The Examined Life Blog

The Examined Life and Education

‘Education has for its object formation of character.’ Herbert Spencer

‘The aim of education is the knowledge not of facts but of values.’ Dean Inge



As you can see from the quotations above, education is a key part of leading an ‘examined life’ or the life which considers and develops values and thus character. Socrates, who first said that ‘the unexamined life is not worth living’, was a great teacher.

Death of Socrates by Jean Peyron, 1787

• So were Jesus, Buddha, Gandhi, and many other leaders throughout history. In some sense anyone or anything that we admire teaches us something.
  I have always learned a lot from reading great works of literature from Homer’s Iliad (c.800 BC) through John Milton’s Paradise Lost (1667), to Primo Levi’s If this be a Man (1958).
  
  In preparing this Blog, I hope to give you opportunities both to think about the examined life in a variety of ways, but also to consider how you learn and what you value in learning. This is the first time I have done something like this – in other years, I have just looked at students’ journals in hard copy. But as this is the digital age, I would like you to consider some of the following ideas about how you learn, explore some of the exercises in the four areas of the Blog, and then write a reflection on how you learn best. You may submit your reflection in the Blog or by writing in your journal or in any other form (such as a skit or comic strip) that you think is appropriate. I would like you to try to answer the following questions:
  
  Did you find the Blog better than other forms of developing your ideas, or do you prefer other ways? Why?
  What are your strengths and weaknesses as a learner (See Gardner’s Multiple intelligences below and remember that you may have strengths in several areas)? Give examples.
  What kind of questions are you asking yourself in your Examined Life Project? What levels of Bloom’s Taxonomy are you using?
  Finally, do you consider that you learn better using ICT or traditional methods such as pen, paper and books?

Due Date: Tuesday 5th June 2007