate, is another matter altogether.
We have so much to learn in so little time. It makes life both exciting and frustrating. Perhaps this dynamic duo may be what keeps us moving forward. We have no time for regrets….
Education & Experience
“Education is when you read the fine print. Experience is what you get if your don’t” Pete Seeger
Sometimes I have time to read the fine print and sometimes my only available option is to embrace experience as a teacher.
Pete Seeger used the power of song to inspire peace. His protest music in support of international disarmament, civil rights and environmental causes continues to resonate in a new generation of peace seekers.
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time passing
Where have all the flowers gone?
Long time ago…
Pete Seeger - American folk singer and an iconic figure in the mid-20th-century American folk music revival.
Freedom
Epictetus: Born a slave – passionate about philosophy – died a free man. He lived life simply, yet his words were sought after by eminent figures including the Emperor Hadrian, who was best known for building a wall in which marked the northern limit of Roman Britain.
I was born free…
May I seek out knowledge with the same passion as Epictetus…
“Only the educated are free.”
Epictetus (AD 55 – AD 135)
