Take a walk in the woods. You can either have a specific start and end point in mind and wander as you choose on the journey or you can follow the pre-marked trail. Part of the problem with education is the pre-marked trail. If we are all stuck on the same path, is there ever any learning? Part of the beauty of learning is going down the undiscovered paths. Is repetition learning? Granted, perhaps it is with learning cursive, but there is so much more to learn beyond repetition. Is there any way to have progress if we are all doing the same thing? Yet we can’t have an education system without any structure. There must be a starting and ending point for the learner, but we can’t set him on a straight path with no room to explore. “Motivate the user and let him lose in a wonderful place” (Nelson). Being forced onto a path in the woods robs one of the beauty of the experience, the beauty of being in the woods. The beauty of being in the woods is that one can explore.
2 Comments
You raise some great questions here. How do we balance structure and freedom? And I liked your question about progress. I think there is progress, but not necessarily progress pushing us to the actual limits and capabilities that humans possess. Too much structure and you can lose diversity of thought. Too little structure and you can lose focus and the ability to find sense in it all.
But the exploration is where we tend to find the most beauty, right?
Also, when the exploration includes fellow travelers and more experienced guides, the journey is that much richer.
This post’s ideas are simliar to what I just blogged about.
I do think our current education system chokes us and forces us on a path when we could go off and create our own paths in the woods. If there’s only one path in the woods, how will we ever find out what else is out there in the vast woods?