Education Is Not The Learning Of Facts?

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Education Is Not The Learning Of Facts
Albert Einstein said, ‘ Education is not the learning of facts, but training the mind to think.’
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When did Albert Einstein say education is not the learning of facts?

Albert Einstein? Apocryphal? Dear Quote Investigator: A learner may accumulate a large number of miscellaneous pieces of information without achieving an integrated understanding and without acquiring an ability to use the material intelligently. Reportedly, Albert Einstein made a germane remark: Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of minds to think.

I have not been able to find a solid citation for this insight. Are these really the words of Albert Einstein? What was the context? Quote Investigator: In 1921 Albert Einstein visited Boston, Massachusetts. At that time, a questionnaire constructed by the inventor and research laboratory pioneer Thomas A.

Edison was circulating. Edison used his controversial questionnaire to screen job applicants, but Einstein was unimpressed by some of the queries. For example, “The New York Times” reported on Einstein’s reaction to one question about a fact that was readily available in reference books: 1921 May 18, New York Times, Einstein Sees Boston; Fails on Edison Test: Asked to Tell Speed of Sound He Refers Questioner to Text Books (Special to The New York Times), Quote Page 15, New York.

Continue reading He was asked through his secretary, “What is the speed of sound?” He could not say off-hand, he replied. He did not carry such information in his mind but it was readily available in text books. Einstein’s response printed in 1921 fit the theme of the quotation because he deemphasized the value of simply memorizing facts.

A longer description of this episode was presented in the biography “Einstein: His Life and Times” by Philipp Frank. A strong match for the quotation was included in the following passage. Boldface has been added to excerpts: 1947, Einstein: His Life and Times by Philipp Frank, Translated from German by George Rosen, Edited and Revised by Shuichi Kusaka, Quote Page 185, Published by Alfred A.

Nopf, New York. (Verified Continue reading While Einstein was in Boston, staying at the Hotel Copley Plaza, he was given a copy of Edison’s questionnaire to see whether he could answer the questions. As soon as he read the question: “What is the speed of sound?” he said: “I don’t know. I don’t burden my memory with such facts that I can easily find in any textbook.” Nor did he agree with Edison’s opinion on the uselessness of college education.

He remarked: “It is not so very important for a person to learn facts. For that he does not really need a college. He can learn them from books. The value of an education in a liberal arts college is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think something that cannot be learned from textbooks.” Frank’s biography was originally written in German, and the English translation was released in 1947.

  1. QI does not know what source material was used by Frank to report on words of Einstein in 1921, but the reliability of Frank’s biography is largely viewed favorably.
  2. Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.
  3. In 1917 “The Sun” newspaper of New York City published an opinion piece that referred to an anonymous professor who made a thematically similar point about higher education: 1917 September 23, The Sun, Should the Education of Children Begin at Home or at School?, Quote Page 16, Column 7, New York, New York.

(Newspapers_com) I have heard one college professor, a man who now holds a responsible position requiring careful scientific training under the Government, frequently tell his students that they were not in college to learn facts, but to train their minds to think logically.

He was right, but that training should have been started many years before. The man who expects to learn to think after he has reached college is the man who “flunks” or just barely hangs on. In 1921 Einstein criticized the Edison’s questionnaire and his opinion about college. Einstein minimized the value of learning motley textbook facts, and highlighted the value of training the mind.

See the excerpts given previously. In 1996 the biography “Einstein: A Life” by Denis Brian was published, and it included a discussion of the incident in 1921: 1996, Einstein: A Life by Denis Brian, Chapter 17: Einstein Discovers America, Quote Page 129 and 130, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., New York.

(Verified on paper) The group of reporters waited while an Edison question, “What is the speed of sound?” was translated into German. Einstein’s answer was translated into English. “I don’t know offhand,” he said. “I don’t carry information in my mind that’s readily available in books.” Told of Edison’s view that a knowledge of facts was vitally important, Einstein disagreed: “A person doesn’t need to go to college to learn facts.

He can get them from books. The value of a liberal arts college education is that it trains the mind to think. And that’s something you can’t learn from textbooks. If a person had ability, a college education helps develop it.” In 2010 “The Ultimate Quotable Einstein” edited by Alice Calaprice included an excerpt from Philipp Frank’s biography that corresponded to the text presented previously in this article.

Calaprice cited Frank and stated that the passage was written by Einstein in 1921. QI does not know if the year was verified independently. Calaprice may have relied on the year given by Frank.2010, The Ultimate Quotable Einstein, Edited by Alice Calaprice, Section: On Education, Students, Academic Freedom, Quote Page 100, Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey.

(Verified on Continue reading In conclusion, the quotation under examination was a streamlined/simplified version of a statement published in “Einstein: His Life and Times” by Philipp Frank. The biography was published in English in 1947 and the event occurred in 1921.
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What is the meaning of education is not the learning of facts but the training of the mind to think?

Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of minds to think. The value of a school or college education is to train the mind to think something that cannot be learned from textbooks, it is to create the capacity of integrated understanding and an ability to use the knowledge intelligently.
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Who said education is not the learning of facts but the training of the mind?

Albert Einstein said, ‘ Education is not the learning of facts, but training the mind to think.’
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Why didn’t Albert believe in learning facts?

He did not think learning facts was education at all. He felt it would be more important to know the reasons behind the facts, for example, why battles were fought. His history teacher sarcastically called his views as Einstein’s theory of education.
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Is education the learning of fact?

As Einstein had said, ‘ education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think ‘ and that should be achieved by this policy.
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Was Einstein a failed academic?

Then, when he took the entrance examination for a polytechnic school in Zurich, he flunked. ( He passed the math part, but failed the botany, zoology and language sections.) Einstein kept studying and was admitted to the polytechnic institute the following year, but he continued to struggle.
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Why did Einstein not like about the school?

“At the age of 12, I experienced a wonder in a booklet dealing with Euclidean plane geometry, which came into my hands at the beginning of a school year. Here were assertions, as for example the intersection of the three altitudes of a triangle in one point, which – though by no means evident – could nevertheless be proved with such certainty that any doubt appeared to be out of the question.

School class photograph in Munich, 1889. Einstein is in the front row, second from right. Although he got generally good grades (and was outstanding in mathematics), Einstein hated the academic high school he was sent to in Munich, where success depended on memorization and obedience to arbitrary authority. His real studies were done at home with books on mathematics, physics, and philosophy. A teacher suggested Einstein leave school, since his very presence destroyed the other students’ respect for the teacher. The fifteen-year-old boy did quit school in mid-term to join his parents, who had moved to Italy.
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What is meant by learning of facts?

Definition – In the learning sciences, a fact is a piece of information, for example “Dogs have a tail.” or “The lawyer sits on the bank.” This information can be actually true, like in the first example, or just presented as being true, like in the second example, which does not refer to a specific lawyer or bank and cannot be verified.
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What is the meaning of the aim of education is the knowledge not of facts but of values?

William Ralph Inge? William S. Burroughs? Anonymous? Dear Quote Investigator: The following statement has been attributed to two very different people: William Ralph Inge and William S. Burroughs: The aim of education is the knowledge, not of facts, but of values.

  1. Inge was a professor at Cambridge and Dean of St Paul’s Cathedral in London.
  2. Burroughs was a member of the Beat Generation best known for authoring “Naked Lunch”.
  3. Should either of these figures receive credit for this remark? Quote Investigator: In 1917 the collection “Cambridge Essays on Education” appeared.

Inge wrote a piece titled “The Training of the Reason” which included the following passage. Emphasis added to excerpts by QI : 1917, Cambridge Essays on Education, Edited by A.C. Benson (Master of Magdalene College), The Training of the Reason by W.R.

  • Inge (Dean of St.
  • Paul’s), Start Page 12, Quote Page 12, Cambridge Continue reading The ideal object of education is that we should learn all that it concerns us to know, in order that thereby we may become all that it concerns us to be.
  • In other words, the aim of education is the knowledge not of facts but of values.

Values are facts apprehended in their relation to each other, and to ourselves. The wise man is he who knows the relative values of things. In this knowledge, and in the use made of it, is summed up the whole conduct of life. William S. Burroughs was born in 1914; hence, he clearly did not coin this expression.

  1. He died in 1997, and he implausibly received credit in 2005 as indicated further below.
  2. Here are additional selected citations in chronological order.
  3. In 1919 “A Handbook of American Private Schools” credited Inge with the quotation: 1919 Copyright, A Handbook of American Private Schools, An Annual Survey 1920, Fifth Edition, Educational Literature of the Academic Year 1918-1919, Educational Reconstruction in England, Start Page Continue reading W.R.

Inge in “The Training of the Reason” tells us that “the ideal object of education is that we should learn all that it concerns us to know, in order that thereby we may become all that it concerns us to be. In other words, the aim of education is the knowledge, not of facts, but of values.

  1. In 2005 “The Consistent Consumer: Predicting Future Behavior Through Lasting Values” by Ken Beller, Steve Weiss, and Louis Patler employed the saying as a chapter epigraph.
  2. Mysteriously, William S.
  3. Burroughs received credit instead of Inge: 2005, The Consistent Consumer: Predicting Future Behavior Through Lasting Values by Ken Beller, Steve Weiss, and Louis Patler, Part 1: The Values of a Nation, Epigraph to Chapter 1: The Value of Continue reading T he aim of education is the knowledge, not of facts, but of values.

—William S. Burroughs, American Writer In 2015 “3000 Astounding Quotes” by James Egan included a section of quotations attributed to Burroughs. Here were three: 2015, 3000 Astounding Quotes by James Egan, Quote Page 220, Lulu Publishing Services at Lulu.com.

  • Google Books Preview) 2453.
  • The face of evil is always the face of total need.2454.
  • Nothing is true, everything is permitted.2455.
  • The aim of education is the knowledge, not of facts, but of values.
  • In conclusion, William Ralph Inge should be given credit for this statement based on the 1917 citation.
  • The ascription to William S.

Burroughs is spurious. Image Notes: Picture of many books from Free-Photos at Pixabay. Image has been cropped and resized. (Great thanks to Samuel LoPresto whose inquiry led QI to formulate this question and perform this exploration. LoPresto noted the dubious dual attribution to William Ralph Inge and William S.
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What is John Dewey’s definition of education?

Dewey’s Theory of Education – Dewey’s thoughts on education, originally published in his 1938 work Experience and Education, analyzed both traditional and progressive education. Traditional education’s focus was more on curriculum and heritage, defining a student’s learning path for them; a progressive education focused on the student’s interest rather than that of the instructor or subject. Not being fully pleased with either philosophy, Dewey proposed a new educational theory, which highlighted the role experience plays in education. According to Dewey, powerful educational experiences are a result of two fundamental principles: continuity and interaction,

Continuity refers to how experiences, both past and present, influence the future while interaction refers to how one’s current situation influences their experiences. Dewey combined these two principles, stating that one’s present experiences are a direct result of how their previous experiences interact with and influence their present situation.

Simply put, Dewey stated that human experiences – past, present, and future- influence the capacity to learn. He once said that: ‘Education is a social process. Education is growth. Education is, not a preparation for life; education is life itself.’
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What Aristotle said about education?

Sculpture of the ancient Greek philosopher- Aristotle The ancient Greek philosopher Aristotle valued education as an imperative to the holistic development of an individual. He considered education to be the only path to live a fulfilling life and become a satisfied human being.

  1. He expresses his ideas on education in his notable work On Education, to which we have access in a very fragmented fashion; only scraps of this work has survived.
  2. He believed that educators should possess a clear philosophy of life and emphasize deeply on the ethical and political.
  3. He also argued that the body, mind and soul of an individual require all-round, balanced development which is not just limited to the domains of academics.

He also attempted a categorization of disciplines into theoretical, practical and technical. Aristotle formulated a dualistic approach to education that contains- dedication through reason and education through habit. Quote from Aristotle about Excellence

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom.””It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.””Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.””The educated differ from the uneducated as much as the living from the dead.””The roots of education are bitter, but the fruit is sweet.” “It is this simplicity that makes the uneducated more effective than the educated when addressing popular audiences—makes them, as the poets tell us, ‘charm the crowd’s ears more finely.’ Educated men lay down broad general principles; uneducated men argue from common knowledge and draw obvious conclusions.” “All who have meditated on the art of governing mankind have been convinced that the fate of empires depends on the education of youth.””No great mind has ever existed without a touch of madness.””Excellence is never an accident. It is always the result of high intention, sincere effort, and intelligent execution; it represents the wise choice of many alternatives – choice, not chance, determines your destiny.””Those who educate children well are more to be honoured than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well.””Education is an ornament in prosperity and a refuge in adversity.””Education is the best provision for old age.””The best way to teach morality is to make it a habit with children.””The one exclusive sign of thorough knowledge is the power of teaching.””Wit is educated insolence.” “All men by nature desire knowledge.””The habits we form from childhood make no small difference, but rather they make all the difference.””We acquire a particular quality by acting in a particular way.””Since the whole city has one end, it is manifest that education should be one and the same for all, and that it should be public, and not private – not as at present, when every one looks after his own children separately, and gives them separate instruction of the sort which he thinks best; the training in things which are of common interest should be the same for all. Neither must we suppose that any one of the citizens belongs to himself, for they all belong to the state, and are each of them a part of the state, and the care of each part is inseparable from the care of the whole.””Our youth should also be educated with music and physical education.””Education and morals will be found almost the whole that goes to make a good man.””To learn is a natural pleasure, not confined to philosophers, but common to all men.””Anything that we have to learn to do we learn by the actual doing of it; People become builders by building and instrumentalists by playing instruments. Similarily, we become just by performing just acts, temperate by performing temperate ones, brave by performing brave ones.””It is evident, then, that there is a sort of education in which parents should train their sons, not as being useful or necessary, but because it is liberal or noble.””Education begins at the level of the learner.””Youth should be kept strangers to all that is bad, and especially to things which suggest vice or hate. When the five years have passed away, during the two following years they must look on at the pursuits which they are hereafter to learn. There are two periods of life with reference to which education has to be divided, from seven to the age of puberty, and onwards to the age of one and twenty.””Those who know, do. Those that understand, teach.””To write well, express yourself like the common people, but think like a wise man.””That education should be regulated by law and should be an affair of state is not to be denied, but what should be the character of this public education, and how young persons should be educated, are questions which remain to be considered. As things are, there is disagreement about the subjects. For mankind are by no means agreed about the things to be taught, whether we look to virtue or the best life. Neither is it clear whether education is more concerned with intellectual or with moral virtue.””Learning is not child’s play; we cannot learn without pain.””There are branches of learning and education which we must study merely with a view to leisure spent in intellectual activity, and these are to be valued for their own sake; whereas those kinds of knowledge which are useful in business are to be deemed necessary, and exist for the sake of other things.””The mathematical sciences particularly exhibit order symmetry and limitations, and these are the greatest forms of the beautiful.””The energy of the mind is the essence of life.””Life in accordance with intellect is best and pleasantest, since this, more than anything else, constitutes humanity.””Wise men speak when they have something to say, fools speak because they have to say something””Great men are always of a nature originally melancholy.””Through discipline comes freedom.””Memory is the scribe of the soul””Whatever lies within our power to do lies also within our power not to do.””If you would understand anything, observe its beginning and its development”

Download our Evolve App and get access to a myriad of journeys related to self-improvement, meditation, mindfulness, self-esteem, patience, productivity and a lot more. The app also has more than 50 audios to help you grasp concepts related to mental health and mental wellness very easily. Education Is Not The Learning Of Facts Damayanti Dubey is a final year English major at Loreto College, Kolkata. She is a writer by passion and loves to indulge in languages, especially English, Bengali, and Urdu. She aims at exploring all of their intricacies and nuances. Damayanti is a disciple of Padma Bhushan Pandit Ajoy Chakraborty and is a national scholar of Indian classical music.
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Did Aristotle really say educating the mind?

Education and Ethics: ‘ Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all. ‘ ― Aristotle.
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What did David Hume say about education?

David Hume on Education ©2000 NewFoundations The Educational Theory of David Hume 1711 – 1776

Analyst: James M. Cox

8/18/11 I. Theory of Value: The goals of education seem to be unimportant to Hume but learning is important. Education produces beliefs which are not associated with impressions. Since they are not associated with impressions, they are to be doubted and questioned as “real”.

  • Since they are beliefs, and not causally related to impressions, what is learned through education (what is known is given to a knower) form no part of reality.
  • Reality is formed by the philosophic mind, not the metaphysical one.
  • The metaphysical mind is too disordered, lacking “force and settled order” (Passmore, 1952).

Later in his writing, Hume stops referring to education and resorts to discussing “the harmony between the course of nature and the succession of our ideas” that allows reality and experience to triumph over superstition and metaphysics (Passmore, 1952).

Thus, the goal of “education” is to base ones beliefs in experience and impressions a posteriori (inductively), not on a priori arguments which are propositions based in reason and deduction. II. Theory of Knowledge: Knowledge is that which we know to concern content, which are universal, and the opposite of which are inconceivable (Kemp Smith, 1941).

This is opposed to that of which we are aware through sense perceptions or ideas which are more pure and less likely to be caused by something else. Beliefs are those things that the mind has as independently existing including many physical objects and the self (Kemp Smith, 1941).

Memories are those repeated impressions that retain their first vivacity. When that first vivacity is lost, it is no longer a memory, but an imagination. Memory has no power of variation and the purpose of memory is to preserve the order and position of the impression. Memory must be an exact repeat of the past (Kemp Smith, 1941).

This is why memory is so troubling to Hume. It cannot he guaranteed. III. Theory of Human Nature: All of our beliefs and actions are the products of custom or habit. Our feelings and sentiments exert influence over our volitions and actions. Since there is a human need to believe in causal relationships, we, then, further believe that our feelings have the power to result in actions.

  1. In other words, our feelings and sentiments produce our actions with some degree of causal necessity.
  2. This is similar to our habitual expectation that the future will resemble the past as illustrated in our conviction that the rotation of the earth will cause the sun to rise (one of Hume’s favorite illustrations).

“Reason is, and ought to be, only the slave of the passions,” Hume believed. Therefore, all human actions follow naturally from human feelings without interference from human reason (Kemerling, 1997). We do not have an impression of the self. No matter how we try to notice the mental operations “in my mind”, we cannot be aware of “I”.

  • We do experience a succession of separate and individual ideas associated with each other by relations of resemblance and causality.
  • The persistent self and the immortal soul are philosophical fiction (Kemerling, 1997).
  • Hume’s theory of our beliefs based on cause and effect is corroborated by the belief-forming mechanisms of animals.

They do not reason abstractly, yet they form beliefs based on cause and effect like humans do. Hume afforded a far higher status to animals than did others of his time (Mattey, 1996). IV. Theory of Learning: Again, impressions are the direct, vivid and forceful products of immediate experience.

  1. Ideas are feeble copies of these original impressions.
  2. Since every idea must, therefore be pulled from an impression, we must inquire into the source of our ideas and the impressions from which they are derived.
  3. Now, each idea and impression is separable from each other, any connection that we make is the result of an association that we manufacture ourselves.

Our mental links are classified as resemblance (this animal looks like that animal), contiguity (this object is next to that object), or cause and effect (when I do this, that happens). Experience gives us the ideas and the awareness of the associations between them.

  • Relations of ideas are formed wholly in the mind.
  • They have no external reference.
  • Matters of fact are beliefs that claim to report the nature of the existence of things.
  • They are contingent (Kemerling, 1997).
  • This is the basis for Hume’s distinction between a priori and a posteriori knowledge.
  • He concludes that mathematical and logical knowledge rely on the relation of ideas so they are uncontroversial, but uninformative.

More controversial matters of science rely on matters of fact. They are the basis of genuine information. In order to learn, we must suppose that our past experiences bear some relevance to present and future cases. But although we do indeed believe that the future will be like the past, the truth of that belief is not self-evident.

It is always possible for nature to change, so inferences from the past to future are never rationally certain. So, all beliefs in matters of fact are fundamentally non-rational. Again, Hume used the example of the sun rising to illustrate this principle. Our observations include that the sun rises due to the rotation of the earth.

This is all based on past experience. While we are confident that the sun will again rise we are not justified in our confidence by a reference to the past. So, it is irrational to believe that the sun will rise tomorrow (Kemerling, 1997).V. Theory of Transmission: If we accept Hume’s Theory of Testimony, we cannot be taught by another.

  • For only causal inference informs us of existences and objects which we do not see or feel.
  • This carries us beyond the narrow range of immediate sensory experience (Passmore, 1952).
  • For us to learn, we need to have the impression and then, when we make comparisons or connections to other objects, we must ask the nature of the connections and be skeptical about our ability to make correct connections.

Any curriculum to be taught would be based in experience and inquiry as to the nature of our ability to make judgments about the experiences. VI. Theory of Society: This is not an area that Hume theorizes on to any extent. In his essay on the origin of government, he looks at man as being naturally inclined to establish a political society.

This society or government has no other purpose than the distribution of justice. While a perfect society would be pure liberty, the need for authority inhibits liberty to some extent and that is a price we have to pay. However, we are to guard liberty, which works to perfect society, much more carefully than we do the authority which gives society its structure.

I found no mention of institutions that provide education, but Hume was living in the 18th century and was hired as a private tutor and rejected as a professor by Universities. VII. Theory of Opportunity: I found no reference to Hume’s theory of who should be schooled.

  1. Of course, if we think like Hume, all should be skeptics about what is taught, so maybe we should only teach ourselves.
  2. To be Humean is to take no system as final, nothing as ultimate as the spirit of enquiry (Passmore, 1952). VIII.
  3. Theory of Consensus: Since any discussion of consensus implies that there is an agreement, it must be questioned what is being agreed upon and how.

All impressions and, therefore, ideas are to be questioned and it would be unthinkable to believe that any two people could agree on issues that are based on perception that, according to Hume’s philosophy, must be questioned. I could not determine in rather extensive reading, where Hume even suggests that consensus is possible.

Finally, Hume recommends that, in practice, his pure skepticism is difficult to practice and, therefore, makes an argument for what he calls mitigated (less harsh) skepticism at the risk of succumbing to dogmatism, or the assertion of unjustified judgements that are not based in matters of fact or relations of ideas.

According to Hume, “If we take in our hand any volume of divinity or school metaphysics, for instance, let us ask, Does it contain any abstract reasoning concerning quantity or number? No. Does it contain any experimental reasoning concerning matter of fact and existence? No.

Commit it then to the flames, for it can contain nothing but sophistry and illusion” (Uzgalis, 1996). References Fogelin, R. (1985). Hume’s skepticism in the Treatise of Human Nature. London: Routledge and Kegan, Ltd. Kemerling, G. (1997). Modern philosophy (On-line). http://www.newberty.edu/acad/philhume.htm.

Kemp Smith, N. (1964) The philosophy of David Hume. London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd. Mattey, G. (1996). Hume http://www.philosophy.ucdavis.edu/phi023/humelec.htm McCosh, 1 (1875). The scottish philosophy. The Internet Encyclopedia of Philosophy http://www.utm.edu:80/research/iep/text/mccosh/mc.19.htm.
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Why did Einstein see no point in learning facts and dates?

NCERT Solutions For Class 11 English Snapshots Albert Einstein at School NCERT Solutions For Class 11 English Snapshots Albert Einstein at School is designed and prepared by the best teachers across India. All the important topics are covered in the exercises and each answer comes with a detailed explanation to help students understand concepts better.

  • These NCERT solutions play a crucial role in your preparation for all exams conducted by the CBSE, including the JEE.1.
  • Why was Mr Braun speechless for a few moments? Ans.
  • Mr Braun asked Albert in which year the Prussians defeated the French at Waterloo.
  • Albert told him that he didn’t know.
  • Mr Braun said that he had told them so many times.

Albert told him that he saw no point in learning dates. These could be seen in books. This made him speechless.2. Who asks for the Einstein theory of education? How? Ans. Mr Braun, the History teacher asks for Einstein theory of education. He does so highly sarcastically and in a mocking tone.3.

  1. What is Einstein’s view about education? How far do you agree with it? Ans.
  2. For Einstein ideas are important and facts do not matter.
  3. He considers learning the dates of battles or the details about victorious armies meaningless.
  4. He is more interested in the causes that led the soldiers to kill each other.4.

How did the history teacher react to Albert’s replies? Will a modern student agree with the teacher? Why /Why not? Ans. The history teacher felt amazed as well as annoyed at Albert’s stubbornness. It was because Albert challenged all the established norms of attaining knowledge.

Modem students do not agree with the history teacher’s view. Education is not a mere acquisition of certain facts and their verbatim reproduction.5. Why did Albert see no point in learning dates and facts? Ans. Dates and facts are parts of knowledge which are content based. Albert thought that there was no point in learning dates and facts because firstly, these could be, ascertained from the books any time by just looking them up.

Secondly, for him, learning facts was not education.6. Do you think Albert is being impolite while answering the history teacher’s questions? Give your reasons. Ans. No, Albert is not at all impolite. He addresses his teacher respectfully. Secondly, he answers the questions honestly.

  1. He does not think that his free and frank opinion will annoy the teacher and will be construed as impoliteness.7.
  2. What was the history teacher’s opinion of Albert? Ans.
  3. The history teacher had a very low opinion of Albert.
  4. He called Albert an ungrateful boy who ought to be ashamed of himself.
  5. He suggested that Albert should ask his father to take him away from school.8.

What punishment did the history teacher give to Albert for not answering his questions? Ans. This history teacher’s eyes got cold and cruel. He said he didn’t want a lecture from him. He punished Albert by making him stay in for an extra period that day.

He told him that he was a disgrace. Moreover, he didn’t know why he continued to come.9. Why did Albert feel miserable when he left school that day? Ans. Albert was punished for his ‘insolence’ that day He had to stay in for an extra period after the school that day. Albert felt miserable because he hated the school and would have to return there the next day as well.10.

‘Going back to his lodgings did not cheer him up.’ Why? Ans. He lived in an atmosphere of slum violence. His landlady beat her children regularly. Every Saturday her husband came drunk and beat her. The wailing and howling of kids got on his nerves. He couldn’t stand the incessant loud noise 11.

What did Albert conclude after six months alone in Munich? What reasons did he advance? Ans. After six months alone in Munich, Albert concluded that he must get away from there. He thought it absurd to go on like that. He realised that he had been wasting his father’s money and everyone’s time.

So he considered it better for all to stop just then.12. Why does the biographer refer to Albert’s interest in music as a ‘comfort’? Ans. Albert’s lodgings as well as school made him feel miserable. He hated the school. Going to the lodging didn’t cheer him up as he hated the atmosphere of slum violence.

He soothed him tired nerves by playing on his violin. So music was a source of comfort for him.13. Who is Elsa? What does she think is enough to pass the examination? Ans. Elsa is Albert’s cousin. She normally lives in Berlin where her father has a business. She thinks that one can pass the examination simply by learning things by heart and repeating them in the exams.

A student doesn’t have to understand what he is taught.14. What sudden idea does Albert hit upon to get away from school? Ans. Albert thought that if he had a nervous breakdown and a doctor certified that it was bad for him to go to school, he would be able to get away from the school.
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Is education the learning of fact?

As Einstein had said, ‘ education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think ‘ and that should be achieved by this policy.
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