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Education in the modern world
As the world becomes more civilized and connected, global competitiveness makes it the duty of every global citizen and government to reconcile the true meaning of education to the standards and practices applied in learning. Without this societal reflection, a country or person risks lagging behind as the world progresses. This paper seeks to understand education and its place in the 21st century society. The first step in this quest is to ask the question, what is education? There exist a myriad of definitions on education. Key to every definition is the transfer of knowledge, values and skills. This knowledge transfer requires an knowledgeable guide or tutor to impart what they know to a willing learner. This is a process of illumination for the learner. As Will Durant eloquently states, “Education is a progressive discovery of our ignorance” (Durant). Every great kingdom throughout history has placed a premium on education. From the library of Alexandria in ancient Egypt to the depth of information on the internet, education remains at the heart of every successful society.
Currently, modern formal education has largely failed to provide value to learners. The most common forms of modern formal education employ rote memorization. Knowledge imparted does not go beyond the testing stage. Another failure by modern learning institutions is their over emphasis on the academic aspects of education. These institutions forget that despite the basic mathematical and language skills, education encompasses nurturing of creativity and vision among learners. This mindset takes education away from its true purpose.
Since time immemorial, the one true purpose of education is to bring people to their full potential. Education should be life changing. The 20th Century politician, Malcolm Forbes, aptly puts it as, “education's