Education

Education is one of the key words of our time. A man without an education, many of us believe, is an unfortunate victim of adverse circumstances, deprived of one of the greatest twentieth - century opportunities. Convinced of the importance of education, modern states 'invest' in institutions of learning to get back 'interest' in the form of a large group of enlightened young men and women who are potential leaders. Education, with its cycles of instruction so carefully worked out, punctuated by textbooks - those purchasable wells of wisdom - what would civilization be like without its benefits?

So much is certain: that we would have doctors and preachers, lawyers and defendants, marriages and births - but our spiritual outlook would be different. We would lay less stress on 'facts and figures' and more on a good memory, on applied psychology, and on the capacity of a man to get along with his fellow - citizens. If our educational system were fashioned after its bookless past we would have the most democratic form of 'college' imaginable. Among tribal people all knowledge inherited by tradition is shared by all; it is taught to every member of the tribe so that in this respect everybody is equally equipped for life.

It is the ideal condition of the 'equal start' which only our most progressive forms of modern education try to regain. In primitive cultures the obligation to seek and to receive the traditional instruction is binding to all. There are no 'illiterates' - if the term can be applied to peoples without a script - while our own compulsory school attendance became law in Germany in 1642, in France in 1806, and in England in 1876, and is still non - existent in a number of 'civilized' nations. This shows how long it was before we deemed it necessary to make sure that all our children could share in the knowledge accumulated by the 'happy few' during the past centuries.

Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means. All are entitled to an equal start. There is none of the hurry which, in our society, often hampers the full development of a growing personality. There is no fixed programme, no discrimination between one pupil and another in the matter of talents and abilities. At the same as it is true that all pupils are equal in the wilderness, it is also true that all pupils are different. No two persons are the same in terms of abilities, talents, and interests. But in our educational system, all pupils are measured by a single standard - that of scholastic ability. This is the fallacy of the 'equal start' in our schools. The fact that all pupils are different means that some will learn more quickly than others, some will need more practice than others, some will be more interested in certain subjects than others. But in our schools, all pupils are given the same curriculum, the same textbooks, the same methods of instruction, and the same tests. This is the fallacy of the 'equal start' in our schools.

We may say that, on the whole, the 'equal start' in our schools is a fallacy. But we must also recognize that the fallacy has a certain amount of truth in it. In our modern society, scholastic ability is an important factor in determining a person's success in life. A person with a high scholastic ability is more likely to get a good job, to earn a high salary, to have a high social status, and to be respected by others. But we must also recognize that scholastic ability is not the only factor in determining a person's success in life. There are other factors such as personal qualities, social skills, and work experience. In our modern society, a person with a high scholastic ability but without good personal qualities, social skills, or work experience is not likely to be successful in life. We must also recognize that in our modern society, education is not only a matter of scholastic ability. Education is also a matter of personal qualities, social skills, and work experience. In our modern society, a person who has received a good education is not only a person with a high scholastic ability but also a person with good personal qualities, social skills, and work experience.

教育是我们这个时代的关键词之一。我们许多人都相信，一个没有受过教育的人，是逆境的不幸受害者，被剥夺了20世纪最了不起的机会之一。现代国家由于确信教育的重要性，才向教育机构“投资”，以期获得一大批有知识的男女青年的形式收回“利息”，这些青年是潜在的领导者。教育，其教学周期经过精心安排，又有教科书（那些可以买来的智慧源泉）予以强化，如果不受其惠，文明将会是个什么样子呢？

有一点是肯定的：我们仍然会有医生和牧师、律师和被告、婚姻和生育，但我们的精神面貌将会不同。我们将不那么强调“事实和数字”，而更加重视良好的记忆力、应用心理学以及人们与同胞相处的能力。如果我们的教育制度效仿没有书籍的古代教育，我们将会有能想象到的最民主的“大学”形式。在部落里，通过传统继承的所有知识为全体部落成员所共享；这种知识传授给部落里的每一个成员，因此从这个方面来说，每个人为生活所做的准备都是相同的。

这就是“平等起步”的理想状况，只有我们最先进的现代教育形式才试图恢复这种状况。在原始文化中，寻求并接受传统教育的义务对所有人都有约束力。没有“文盲”（如果这个词可用于没有文字的民族的话），而我们自己的义务教育在1642年于德国成为法律，1806年在法国，1876年在英国成为法律，而在一些“文明”国家里至今仍不存在。这表明，我们过了很久才认识到，确保我们的所有孩子都能分享过去几个世纪中“少数幸运者”积累的知识是必要的。

在未开化地区的教育不是一个钱财问题。所有人都享有平等起步的权利。在我们的社会中常常妨碍个性充分发展的那种匆忙仓促不存在。没有固定的课程表，在才能和能力方面也不存在对一个学生和另一个学生的歧视。虽然在未开化地区所有学生都是平等的这一说法是正确的，但所有学生又都是不同的这一说法也是正确的。就能力、才能和兴趣而言，没有两个人是相同的。但在我们的教育制度中，所有学生都用单一的标准——学习能力来衡量。这就是我们学校里“平等起步”的谬误所在。所有学生都是不同的这一事实意味着，有些人将比其他人学得更快，有些人将比其他人需要更多的练习，有些人将对某些学科比其他人更感兴趣。但在我们的学校里，所有学生都被给予相同的课程、相同的教科书、相同的教学方法和相同的测试。这就是我们学校里“平等起步”的谬误所在。

我们可以说，总的来说，我们学校里的“平等起步”是一个谬误。但我们也必须认识到，这个谬误有一定的真理成分。在我们现代社会中，学习能力是决定一个人生活成功与否的一个重要因素。一个学习能力强的人更有可能得到一份好工作、赚取高薪、拥有较高的社会地位并受到他人的尊重。但我们也必须认识到，学习能力不是决定一个人生活成功与否的唯一因素。还有其他因素，如个人品质、社交技能和工作经验。在我们现代社会中，一个学习能力强但没有良好个人品质、社交技能或工作经验的人不太可能在生活中取得成功。我们也必须认识到，在我们现代社会中，教育不仅仅是一个学习能力的问题。教育也是一个个人品质、社交技能和工作经验的问题。在我们现代社会中，一个接受过良好教育的人不仅是一个学习能力强的人，而且也是一个具有良好个人品质、社交技能和工作经验的人。