The Aristotelian Model

Were it possible to gather together all of the prominent educational leaders of the United States and pose the question – what is the purpose of education? – it would quickly deteriorate into a blizzard of buzz words such as “standards” or “technology.”  Such terms are bandied about in education circles, meant to certify the seriousness and legitimacy of the speaker.  It is part of the dogma of modern education.  It means very little for few people are considering the true design of education – for the pupil and for the state.  To do so, we must stop looking into the cloudy crystal ball and set our gaze on the past. 

First, it is necessary to define our terms so that when I say education, I do not refer to the universities for which the United States are uniquely known and admired.  I am referring to the primary education given to our students, primarily at the high school level.  With that understanding, education’s purpose has never been as modern theorists have professed.  It has nothing to do with an “investment in our future” and it certainly has nothing to do with the pursuit of success – monetary or otherwise.  These are only aspects of life that are the product of the values we impose on students.  But if the goal of our students is success, as defined by going to a good college and getting a good paying job, that does not serve the end that education is designed to establish.  In order to understand, we must visit the teacher at the Lyceum in Athens.  We must visit Aristotle.   

For Aristotle, education is the first step towards a virtuous life, the foundation of ethics that shape the person, which in turn shapes the society.  Furthermore, to say that education is the beginning would ignore a grave responsibility.  If it is true that education is a part of the process towards an ethical life, then education cannot end.  Teachers who speak of high school and college as things to get through in order to enjoy life are robbing their students of a basic tenet.  The ethics that define a good person (and in turn a good society) are nourished with the knowledge gleaned from further education.  Indeed, for a good society to continue to flourish, all members of said society must continue on the path of learning more and broadening their perspectives.   

As one continues on the path of education, the world opens up and provides the student a glimpse of what is possible through learning.  As we pursue what is possible, we learn that “possible” is not just a matter of what can be imagined but what can be done.  Today, the paradigm used in high schools, particularly with history, is to focus on what has happened that is horrible, corrupt and jaded – failures of man and the systems in which they worked.  The mark of “critical thinking” is often measured in the cynicism that we instill in students and then we bemoan the ambivalence they show towards the world, our country, its history and our potential.  Yet, Aristotle would suggest that continued education should emphasize the possible as we consider it intellectually and physically.   

Aristotle’s Politics suggests that one of the objectives of long term education is the merging of moral and intellectual virtues to make up a code of ethics that shape and direct our lives.  This is learned by repetition – both in deed and in word.  Therefore, moral virtues can be instilled and used to nurture intellectual virtues which are taught.  We don’t teach intellectual virtues any longer.  We teach short cuts, expediency and relevance – as if, in the pursuit of knowledge, there is such a concept as relevance.  The very notion amputates the mind, the intellect and therefore, our ability to understand the world around us and ourselves.   

Aristotle spoke of education at greater length, suggesting what such programs would look like.  However, it matters little what that is composed of if no thought is to be given to the foundations of education.  There are times when it seems like a hopeless battle.  Perhaps, as a school teacher, it is impossible to create something more – something better.  It was said that American civil rights activist and writer James Baldwin had to leave the pulpit to preach the gospel.  I hope that is not true for me and my convictions on education.  Aristotle, as a teacher, set a standard.  Perhaps I and others like me can re-establish that standard.