Responsible Learning

I can't learn you nothin'.
I can teach. Only you can learn.

Schools have a responsibility to teach.
Students have a responsibility to learn.

Education should teach how to think, not what to think.

   For too long, blame for poor performance by young folk, whether in school or on the street, has been put to parents. But to a large extent, the best that parents can do is set an example and encourage children, whether in behavior or in learning.
   Equally, teachers can provide information and insight, offering guidance to students on the road to education. The term itself, "educate," is from the Latin "to lead out." That is, to lead out of the dark, dismal swamp of ignorance (root: not knowing) to the high road of knowledge and understanding, using the bright lamp of learning and offering insights along the way.
   The best teachers are those who do just that, without demanding agreement, but urging thought and analysis as new information is added and blended with what they have previously learned.
   There are some, however, who are so bogged down in what they already "know" to be true that they are unwilling or unable to consider fresh information that might add to or contradict their preconceived notions. These who claim absolute certainty in their beliefs go to great lengths to force others to agree, and even to forbid any investigation of alternatives.
   The most harsh example of this is found among members of the Texas school book commission, the panel that approves textbooks for use throughout the state of Texas. And, that state being a huge market, publishers bend to the demands of these few and tailor their texts to get a stamp of approval from fundamentalists on the panel who insist on the teaching of "creation science" and who press their beliefs that Darwin was wrong.
   They are, of course, free to hold to their beliefs. But when they force these beliefs on others -- and since publishers rewrite their texts to sell in the nation's largest market -- their fundamentalist beliefs are rolled out to smaller school districts nationwide.
   Example: Members of the Texas school book panel do not accept evolution and climate change as scientific truth. Darwin, or course, was an ordained minister. There is little reason to believe Biblical stories necessarily contradict scientific observation. They serve different purposes. As for climate change, the issue is not whether it is happening, but how much humans contribute to it, and how humans can change their ways.

   The purpose of education is to expand knowledge, not to limit it. But like any skill, talent or ability, knowledge can be ill-used, mis-used and abused for less than noble motives. And the techniques of rhetoric can be used to propagate lies as well as truth.

   Marketing and advertising firms use rhetoric to sell products and services.
   Politicians use it to sell their candidates.
   Government leaders use it to sell policy.
   Educators use it to sell ideas.
   The best educators use it to induce good thinking.

   As consumers of all the above, we have the right and the obligation to choose, especially when choosing education. And the more we know, the better we can choose.   
   The right and obligation of responsible choice is ours.