[Script Info]
Title: 
[Events]
Format: Layer, Start, End, Style, Name, MarginL, MarginR, MarginV, Effect, Text
Dialogue: 0,0:00:00.00,0:00:04.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,[music]
Dialogue: 0,0:00:37.72,0:00:44.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, we could ask ourselves what the purpose of an educational system is
Dialogue: 0,0:00:44.80,0:00:50.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and there are sharp differences on this matter.
Dialogue: 0,0:00:50.55,0:00:54.01,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now, there's the traditional interpretation
Dialogue: 0,0:00:54.01,0:00:57.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that comes from the Enlightenment
Dialogue: 0,0:00:57.47,0:01:04.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which holds that the highest goal in life is to inquire and create,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:04.32,0:01:12.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to search the riches of the past,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:12.16,0:01:18.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and try to internalize the parts of them that are significant to you
Dialogue: 0,0:01:18.72,0:01:24.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and carry that quest for understanding further in your own way.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:24.13,0:01:28.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The purpose of education from that point of view
Dialogue: 0,0:01:28.20,0:01:34.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is just to help people determine how to learn on their own.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:35.08,0:01:41.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's you, the learner, who is going to achieve in the course of education.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:41.40,0:01:46.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's really up to you what you'll master,
Dialogue: 0,0:01:46.39,0:01:49.27,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where you'll go, how you'll use it.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:49.27,0:01:57.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,How you'll go on to produce something new and exciting for yourself, maybe for others.
Dialogue: 0,0:01:57.76,0:02:00.34,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's one concept of education.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:00.34,0:02:03.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now the other concept is essentially indoctrination.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:03.46,0:02:08.29,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,People have the idea that from childhood
Dialogue: 0,0:02:08.29,0:02:19.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,young people have to be placed into a framework in which they'll follow orders,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:19.60,0:02:24.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,accept existing frameworks, and not challenge.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:24.36,0:02:26.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this is often quite explicit.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:26.68,0:02:35.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For example, after the activism of the1960s,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:35.27,0:02:42.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,there was great concern across much of the educated spectrum
Dialogue: 0,0:02:42.05,0:02:48.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that young people were just getting too free and independent,
Dialogue: 0,0:02:48.80,0:02:52.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that the country was becoming too democratic.
Dialogue: 0,0:02:52.84,0:02:59.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There was an important study on what's called the crisis of democracy--too much democracy--
Dialogue: 0,0:02:59.16,0:03:08.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,claiming that there are certain insitutions responsible for the indoctrination of the young--
Dialogue: 0,0:03:08.64,0:03:13.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's their phrase-- and they're not doing their job properly.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:13.12,0:03:18.16,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That schools, universities, churches---we have to change them
Dialogue: 0,0:03:18.16,0:03:22.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,so that they carry out the job of indoctrination and control more effectively.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:22.22,0:03:31.33,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's actually coming from the liberal internationalists' end of the spectrum of educated opinion.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:31.48,0:03:34.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, since that time there have been many measures taken
Dialogue: 0,0:03:34.72,0:03:40.95,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to try to turn the educational system towards more control,
Dialogue: 0,0:03:40.100,0:03:45.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,more indoctrination, more vocational training.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:45.36,0:03:53.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Imposing a debt which traps students--young people--into a life of conformity.
Dialogue: 0,0:03:53.68,0:04:01.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's the exact opposite of what I referred to as the tradition that comes out of the enlightenment.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:01.76,0:04:03.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There's a constrant struggle between those.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:03.76,0:04:13.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In the colleges and the schools, do you train for passing tests?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:13.82,0:04:18.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or do you train for creative inquiry?
Dialogue: 0,0:04:18.37,0:04:25.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Pursuing interests that are aroused by material that's presented, you want to pursue either on your own
Dialogue: 0,0:04:25.89,0:04:27.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or in cooperation with others.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:27.12,0:04:34.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And this goes all the way through up to graduate school and research.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:34.12,0:04:37.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Just two different ways of looking at the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:37.68,0:04:42.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,When you get to a research institution like the one we're now in,
Dialogue: 0,0:04:42.60,0:04:49.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at the graduate level, it essentially follows the enlightment tradition.
Dialogue: 0,0:04:49.64,0:05:05.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, science couldn't progress unless it was based on inculcation of the urge to challenge,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:05.52,0:05:17.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to question doctrine, question authority, search for alternatives, use your imagination freely of your own impulses.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:17.00,0:05:22.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Cooperative work with others is constant as you can see just by walking down the halls.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:22.13,0:05:28.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's my view of what an educational system should be like down to kindergarten.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:28.28,0:05:34.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But there certainly are powerful structures in society
Dialogue: 0,0:05:34.81,0:05:38.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which would prefer people to be indoctrinated,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:38.65,0:05:43.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to conform, to not ask too many questions, to be obedient,
Dialogue: 0,0:05:43.90,0:05:51.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to fulfill the roles that are assigned to you and not shake systems of power and authority.
Dialogue: 0,0:05:51.06,0:06:01.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Those are choices we have to make, wherever we stand in the educational system.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:01.14,0:06:07.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As students, as teachers, as people on the outside trying to help shape it in the direction that we think it ought to go.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:20.51,0:06:28.18,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well there certainly has been a very substantial growth in new technology--
Dialogue: 0,0:06:28.18,0:06:33.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,technology of information, communication, access interchange.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:33.04,0:06:37.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's surely a major change in the nature of the culture and society.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:37.97,0:06:44.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,We should bear in mind that the technological changes that are taking place now,
Dialogue: 0,0:06:44.65,0:06:51.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,while they're significant, probably come nowhere near having as much impact
Dialogue: 0,0:06:51.57,0:06:57.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,as technological advances of a century ago.
Dialogue: 0,0:06:58.31,0:07:02.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Let's take just communication.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:02.60,0:07:13.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The shift from a typewriter to a computer or a telephone to email is significant.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:13.56,0:07:20.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But it doesn't begin to compare with a shift from a sailing vessel to a telegraph.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:20.64,0:07:27.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The time that that cut down in communication between England and the United States
Dialogue: 0,0:07:27.36,0:07:31.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,was extraordinary as compared with the changes taking place now.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:31.88,0:07:34.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The same is true of other kinds of technology.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:34.48,0:07:42.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The introduction of widespread plumbing in the cities had a huge effect on health,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:42.08,0:07:45.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,much more than the discovery of antibiotics.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:45.91,0:07:48.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So the changes are real and significant,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:48.20,0:07:53.57,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but we should recognize that others have taken place that were much more dramatic.
Dialogue: 0,0:07:53.57,0:07:58.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,As far as the technology itself and education is concerned,
Dialogue: 0,0:07:58.82,0:08:04.100,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,technology is basically neutral.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:04.100,0:08:06.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's kind of like a hammer.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:06.48,0:08:11.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The hammer doesn't care whether you use it to build a house
Dialogue: 0,0:08:11.82,0:08:15.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,or whether a torturer uses it to crush somebody's skull.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:15.91,0:08:17.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A hammer can do either.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:17.90,0:08:22.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Same with modern technology, say, the internet, and so on.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:22.32,0:08:27.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The internet is extremely valuable if you know what you're looking for.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:27.28,0:08:30.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I use it all the time for research, I'm sure everyone does.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:30.32,0:08:35.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you know what you're looking for, you have a kind of framework of understanding
Dialogue: 0,0:08:35.88,0:08:39.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which directs you through particular things,
Dialogue: 0,0:08:39.82,0:08:43.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and lets you sideline lots of others.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:43.62,0:08:46.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,then this can be a very valuable tool.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:46.90,0:08:48.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Of course, you always have to be willing to ask
Dialogue: 0,0:08:48.88,0:08:50.41,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Is my framework the right one?"
Dialogue: 0,0:08:50.41,0:08:52.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Maybe I have to modify it.
Dialogue: 0,0:08:52.04,0:08:57.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"Maybe if there's something I look at that questions it, I should rethink how I'm looking at things."
Dialogue: 0,0:08:57.92,0:09:08.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But you can't pursue any kind of inquiry without a relatively clear framework
Dialogue: 0,0:09:08.90,0:09:14.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's directing your search and helping you choose what's significant and what isn't.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:14.89,0:09:17.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,What can be put aside, what can be pursued,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:17.72,0:09:20.97,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what ought to be challenged, what ought to be developed.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:20.97,0:09:25.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can't expect somebody to become a biologist
Dialogue: 0,0:09:25.80,0:09:35.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,by giving them access to the Harvard University biology library
Dialogue: 0,0:09:35.04,0:09:37.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and say, "Just look through it."
Dialogue: 0,0:09:37.12,0:09:40.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That'll give them nothing.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:40.08,0:09:43.49,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The internet is the same except magnified enormously.
Dialogue: 0,0:09:43.49,0:09:47.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you don't understand or know what you're looking for,
Dialogue: 0,0:09:47.32,0:09:51.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if you don't have some kind of conception of what matters--
Dialogue: 0,0:09:51.32,0:09:56.50,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,always with the proviso that you're willing to question--
Dialogue: 0,0:09:56.50,0:10:03.65,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,if you don't have that, exploring the internet
Dialogue: 0,0:10:03.65,0:10:08.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is just picking out random factoids that don't mean anything.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:08.90,0:10:16.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Behind any significant use of contemporary technology--
Dialogue: 0,0:10:16.88,0:10:22.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the internet, communications systems, graphics, whatever it may be--
Dialogue: 0,0:10:22.64,0:10:33.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,unless behind it is a well constructed, directive, conceptual apparatus,
Dialogue: 0,0:10:33.12,0:10:37.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it is very unlikely to be helpful.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:37.64,0:10:39.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It may turn out to be harmful.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:39.12,0:10:43.91,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,For example, random exploration through the internet
Dialogue: 0,0:10:43.91,0:10:48.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,turns out to be a cult generator.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:48.04,0:10:51.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You pick up a factoid here, a factoid there
Dialogue: 0,0:10:51.90,0:10:53.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and somebody else refers to it.
Dialogue: 0,0:10:53.92,0:10:58.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All of sudden you have some sort of crazed picture
Dialogue: 0,0:10:58.85,0:11:02.26,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which has some factual basis but nothing to do with the world.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:02.26,0:11:05.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You have to know how to evaluate, interpret, and understand.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:05.92,0:11:09.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Say biology again.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:09.92,0:11:13.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The person who wins the Nobel prize in biology
Dialogue: 0,0:11:13.40,0:11:18.74,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,is not the person who read the most journal articles and took the most notes on them.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:18.74,0:11:20.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's the person who knew what to look for.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:20.80,0:11:25.89,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And cultivating that capacity to seek what's significant--
Dialogue: 0,0:11:25.89,0:11:30.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,always willing to question whether you're on the right track--
Dialogue: 0,0:11:30.24,0:11:34.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that's what education is going to be about.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:34.08,0:11:38.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Whether it's using computers and the internet or pencil and paper and books.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:53.63,0:11:59.28,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, education is discussed in terms of whether it's a worthwhile investment.
Dialogue: 0,0:11:59.28,0:12:01.75,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Does it create human capital
Dialogue: 0,0:12:01.75,0:12:05.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that can be used for economic growth and so on.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:05.23,0:12:14.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And it's a very distorting way to even pose the question, I think.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:14.98,0:12:22.23,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Do we want to have a society of free, creative, independent individuals,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:22.23,0:12:29.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,able to appreciate and to gain from the cultural achievements of the past, and to add to them?
Dialogue: 0,0:12:29.57,0:12:30.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Do we want that?
Dialogue: 0,0:12:30.82,0:12:34.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Or do we want people who can increase GDP?
Dialogue: 0,0:12:34.56,0:12:39.35,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's not necessarily the same thing.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:39.35,0:12:49.81,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,An education of the kind that Bertrand Russell, John Dewey and others talked about,
Dialogue: 0,0:12:49.81,0:12:52.24,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's a value in itself.
Dialogue: 0,0:12:52.24,0:12:56.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Whatever impact it has in the society, it's a value
Dialogue: 0,0:12:56.73,0:13:00.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because it helps create better human beings.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:00.84,0:13:04.00,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After all, that's what an educational system should be for.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:04.00,0:13:06.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,On the other hand, if you want to look at it
Dialogue: 0,0:13:06.32,0:13:09.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in terms of costs and benefits,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:09.73,0:13:15.82,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,take the new technology that we were just talking about, where did that come from?
Dialogue: 0,0:13:15.82,0:13:19.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Well, actually a lot of it was developed right where we're sitting,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:19.40,0:13:27.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Down below where we now are was a major laboratory back in the 1950s,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:27.06,0:13:29.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,where i was employed in fact.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:29.36,0:13:39.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Which had lots of scientists, engineers, people of all kinds of interests--
Dialogue: 0,0:13:39.22,0:13:40.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,philosophers, others.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:40.56,0:13:45.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Who were working on developing the basic character
Dialogue: 0,0:13:45.52,0:13:51.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and even the basic tools of the technology that has now come.
Dialogue: 0,0:13:51.48,0:13:53.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Computers and the internet for example,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:53.52,0:13:58.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,were pretty much in the public sector for decades,
Dialogue: 0,0:13:58.84,0:14:04.40,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,funded in places like this, where people were exploring new possibilities
Dialogue: 0,0:14:04.40,0:14:08.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that were mostly unthought of, unheard of at the time.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:08.90,0:14:10.90,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Some of them worked, some didn't.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:10.90,0:14:14.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The ones that worked were finally converted into tools that people could use.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:14.98,0:14:18.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Now that's the way scientific progress takes place.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:18.98,0:14:24.85,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It's the way that cultural progress takes place generally.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:24.85,0:14:28.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Classical artists, for example,
Dialogue: 0,0:14:28.80,0:14:33.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,came out of a tradition of craftsmanship that was developed
Dialogue: 0,0:14:33.98,0:14:38.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,over long periods with master artisans, with others.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:38.68,0:14:47.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Sometimes you can rise on their shoulders and create new, marvelous things.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:47.21,0:14:51.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But it doesn't come from nowhere.
Dialogue: 0,0:14:51.53,0:14:59.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If there isn't a lively cultural and educational system
Dialogue: 0,0:14:59.98,0:15:06.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,which is geared towards encouraging creative exploration,
Dialogue: 0,0:15:06.20,0:15:16.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,independence of thought, willingness to challenge accepted beliefs.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:16.76,0:15:24.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you don't have that you won't get the technology that will lead to economic gains.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:24.56,0:15:32.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Though that I don't think is the prime purpose of cultural enrichment in education.
Dialogue: 0,0:15:46.76,0:15:56.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,There is, in the recent period particularly, an increasing shaping of education
Dialogue: 0,0:15:56.50,0:16:03.93,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,from the early ages on towards passing examinations.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:03.93,0:16:12.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Taking tests can be of some use, both for the person who is taking the test--
Dialogue: 0,0:16:12.12,0:16:16.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,seeing what I know, and where I am, and what I'm achieving--
Dialogue: 0,0:16:16.92,0:16:23.62,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and for instructors--what should be changed and improved in developing
Dialogue: 0,0:16:23.62,0:16:26.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,the course of instruction.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:26.64,0:16:29.48,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But beyond that, they don't really tell you much.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:29.48,0:16:36.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I mean I know for many many years, I've been on admissions committees
Dialogue: 0,0:16:36.30,0:16:42.88,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for entry into advanced graduate programs--
Dialogue: 0,0:16:42.88,0:16:45.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,maybe one of the most advanced anywhere--
Dialogue: 0,0:16:45.22,0:16:50.60,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and we of course pay some attention to test results, but really not too much.
Dialogue: 0,0:16:50.60,0:17:00.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,A person can do magnificently on every test and understand very little.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:00.22,0:17:05.14,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,All of us who've been through schools and colleges and universities
Dialogue: 0,0:17:05.14,0:17:06.53,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,are very familiar with this.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:06.53,0:17:14.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,You can be in some course in which you have no interest
Dialogue: 0,0:17:14.92,0:17:18.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and there's demand that you pass a test,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:18.47,0:17:20.92,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and you can study hard for the test,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:20.92,0:17:25.73,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and you can ace it.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:25.73,0:17:30.79,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And a couple of weeks later you've forgotten what the topic was.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:30.79,0:17:32.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I'm sure we've all had that experience.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:32.63,0:17:33.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I know I have.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:33.72,0:17:39.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,It can be a useful device if it contributes
Dialogue: 0,0:17:39.13,0:17:43.22,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,to the constructive purposes of education.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:43.22,0:17:46.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If it's just a set of hurdles you have to cross,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:46.38,0:17:49.63,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,it can turn out to be not only meaningless,
Dialogue: 0,0:17:49.63,0:17:52.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but it can divert you away from things that you want to be doing.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:52.37,0:17:56.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I see this regularly when I talk to teachers.
Dialogue: 0,0:17:56.32,0:18:00.54,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If you want an experience from a couple of weeks ago--
Dialogue: 0,0:18:00.54,0:18:06.30,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,I happeneed to be talking to a group which included many schoolteachers.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:06.30,0:18:09.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,One of them was a sixth grade teacher
Dialogue: 0,0:18:09.12,0:18:12.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,who teaches kids who are ten or eleven.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:12.20,0:18:18.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She came up to me afterwards and I'd been talking about these students.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:18.37,0:18:24.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,She told me of an experience that she had just had in her class.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:24.13,0:18:30.64,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,After class a little girl came up to her and said she was really interested
Dialogue: 0,0:18:30.64,0:18:35.37,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,in something that came up and she asked if the teacher could give her some ideas
Dialogue: 0,0:18:35.37,0:18:37.04,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,of how she could look into it further.
Dialogue: 0,0:18:37.04,0:18:39.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And the teacher was compelled to tell her,
Dialogue: 0,0:18:39.36,0:18:41.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"I'm sorry, but you can't do that,
Dialogue: 0,0:18:41.68,0:18:46.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"you have to study to pass this national exam
Dialogue: 0,0:18:46.08,0:18:49.32,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"that's coming that's going to determine your future."
Dialogue: 0,0:18:49.32,0:18:51.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The teacher didn't say it, "but it's going to determine my future,
Dialogue: 0,0:18:51.68,0:18:57.52,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,whether I am rehired."
Dialogue: 0,0:18:57.52,0:19:01.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,The system is geared to getting the children to pass hurdles,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:01.47,0:19:04.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but not to learn and understand and explore.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:04.68,0:19:10.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That child would have been better off if she had been allowed to explore
Dialogue: 0,0:19:10.06,0:19:14.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,what she was interested in and maybe not do so well on the test about things she wasn't interested in.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:14.96,0:19:19.76,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,They'll come along when they fit into her interests and concerns.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:19.76,0:19:26.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,So, I don't say that tests should be eliminated,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:26.55,0:19:30.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,they can be a useful educational tool.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:30.12,0:19:35.98,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,But ancillary--something that is helping improve ourselves,
Dialogue: 0,0:19:35.98,0:19:39.55,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,for instructors, and others, what we're doing--tell us where we are.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:39.55,0:19:51.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Passing tests doesn't begin to compare with searching
Dialogue: 0,0:19:51.68,0:19:59.08,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,and inquiring into pursuing topics that engage us and excite us.
Dialogue: 0,0:19:59.08,0:20:02.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's far more significant than passing tests.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:02.72,0:20:09.13,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,In fact, if that's the kind of educational career
Dialogue: 0,0:20:09.13,0:20:11.20,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,that you're given the opportunity to pursue,
Dialogue: 0,0:20:11.20,0:20:14.38,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,you'll remember what you discovered.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:14.38,0:20:17.68,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,(Someone) is a world famous physicist
Dialogue: 0,0:20:17.68,0:20:27.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,right here at MIT who was teaching freshman courses.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:27.72,0:20:32.25,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,He once said that in his freshman course,
Dialogue: 0,0:20:32.25,0:20:36.72,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,students will ask, "What are we going to cover this semester?"
Dialogue: 0,0:20:36.72,0:20:39.10,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And his standard answer was,
Dialogue: 0,0:20:39.10,0:20:42.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,"It doesn't matter what we cover, it matters what you discover."
Dialogue: 0,0:20:42.56,0:20:43.96,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,That's right.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:43.96,0:20:49.84,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Teaching ought to be inspiring students to discover on their own.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:49.84,0:20:55.39,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To challenge if they don't agree.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:55.39,0:20:59.12,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To look for alternatives if they think there are better ones.
Dialogue: 0,0:20:59.12,0:21:05.05,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,To work through the great achievements of the past and try to master them on their own
Dialogue: 0,0:21:05.05,0:21:06.36,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,because they're interested in them.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:06.36,0:21:12.56,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,If that's the way teaching is done,
Dialogue: 0,0:21:12.56,0:21:19.21,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,students will really gain from it and will not only remember what they've studied
Dialogue: 0,0:21:19.21,0:21:22.80,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,but be able to use it as a basis for going on their own.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:22.80,0:21:25.06,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,And again, education is really aimed
Dialogue: 0,0:21:25.06,0:21:31.47,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,at helping students get to the point where they can learn on their own.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:31.47,0:21:35.46,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Because that's what you're going to do for you life.
Dialogue: 0,0:21:35.46,9:59:59.99,Default,,0000,0000,0000,,Not just absorb materials that are given to you from the outside and repeat it.