BENEATH THE SURFACE W Education is Far More Than the Learning of Facts In the U.S., there is a growing hat constitutes true education has been a burning question among not only educators, but also for all of us who have contemplated just what is that “thing” we call “education”? A far more credible authority than yours truly, Albert Einstein, know, E=mc ), famously stated, “Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.” You don’t have to be one of history’s most noted mega-brains for this to resonate sharply. Einstein was not only a brilliant theoretical physicist and philosopher of science, but also a teacher who was associated with both Cal Tech and Princeton’s Institute of Advanced Study, where he taught and conducted research from 1933 until his death in 1955. He was a well-rounded sort who played the violin at symphony level. What Einstein and others like him, including a more contemporary genius, astrophysicist and cosmologist Stephen Hawking, have in common is their ability to see the relationships between phenomena. Hawking was able to bring together Einstein’s Theory of Relativity with quantum mechanics, thus creating an elegant synthesis. This trait is one they hold in common with artists, the best civil engineers, constructors, doctors, lawyers and any successful provider of products and services. inventor of the “Theory of Relativity” (you 2 Training the Mind to Think Let’s take this down to the most fundamental level, that being what is taught in public elementary and secondary schools in the U.S. This brings into question the whole issue of what should be taught, and moreover, “how”? (I realize that this publication and the Deep Foundations Institute has an international constituency, however since I am most conversant with U.S. education practice, I shall restrict my observations to this country). concern about the appro- priateness of various curricula, which tends to be tied directly to the funding of public education. One of the issues is whether students are receiving the kind of education that will prepare them for either further study in higher educat ion, and/or for successful performance in today’s changing workplace. I believe that, unfortunately, what appears to take center stage is “Judgment is the result of a mind trained to understand relationships, connections and all the subtleties of cause and effect, with full consideration given to viable options.” teaching that can be measured by standard measurement methods. The confirmation of this kind of teaching has inexorably led to “teaching for the test,” in other words, the “measurement device” itself. As a result, there have been instances where the pressure to produce acceptable test scores have led to less than honorable reporting, and abject cheating. Here’s where the Einsteinian notion of “accumulating facts versus training the mind” comes into bold relief. While there are tests that can measure one’s ability to demonstrate that the mind has been trained to grasp subtle and often complex relationships, it is far easier to test for facts alone. Once we leave the cocoon of lower education we find that there are other values that will make or break our journey to future success. These include learning how to get along with AUTHOR S. Scot Litke, Hon. D.GE others and how to share, not protect information. Just think about taking a test with your arms encircling your test sheet for fear of anyone seeing what you have put down. Then think about how working collectively in teams is a far more productive method of assuring success for you, your teammates and ultimately your employer. There is a definite disconnect between traditional classroom teaching and the demands of the world of work. How this issue is to be addressed is beyond the scope of this article; however, there are good minds at work in the education realm who realize the problem is one that does need attention. Navigating the political and economic realities will prove daunting. Teaching Engineering Judgement Leaving elementary and secondary education, let us move on to higher education, and more specifically in the subject area of civil engineering, and further, to the specialty most dear to us, geotechnical engineering. Colleges and universities are under a great deal of pressure to assure that engineering students learn the “fundamentals” (facts…). Let’s face it, the demands of maintaining program accreditation place enormous pressure on curricula. Moreover, there are just so many hours in the day and days in an academic year, rendering it difficult to branch off into the world of electives within the engineering curriculum much less into such “non- essential” realms as English, the social sciences, business and the like. This is not to say that all engineering education is only about learning facts, nor is to minimize the importance of developing a full DEEP FOUNDATIONS • MAY/JUNE 2015 • 43
