Monday, March 28, 2011

The purpose of education?

 


Purpos/ed is is an on-line debate about the purpose of education. Throughout February and March 2001 a number of people offered to provide 500 words on this topic. This blog is my contribution

It is clear that all of the contributors that have posted thus far are passionate about education and the contribution it can make to the world.  One of the (dis)advantages of being near the end of this debate is that the exposure to everyone else’s brilliant thoughts leads me to the supposition that everything has been said far more eloquently than I could manage. So I offer this by way of something different -

Education sets you free,
To be who you want to be.
It gives you speech,
It gives you wings.
It helps you achieve
ANYTHING!!!!
It moves you from
Your allotted place
It helps you to claim
Your unique space.
It moves you up
It moves you out
It helps you whisper
It helps you shout.
It’s the one true friend
You can call your own.
It can be a companion,
When you are alone.
It’s there for you
Whenever you need it
It’s always safe,
No-one can steal it
Those who seek
To dominate us
Aim to silence those
Who educate us.
To read, to write,
To think to know
Should be free to all
The fast, the slow,
The boys, the girls,
The young, the old,
The poor the weak,
The shy, the bold.
All we have been
And will ever be
Begins with this –
a...b...c...d....

The ones who teach
Stay in our minds
The right mentor,
Is hard to find.
But when once found
The debt we owe
Is greater than
We ever know