We Don't Need No Edukashun - Actually - We Do.
A Posterity Post
I had cause to add a comment on a post that featured this image.
It is funny - but I think it is funny for all the reasons that the commenters were not seeing ….
A university is to educate .. not train. If you are wondering about the difference, ask yourself if you prefer your children to attend sex education classes or sex training classes.
Sadly most institutions have moved to thinking of themselves as trainers .. so they are ‘workplace ready’. Witness a presentation I sat in just last week where someone from an educational facility was telling us how they are currently revamping their syllabus so that their students could learn how best to work with Ai (sic) … see Stephen Fry’s latest missive.
I stood up and asked her which University she thought the people making Ai had taught them what they know.
(Apparently .. that’s different).
As for philosophy .. oh and let’s throw in ethics, humanities, liberal arts, critical thinking, hell, even english .. are (should be) all on the rise in education, because it is very clear that we need them …badly.
I get the picture .. funny.
But the humor doesn’t lie in the kid having it wrong and dreaming what might be .. it’s in the dad having it wrong and thinking the future is anything like the past.
Simon Woods A flat-mate at the student housing we were living in said to my wife's face: "but it's not a real science is it", referring to Claire's choice of Psychology at undergrad.
Now, nearly twenty years later and I can say with confidence that this "not-real" domain of knowledge is only becoming increasingly relevant in this world of ours.
💬 John Philpin @SimonWoods Exactly. Psychology, Environmental Science( I remember people making fun of Prince Charles and his 'organic thinking - not to mention his opinion on architecture!), Ethics, Critical Thinking, Philosophy and Morality all the stuff that people are suddenly rediscovering. Did Claire stick with it?
Simon Woods She's currently training for the position of Clinical Associate Psychologist, and before that was close to getting the green light for her PHD. So yeah, it's gone pretty well — as you can tell, she's the smart one — and given the rate of progress we've made in the first year of living here I wouldn't be surprised if I soon had some handy links available for public proof of her progression.
Your post even reminded me of some of the longer term plans here and I have spoken about, specifically to help where possible for such domains to at least exist even outside of formal education. We're now in a place to seriously invest time in such efforts, and I've never felt more confident that this country needs as much volunteer effort as possible for this type of cultural activity. The key word being "active" I suppose.
💬 John Philpin @SimonWoods yes indeed and I do support 'volunteerism' - but it is something else I worry about.
Not the same space, but this is about 🔗 why charities are doomed to fail - and I think is a problem in the same family.
I had cause to write it as later this week we are pushing the button on the hard launch of the philanthropic side of 'The Future Found' - a charity within a Public Benefit Corporation - at the same time as I am working down here with another philanthropic organisation in a tangential space faced with how do they get the best people to help them grow whilst there entire board are not only working for free - but even when offered payment - refuse it - because to 'take any payment isn't right'.