Looking for Sources of Good Education
-
Member of the Academy of Sciences
The aim of this essay is to try to find a way to understanding good education. The starting point is the recognition that in a fast-changing world, the organisation of education seems to stand still, and it is explained by arguing that the real qualities of good education remain unchanged through time.
At the heart of achieving a good education is the teacher’s ability to help students understand the subject – to move from saying it to understanding it. Who can do this is a good teacher; a person who reaches understanding is an educated person. Another quality identified is the challenge of maintaining and fostering pupils’ inherent curiosity, which ideally should grow rather than wane throughout the school years. A third quality is the importance of accessible challenges that offer all pupils, regardless of their abilities, an experience of success and motivating but objective feedback.
Based on this, the central element of education is the teacher and the learning environment they create, where all the qualities pointed out above are born. The head of school is responsible for creating and maintaining such environment.
In the concluding section, an attempt is made to formulate the conclusions that can be drawn from the views presented for the purposes of education policy choices. Teacher empowerment holds the central place.