An important role of education is to cultivate social readiness. This can, like the purpose of education, be defined in many different ways. Many philosophical thinkers have pronounced education as essential to a just and democratic society. John Dewey believed that “only by the being true to the full growth of all of the individuals who make it up, can society by any chance be true to itself” (7 Dewey Decimal SystemDewey). Paulo Freire’s thoughts follow a similar vein, but in the context of uneducated lower classes.

He wrote “problem-posing education is revolutionary futurity” (72 Freire), as critical comprehension of society’s workings is necessary to change it. There are five members of the NSW Right in federal cabinet: Tony Burke (home affairs), Chris Bowen (climate change and energy), Jason Clare (education), Ed Husic (industry and science), and Michelle Rowland (communications). A coalition source described leadership talent as being “as shallow as a kiddie pool” with it being widely accepted the new Liberal leader would lose the next election starting so far behind the eight ball.

What the student learns must be relevant to him. He should be encouraged to make connections between what is learned in the classroom and the experiences of his daily activities. This real-world context allows for the student to reflect upon the application of what he learns in the classroom. Carol Rodgers describes this reflection as a meaning-making process that moves the learner from one experience into the next with deeper understanding of its relationships with and connections to other experiences and ideas.

(845 Rodgers) One role of the teacher is to rouse this sort of reflection when it is appropriately related to the class material. When the student integrates his own interests and musings into class projects and discussions, the teachers should take his ideas seriously and motivate him to build upon them. For instance: when I attended public middle school, my course on U.S. history was taught in a “drill-and-kill” manner. It was the sort of course that involved memorising predetermined lists of names and dates, and then regurgitating them for quizzes.

This teaching method had two main problems: firstly, there was no attempt to make it relevant to the current state of America; history was as separate from reality as any fiction. Just as bad, the names and dates we learned were of no obvious use outside of the classroom. The students had little ability to use the information to study other aspects of American history; they were exclusive to the lesson at hand.

While organising my thoughts on education and attempting to compile a personal philosophy out of them, I have realised a few things. Most importantly, I now recognise that a philosophy education cannot be rigidly structured. It must incorporate the ideas of many different thinkers; and it cannot be exclusively bound to neither traditional nor progressive ideas. The method of teaching which is practised should always be appropriate based on many different variables, such as what is content is being taught, the classroom atmosphere, and of course, the students’ personalities and learning styles.

In order to motivate the students, the teacher must demonstrate the appeal of the class content to them.