What Is Education for? the Views of Great Thinkers and Their Relevance Today (2015)

What is education for? The views of great thinkers and their relevance today Nicholas Tate Woodbridge: John Catt Educational Ltd. ISBN 978-1-909717-40-4Reviewed by James CambridgeDr Tate has a distinguished record in educational administration that includes service as the chief executive of the School Curriculum and Assessment Authority (subsequently the Qualifications and Curriculum Authority) in England (1994-2000), as Headmaster of Winchester College (2000-2003) and as the Director General of the International School of Geneva (2003-2011). He has also served as the Chair of the International Baccalaureate Education Committee (2009-2015).This book discusses the educational thought of ten philosophers. They constitute a wide ranging bunch. Some selections are to be expected as players in the philosophy 'f irst team', but a few unexpected thinkers also make an appearance. Socrates, Plato and Aristotle represent the philosophy of classical antiquity. Medieval and renaissance thought are represented by Aquinas and Montaigne. Enlightenment philosophy is represented by Locke, Rousseau and Kant. Modern philosophy is covered by discussion of Nietzsche, Dewey and Arendt.Dr Tate's method is to present a series of chapters in which he introduces the ideas of each philosopher in turn, supported by some contextual information. He then identifies how that philosopher can help us to think about education. Each chapter concludes with some exemplary quotations, followed by a short reference list to indicate suggestions for further reading. Dr Tate has an engaging writing style and his thesis is well argued. So what ideas about education have been abstracted by Dr Tate from his sources?Dr Tate proposes that Socrates and Plato encourage us to consider the 'non-utilitarian' ends of education. That is to say, education is more than preparation for the world of work in the 'knowledge economy'. Education is not so much a question of f illing empty receptacles but of helping people to examine themselves. Teaching involves relationships between experienced and less experienced individuals. However, all is not fun and we should be prepared to learn from our failures.In the defence of culture and values, Plato proposes strong control over the selection and distribution of texts. Dr Tate justifies this authoritarianism by arguing that 'this is a problem writ large in our own world where all-pervasive and highly debased mass media stand poised to swamp the independent cultural transmission that may be taking place in home and school'. In a world where our senses and emotions are constantly stimulated and manipulated by mass media, there needs to be a balance between reason and emotion. The balance, involving sobriety and self-control, should also be practised by our leaders. Finally, the Platonic view is that society is hierarchical and there is inequality in people's intellectual and moral endowment. Such a view justifies educational segregation by ability.Dr Tate appears to equivocate on this issue. He states thatit is an issue on which I am pulled in different directions, as someone who benefitted from the stimulus of being educated in the fast stream of a grammar school and who saw the intellectual elite of Winchester College (the Scholars) f lourish in their separate boarding house (College), but who was also responsible for developing national curricula designed for the whole ability range and ran a large international school with a wholly open intake in which future Oxford and Harvard entrants rubbed shoulders with children with Down's Syndrome to the benefit of all.The doubts and hesitations of the type expressed by Dr Tate above are acknowledged by Aristotle, who suggests that 'each sort of study receives some votes in its favour' whether 'the proper studies to be followed are those which are useful in life, or those which make for goodness, or those which advance the bounds of knowledge'. …