My
grandpa said the same thing but differently. People cannot be fully educated until they can make something with
their own hands. My grandpa was a farmer. He was not a college graduate.
But he could repair any mechanical system like a tractor or car. He could also
repair living systems too, like his animals. Or even a child’s broken heart.
He
was both schooled and educated. Having children still in school, I worried
about their education. School is good at schooling. Educating, on the other
hand, is lacking in school. To be successful in school requires successful time
management – be somewhere at a certain time; complete a task by a certain
deadline, etc. There is a premium on timeliness in schools. I guess time
management is important, but is it related to becoming educated?
Our
small family spent a few days in the Ozarks on the lake. The rental house sat
right on the water and there was a dock just out the back door for fishing and
hanging out. It was a bit too cold for swimming. My oldest son spent a lot of
his time on that dock fishing. It was his first time specifically fishing for
catfish. Fishing for catfish requires a particular strategy.
He
was taught about different hooks, baits and how to set up and watch his pole.
Also, there is much learning about what to do after getting a bite, bringing
the fish in, and handling it so he or the fish are not harmed or more harmed.
He caught several catfish and a couple turtles. I feel comfortable to say that
he was well educated during those days on that dock. And the educational processes
were exciting to him. He wanted to learn. He was up early and out the door each
morning, learning and becoming educated.
This
was not school – this was education. Had this been designed and carried out by
his school with a project wrapped around it – I suspect…it would have…well…sucked!
School would have killed the creative process of education. Who explains this
better is Ken Robinson. If interested, please watch his brief discussion in
link below. http://www.ted.com/talks/ken_robinson_says_schools_kill_creativity.html
Mark
twain also said something like…the person who does not read is equal to the
person who cannot read. If you are like
me, picky about reading, please let me recommend an outstanding book. Or better
yet, and outstanding writer -- Malcolm Gladwell. He has written Outliers, The
Tipping Point, Blink, and his latest offering, David and Goliath. Any and all of
those books are worth the investment. I have read every book he has written and
just finishing David and Goliath. http://www.amazon.com/David-Goliath-Underdogs-Misfits-Battling/dp/0316204366
As
with his other books, I am sad to be nearing its end. He is my kind of story
teller and educator. If you are interested in underdogs and education, these
are the books for you – especially David and Goliath.
You
don’t have to still be in school to continue getting educated. As a matter of fact, school might be
the worst place for an education. Read. And go do or make something. That's educational!
Peace, DAP
Education: that
which reveals to the wise, and conceals from the stupid, the vast limits of
their knowledge.
In the first
place, God made idiots. That was for practice. Then he made school boards.
Mark
Twain
