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stellamaris
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| Posted: May 26 2012 at 3:31pm | IP Logged
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My dd recently sent me this quote, taken from an advertisement placed by Tiffany & Co. in the newspaper. Tiffany's was concerned about the direction of American education, and this statement in the paper was part of a longer statement addressing this concern. I don't know when the ad was run, possibly in the 40's or 50's?
Tiffany's wrote:
| The basic purpose of education is to achieve maturity. Not just physical maturity, but intellectual maturity, emotional maturity, and above all moral and spiritual maturity. Without maturity there can be no wisdom, no insight, no judgment, no compassion; nor can there be any real understanding of oneself or of the great questions of our time. |
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I think this is a great insight into the purpose of education. One might add that without full maturity, there can be no understanding of the great questions of mankind that have arisen in every time, not just today.
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Caroline
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asplendidtime
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Oh that is a very neat quotation! Puts into perspective where we've gone wrong.
According to the Underground History of Education, we could see the complete opposite posited as the goal of education:
"To achieve reliance on government to cure all our ills. To not think beyond what we need or what makes us feel good. To be happy and entertained without enough time to consider the greater questions or gaining a real understanding of oneself. Afterall in a free society, no one needs and understanding of individuality. We all need to consider the collective good." (my paraphrase)
Excellent quotation Caroline, shows the foresight/concern that existed, which is thankfully not dead yet! 
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kristinannie
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I think that is an excellent definition of education. I feel like today the emphasis is so much on factual knowledge which is really missing the boat. When kids leave home, they need to have maturity in many different areas in order to have the kind of life that we want them to have. I was filled with knowledge of chemistry and calculus, but didn't have the ability to make moral and informed decisions in my personal life. It really hampered me in life. I don't want that for my kids. Thanks for sharing this. I have to laugh that it was a quote by Tiffany's!
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mamaslearning
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How can there be maturity when there is no accountability in the educational system? I have teacher friends and they all have stories of how the kids are not expected to take responsibility for their actions. Forget to turn in a paper, no worries, your dad can bully the school into giving you another chance. I'm all for second chances, but if that's the norm, then children learn that the rules are merely suggestions.
My husband always says that high school is now like middle school, and college is now like high school (in terms of the maturity expected).
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JennGM
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I love this, Caroline.
I'd like to dig deeper. How would you define maturity?
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SallyT
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I'd say that one aspect of maturity, on all these different levels, is "backbone." It's the process of becoming a mental, emotional, and spiritual vertebrate, with a distinct shape and form, able to act in the world, instead of being acted upon.
Intellectual maturity entails having the backbone to stand up to a text you're reading and engage with it -- not just letting it wash over you and/or regurgitating what it says, but entering into a conversation with it, asking questions of it, critiquing its assumptions, etc.
Ditto emotional maturity: you know who you are, you know where you stand, and you're not destroyed by someone else's disagreement or criticism. You also don't become a different person depending on your company, and you have enough spine that events in your life don't totally flatten you -- you meet them head-on and deal with them, without needing to call home or have another person bail you out. On the other hand, if you need help or bailing out, you can accept those things graciously and not feel like less a person because you weren't totally in control.
And you have backbone, spiritually. You know what you believe and why you believe it -- it's not just your default mode, or rooted in emotion, but something that you've pursued, and continue to pursue, actively, via study and the practice of your faith.
This isn't a total definition by any means, but I definitely think it's a major component of maturity on every level.
Sally
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4Real Forums : Philosophy of Education
Topic: Purpose of Education
