School Isn't School

William Ralph Inge wrote an interesting quote that states: "The aim of education is the knowledge not of facts but of values." I feel like Mr. William makes a valid point: the aim of education is knowledge of value, or at least it should be in my opinion. However, even if I agree that the aim of education should be value, I disagree that it actually happens because in schools today, it's set up in a way that students can't think for themselves. The school system tries so hard to make everything fair with grades and facts that must be learned in order to get a good grade. Schools get us to learn the type of math that we end up not using in our everyday lives and that to me is like wasted time. I agree, calculus gets your brain going and expands the way you think which is good, but does that really let people know the type of person that you are, for example? Schools want us to have at least a little understanding of everything. However, when you're in the real world and you're stuck with adult problems like not having good credit, biology isn't going to help you.Why do we have to cram a bunch of facts of court cases and definitions? I believe that we should challenge our brain, but also challenge others to really understand the value of  our value. In my opinion, things of value are how to file taxes, maintain good credit, the house mortgage, etc. and it could be taught at schools to really prepare us for life.

There are different definitions of value. Adult things that I mentioned above are valuable to our lives. They're essential to maintaining a steady life. High school is a place where you get a little bit of everything to understand what you like so you can have a focus on that specific subject in college. College teaches you more about your focus and then you get a job. However, the problem with that is that doesn't really teach you VALUE. To me, I feel so caught up with grades and homework that I forget who I am. Education is the art of learning something you didn't know before. Someone can't teach you value because that comes within yourself. Whatever your morals and beliefs are, that is what you value most. Something I find interesting is, for example, the people who are running for president. Each candidate is explaining what they value most and what they have to offer the country. Some citizens may agree with one candidate while the others may agree with the other candidate. People will fight for what they believe in, even if it creates tension between a friendship. No one can change one's values and I feel like that should be taught at school. I think that's what William Ralph Inge meant by the aim trying to be more on value. Schools should teach us how to stand up for ourselves and speak up to defend what we believe in, not debating whether when the Spanish-American war was. Facts will be around forever, but I feel like there should be time taken out of the school day to remember what you believe in and maybe even challenge it.