Our English Syllabus

I must confess that this is one of the first readings of C.S. Lewis that has disappointed me and I find that somewhat surprising given the topic and also the response of the class in discussion. I hesitate to say that I disagree with Lewis upon some of his points because to disagree would imply that I truly understand his position and believe the contrary. The truth is though that I feel I do not grasp entirely his position and that he does not clarify his argument to the extent that he typically does.

That is not to say that I did not find portions especially enlightening and well thought through. The initial portion where Lewis distinguishes between education and vocational training truly struck me. "...education" says Lewis, "is essentially for freemen and vocational training for slaves." This idea is echoed back through history and continues today when physical slavery has become less commonplace (although still sadly much more present than we like to admit). As we press forward towards an egalitarian society we find that "our danger is that equality may mean training for all and education for none" says Lewis. The American Public Schools system fell into this trap with the "No Child Left Behind" campaign, deciding to avoid unfairly educating some, by removing there education and instead providing a meaner training for all. It is true that we cannot abandon vocational training because those jobs that they fill are necessary parts of society, but that does not mean we abandon education instead of integrating education and training.

My uneasiness with Lewis writing comes at his drastic separation between education and learning. I fully agree with him that there is a distinction between the two. Education is the process of teaching a person to become a better, more complete human being. One might consider it vocational training to be a human. Learning is the seeking after knowledge simply for the sake of knowing. Lewis says that "...knowledge is the natural food of the human mind:" and as such it should be pursued simply because in doing so we are fulfilling a natural hunger. Learning does not involve a teacher to pupil relationship but rather equals in the pursuit of knowledge with each others assistance. Learning is your own personal adventure to find knowledge and specifically to find it in the areas that you desire to seek it. Education is a path that is set before someone in order to give them an overview and broader understanding of things that will hopefully lead to a more complete, and "good" human being. Lewis says that "...learning considered in itself, has on my view, no connexion at all with education." This is where I take issue. To me it seems that while distinct learning and education are closely intertwined. It seems to me that education is the springboard for learning. Returning to the idea of education as a path laid out by the teacher for the pupil to study, won't the pupil upon encountering a branch of the path that they find of particular interest decide to leave the path and explore under there own impulse more of that reason and wouldn't they then be said to be engaging in learning rather than education. However, the time would then come where they return to the path and investigate other sections.

I know this is only a small portion of the piece but it stuck out to me nearly obscuring the rest of the piece which I felt had a very legitimate point and purpose. Perhaps I am misinterpreting the intent of the reading but I feel that education and learning coincide much more and are much more closely interconnected that one gets the impression of from Lewis's reading.