Assessment of Alfred North Whitehead’s Aims of Education
In today’s education system, theories abound. In many of the theories, the purpose of education is centered around the future; preparing students to be active citizens, to improve the future for the country (economically, politically, etc…). The school system focuses on creating a better future for everyone, and yet the education system suffers from many of the same problems that Whitehead denounced 100 years ago. How can a system focused on the future continue to center around ideals that remain unsatisfactory 100 years later?
In his book the organisation of thought, educational and scientific Whitehead articulates the importance of the education system. He professes “Education is the …show more content…
In most schools, learning is segregated into subjects; removed from the context of each other. Math is taught with little to no relationship to English or social studies, resulting in disconnected parcels of knowledge that are difficult to remember and seemingly irrelevant to life. Certainly, methods of teaching such as project based learning or inquiry learning bring about the learning of a topic relative to real life, and the many different subjects that connects the learning. Whitehead says we ought to “eradicate the fatal disconnection of subjects which kills the vitality of our modern curriculums.” After a century, positive changes are happening. Learning is becoming focused and interconnected. Learning and memory are enabled when students can make connections between their prior knowledge and that which is being taught to them. Therefore, it is natural to consider that creating connections between subjects not only makes all curriculum materials relevant, but makes the material easier to remember and add onto. Whitehead’s ideal system of teaching has the educator introducing few topics, but delving deep into what they have to offer, and the many connections they have to other topics (page 5, …show more content…
The curriculum has been edited numerous times, the process of educating teachers has changed, many alterations have occurred. However, despite these changes, problems remain. A century has passed since Whitehead wrote his book, and issues that he admonished are present today. Assessment continues, in many cases, to be uniform; this disregards the myriad of factors that help/hinder learning. Many schools continue to teach subjects in isolation, overlooking the importance of interconnection between topics. The current system of education also continues to fail to reform on a consistent basis. Education needs to continue to evolve to address all of the issues that remain prominent. Whitehead’s words “What education has to impart is a intimate sense for the power of ideas, for the beauty of ideas, and for the structure of ideas, together with a particular body of knowledge which has peculiar reference to the life of the being possessing it” illustrate the incredible capacity that education has. Education, if treated with the right mindset, has the power to change
In today’s education system, theories abound. In many of the theories, the purpose of education is centered around the future; preparing students to be active citizens, to improve the future for the country (economically, politically, etc…). The school system focuses on creating a better future for everyone, and yet the education system suffers from many of the same problems that Whitehead denounced 100 years ago. How can a system focused on the future continue to center around ideals that remain unsatisfactory 100 years later?
In his book the organisation of thought, educational and scientific Whitehead articulates the importance of the education system. He professes “Education is the …show more content…
In most schools, learning is segregated into subjects; removed from the context of each other. Math is taught with little to no relationship to English or social studies, resulting in disconnected parcels of knowledge that are difficult to remember and seemingly irrelevant to life. Certainly, methods of teaching such as project based learning or inquiry learning bring about the learning of a topic relative to real life, and the many different subjects that connects the learning. Whitehead says we ought to “eradicate the fatal disconnection of subjects which kills the vitality of our modern curriculums.” After a century, positive changes are happening. Learning is becoming focused and interconnected. Learning and memory are enabled when students can make connections between their prior knowledge and that which is being taught to them. Therefore, it is natural to consider that creating connections between subjects not only makes all curriculum materials relevant, but makes the material easier to remember and add onto. Whitehead’s ideal system of teaching has the educator introducing few topics, but delving deep into what they have to offer, and the many connections they have to other topics (page 5, …show more content…
The curriculum has been edited numerous times, the process of educating teachers has changed, many alterations have occurred. However, despite these changes, problems remain. A century has passed since Whitehead wrote his book, and issues that he admonished are present today. Assessment continues, in many cases, to be uniform; this disregards the myriad of factors that help/hinder learning. Many schools continue to teach subjects in isolation, overlooking the importance of interconnection between topics. The current system of education also continues to fail to reform on a consistent basis. Education needs to continue to evolve to address all of the issues that remain prominent. Whitehead’s words “What education has to impart is a intimate sense for the power of ideas, for the beauty of ideas, and for the structure of ideas, together with a particular body of knowledge which has peculiar reference to the life of the being possessing it” illustrate the incredible capacity that education has. Education, if treated with the right mindset, has the power to change