Our English Syllabus

In this essay, Lewis presents many interesting ideas about education. I agree with some of these ideas, but others I find to be a little bit extreme. I agree with Lewis in how he tells us that education is not something that should be spoon-fed from teacher to student, but that students need to experience the material themselves, not being told exactly how to think. In my education experience, I have taken some classes in which I was required to memorize certain facts and remember them until I took the test. Within a couple of weeks, I would forget most of the material because I had never applied it or thought about it any more than memorizing it. This kind of education is useless.

One part of this essay that I disagree with is the part where Lewis tells us that we need good education to become "human". I realize that he might not have meant this literally, but he still puts educated people higher than uneducated people. He calls those who only receive vocational training "slaves" and claims that education is necessary for us to be civilized. I strongly disagree with Lewis on this point. While higher education can be very good thing, it is not necessary for everyone. Some people don't have the ability or desire to go on to a higher education. This does not make them any less human, civilized, or important to our society. There are still opportunities for them to get trained for a meaningful job. I think that Lewis took his idea of education a little bit too far.