What Education is Supposed to Be

I could rant on and on about this, but let me instead just to a recent high school valedictorian speech, which I won't debase by calling a rant. This student described what education is supposed to be far better than I ever could.

As for my reaction to this speech, all I have to say is: Amen!

I am sure I am sometimes guilty of some of this stuff with my own teaching, though I try not to be. Also, some of the points in this essay chime rather well with what I always appreciated at Caltech. I worked really hard and it could be a royal pain in the ass, but that is part of the price of encouraging independent thinking. There is typically a ton of hard work that needs to go with it in order to help such efforts work.

(Tip of the cap to Greg Fricke, who once had to put up with my attempts at teaching. I still wish that I brought that pillow to class one day in order to assist with your sleeping!)