Goals of education - John Corlette
The founder of my boarding school, John Corlette, has this to say on the goals of education
Whilst we agree that the ability to earn a good living is a necessary and important accomplishment we do not regard this as the goal of education but as a by-product of it.
We believe that the goal of education is, or should be, the development of the spiritual man, that is of that part of each one of us which, with development and training, is capable of a vision or direct apprehension of the purpose of life, of the true nature of ourselves, of the world in which we live and of such other worlds or states of being as may exist besides.
If we are able to achieve such illumination, the business of everyday life and its problems will be taken care of as a by-product, and such physical wealth as we may need for our passage through this life will follow the spiritual wealth which we have worked to achieve.
Hence, although we can and do and should work to equip ourselves as efficiently as possible with the tools necessary for earning our living, we shall do this with the more success, and at the same time achieve for ourselves lasting happiness and peace of mind, if we set as our primary goal the acquisition of spiritual wealth or the development of the spiritual man.
The organisation and practice of any educational establishment should therefore be such as to recognise this as the goal, and such as to contribute towards its achievement.
Whilst we agree that the ability to earn a good living is a necessary and important accomplishment we do not regard this as the goal of education but as a by-product of it.
We believe that the goal of education is, or should be, the development of the spiritual man, that is of that part of each one of us which, with development and training, is capable of a vision or direct apprehension of the purpose of life, of the true nature of ourselves, of the world in which we live and of such other worlds or states of being as may exist besides.
If we are able to achieve such illumination, the business of everyday life and its problems will be taken care of as a by-product, and such physical wealth as we may need for our passage through this life will follow the spiritual wealth which we have worked to achieve.
Hence, although we can and do and should work to equip ourselves as efficiently as possible with the tools necessary for earning our living, we shall do this with the more success, and at the same time achieve for ourselves lasting happiness and peace of mind, if we set as our primary goal the acquisition of spiritual wealth or the development of the spiritual man.
The organisation and practice of any educational establishment should therefore be such as to recognise this as the goal, and such as to contribute towards its achievement.
Comments
Post a Comment