(article ) What is Education?

EDUCATION – as if our lives depended on it

This is the full text of the draft of my book, Education – as if our lives depended on it

Prologue

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 EDUCATION As if our lives depended on it R. Graham Oliver  © R. Graham Oliver, 2018 The prologue is a preliminary opening up of the educational problematic. The full scale of our issues aren’t visible in this small beginning. Because we are so unused to thinking very deeply about education and the ethical enormity of […]

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 EDUCATION As if our lives depended on it R. Graham Oliver  © R. Graham Oliver, 2018 The prologue is a preliminary opening up of the educational problematic. The full scale of our issues aren’t visible in this small beginning. Because we are so unused to thinking very deeply about education and the ethical enormity of

What is education? Chapter 1

Chapter 1: What is education?

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Part 1: What is Education? Chapter 1 . Introduction: What is education? This chapter explains the difference between education and schooling. It proposes that the purpose of education to to enable learners to develop their own good life, which inevitably has much to do with defining a good society. Anything less than giving priority to

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Part 1: What is Education? Chapter 1 . Introduction: What is education? This chapter explains the difference between education and schooling. It proposes that the purpose of education to to enable learners to develop their own good life, which inevitably has much to do with defining a good society. Anything less than giving priority to

Chapter 2: Our store of educational ideas

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    Vocational training has competed with education, right from the origins of education itself. Jobs should be subordinate to questions of living well. But vocational preparation so often wins out over what we need in order to achieve a good life. The only way that education can compete with vocational training is for us

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    Vocational training has competed with education, right from the origins of education itself. Jobs should be subordinate to questions of living well. But vocational preparation so often wins out over what we need in order to achieve a good life. The only way that education can compete with vocational training is for us

Chapter 3: The anatomy of respect

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Chapter 3:The anatomy of respect The justifications that are offered for education are invariably too vague to stand as decision-making principles – or to hold individuals and institutions accountable. Expanding on the idea that education needs to be justified by the worth of the person forces us to remarkable conclusions This chapter explains the structure

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Chapter 3:The anatomy of respect The justifications that are offered for education are invariably too vague to stand as decision-making principles – or to hold individuals and institutions accountable. Expanding on the idea that education needs to be justified by the worth of the person forces us to remarkable conclusions This chapter explains the structure

The practice of self-respect

Chapter 4: The practice of self-respect

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Chapter 4: The practice of self-respect Our respect for ourselves needs to be expressed in our action – towards developing and living good lives. This is a difficult undertaking, and to do it, there is much to learn. This chapter on respect is concerned with how to respect ourselves through learning and growing, including the

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Chapter 4: The practice of self-respect Our respect for ourselves needs to be expressed in our action – towards developing and living good lives. This is a difficult undertaking, and to do it, there is much to learn. This chapter on respect is concerned with how to respect ourselves through learning and growing, including the

Chapter 5: The Love model

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Chapter 5: The “love” model Here is the “love” model; a way of thinking about ethical agreements. The model changes the usual assumptions of self-interest that lie behind negotiation and compromise, enabling an almost unlimited incorporation of interests. The “love model” is an alternative description of the “Golden Rule”, and we can use these to

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Chapter 5: The “love” model Here is the “love” model; a way of thinking about ethical agreements. The model changes the usual assumptions of self-interest that lie behind negotiation and compromise, enabling an almost unlimited incorporation of interests. The “love model” is an alternative description of the “Golden Rule”, and we can use these to

Education needs a Copernican Revolution

Chapter 6: The need for a Copernican revolution in educational thinking

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Part 2: Taking Respect Seriously Chapter 6: The need for a Copernican Revolution in educational thinking   We need a Copernican Revolution in our educational thinking if “education” is ever to be worthy of the name. We are obsessed with schooling. Education and schooling are spoken of interchangeably, despite the fact that everyone knows that

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Part 2: Taking Respect Seriously Chapter 6: The need for a Copernican Revolution in educational thinking   We need a Copernican Revolution in our educational thinking if “education” is ever to be worthy of the name. We are obsessed with schooling. Education and schooling are spoken of interchangeably, despite the fact that everyone knows that

Chapter 7: “Its all too big!”

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Chapter 7: “It’s all too big!”   Faced with the big picture of education, many people experience overwhelm. It is all too big! But that is what climbing out of a box involves. Abandoning comfort. We can only enjoy that comfort by hiding from the serious disrespect that restricting education to schooling enables; the Wild

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Chapter 7: “It’s all too big!”   Faced with the big picture of education, many people experience overwhelm. It is all too big! But that is what climbing out of a box involves. Abandoning comfort. We can only enjoy that comfort by hiding from the serious disrespect that restricting education to schooling enables; the Wild

Chapter 8: The proper educational motivation

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Chapter 8: The Proper Educational Motivation   Conventional (factory) schooling converts natural interest and passion into common extrinsic reward and fear, stifling true educational motivation. Educational motivation only connects accidentally. This prepares students to move into the workforce; for the second-hand reward of money, and personal satisfaction is a bonus – or faked. Or at

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Chapter 8: The Proper Educational Motivation   Conventional (factory) schooling converts natural interest and passion into common extrinsic reward and fear, stifling true educational motivation. Educational motivation only connects accidentally. This prepares students to move into the workforce; for the second-hand reward of money, and personal satisfaction is a bonus – or faked. Or at

The Toyota System for education

Chapter 9: The “Toyota System” in education

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Chapter 9: The “Toyota System” in education   Ever wondered, after cramming for that test, how much you would recall in a year’s time? “Use it or lose it”. John Holt made the point, long ago, that you should learn what you need to learn when you need to learn it. This is illustrated well

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Chapter 9: The “Toyota System” in education   Ever wondered, after cramming for that test, how much you would recall in a year’s time? “Use it or lose it”. John Holt made the point, long ago, that you should learn what you need to learn when you need to learn it. This is illustrated well