In Mrs. Bayda's post An Open Letter to Educators, she talks about schooling versus education stating that she sometimes feels cheated by her University, especially by the time she is finished sitting through two three hour lectures in one afternoon. She states that she is scarcely encouraged to speak about a topic and never ever encouraged to speak about a topic to another classmate. I think her definition of schooling is the same as Dr. Strange's definition of burp-back-education. Teachers feed you facts, you memorize them, and then you're given a test and graded on how many facts you could memorize. People, THIS IS NOT EDUCATION! You are not learning if you are memorizing; you are not being challenged and you sure as heck aren't getting your monies worth!
Like I told Mrs. Bayda in a comment, last semester I took a class in which we had to evaluate the difference between schooling and education. I had never given much thought to what the difference between the two was until then. And, the more I learned, the more angry I grew because I started to realize that through all these years, I had been being "schooled" not "educated." It is sad to think that this is the way the educational system has become. Although I would never be brave enough to drop out of school like Dan Brown, I don't blame him for his actions or for his statement that "his schooling was interfereing with his education," as that seems to be the case for most students these days.
I am glad that this issue has been brought to the surface. It makes future teachers, like myself, aware of the difference and encourages change. I am so glad that I am going to be a part of a new generation of teachers that want to see change; I just hope we really accomplish it or at least pave the way.
"It makes future teachers, like myself, aware of the difference and encourages change." Good! That's what we want to have happen!
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I am also glad that I am going to hopefully be in a new generation of teachers that want to change. I want my students to feel like they are learning in my class and not just being "schooled".
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