The purpose behind learning

Each selection explored the sole purpose of education and what should be included in the daily instruction, while arguing that only young males have the right to receive the same education. Times certainly have changed, that is true. However, today's society is not a replica of the past and we certainly have moved from using ancient knowledge to a more technical knowledge in the twenty-first century.

"Education takes for granted that sight is there but that it isn't turned the right way or looking where it ought to look, and it tries to redirect it appropriately", Plato argues in the first selection. This is the only argument that really has not changed over the centuries. However, the only question that any educator must ask themselves is: have my students taken the truth and turned it the right way? Meaning, have I reached them and actually seen the light bulb click in their minds.

Aristotle writes, "For men are by no means agreed about things to be taught, whether we look to excellence or the best life". He also makes the argument that music, gymnastics, reading, and writing, serves a purpose in the life of a child. Like Jefferson, Aristotle believed that "the citizen should be moulded to suit the form of government under which (s)he lives". This sums up the sole purpose in educating the youth, then and now.

"In the inherited situation, there is a curious intermingling, in even the same study, of concession to usefulness and a survival of traits once exclusively attributed to preparation for leisure", quotes Dewey. This quote can still be useful even today, even in a progressive world where high schools today are exposing adolescents to both kinds of learning. Unfortunately, since there is no longer a system of set courses for each student to take. It can be seen that for many, the question can be asked: "which type would benefit me the most?" and thus create an uneven balance in the modern educational system.