The Cornell Education Department asks that students confront these stated objectives. We ask all aspiring teachers to think carefully about their work, to engage their minds in the process of evaluating their teaching and their approach to it, and to develop a genuine sense of inquiry to guide their personal and professional lives. Education is not simply the acquisition of knowledge but the development of the art of evaluating and using acquired knowledge and wisdom. Education sets students and teachers on the path to discover freedom and to use this freedom to pursue democracy and uplift human dignity. People cannot think of anything which their minds are not free to consider.
Education provides people with the freedom to think.