Our English Syllabus

                C.S. Lewis begins this essay talking of the difference between education and learning.  He says that educations the knowledge that prepares us to be good people, workers, and citizens.  However, it is training that prepares people for their actual jobs.  C.S. Lewis warns against a society in which we prepare people only for their jobs and not for their life as a whole.  He says that, “… if education is beaten by training, civilization dies”.  I think this means if we aren’t taught wisdom for all aspects of our lives those areas will start to become problematic which will lead to those areas being problematic in our society as a whole which will have unforeseen negative consequences. 

                C.S. Lewis continues on by describing the journey of a student.  He starts by describing education by saying, “ the assumption is that the master is already a human, the pupil a mere candidate for humanity – an unregenerate little bundle of appetites which is to be kneaded and moulded into human shape by one who knows better”.  In many ways I think this is true.  When we are young we are very impressionable and suggestible.  In this way we must be moulded by someone wiser.  I think this puts a lot of pressure on teachers.  If you think about it the teachers you had before college helped you organize your interests and get you excited about certain subjects.   Then as we go to college it is our job to pursue these interests by learning more about them.  C.S. Lewis then highlights a crucial flaw of our educational system.  He notes that sometimes we get so caught up in learning to finish our education so we can do what we want to do next in our lives, to get the job we want, that we don’t learn just to learn and become wiser.  He says, “…though you may have come here only to be educated, you will never receive that precise educational gift which a university has to give you unless you can at least pretend, so long as you are with us, that you are concerned not with education but with knowledge for its own sake."  I think the problem is that it is far too easy to pretend we want that knowledge when we really just want to be done.  It is easy for us to stumble through our classes focused on the end result without analyzing what we really want.  For example, my Aunt went to Calvin not really sure of what she wanted.  She decided she would get a business degree because there were a lot of business jobs.  However, her real passion was not for business but for books.  She knew she liked reading but she never really let that passion grow because it didn’t seem to have a spot in the work place.  It was easy for her to pretend she was excited about business because she wanted to finish and get a degree.  However, this usually doesn’t turn out beneficial in the long run.  My aunt later went back to school to become a librarian instead because she didn’t really enjoy business.  She never had really enjoyed business but it had seemed like the “right” option because it would be easy for her to get a job.  We must balance our passions with our desires.  My aunt wanted a comfortable life.  Her business degree helped her to get a good job that would give this comfortable life with not a lot of financial stress.  Being a librarian is not so financially profitable.  However, it is what she loved.  She had to compromise the higher salary which she desired to get a job she was passionate about.  I think this brings up another idea as well.  Was it easier for my aunt to give up financial benefits to do something she loved that it would me for my uncle?  It seems to me that in our society there is a stronger stress on males to ‘provide for their household’.  Men seem to have a higher pressure to make lots of money while women seem to have a bit more freedom in this area.  I am not saying this is true in all cases, however, I do wonder if men feel more pressure to find a high paying job even if it not something they are passionate about. 

               In this essay C.S. Lewis speaks of the difference between education and learning.  He urges that we not only have knowledge to finish our education but to continue learning with a heart that seeks wisdom and further understanding.  Proverbs 2:1-5 says, “My son, if you accept my words and store up my commands within you, turning your ear to wisdom and applying your heart to understanding – indeed, if you call out for insight and cry out for understanding, and if you look for it as for silver and search for it as for hidden treasure, then you will understand the fear of the Lord and find the knowledge of God.” Solomon talks of how if we pursue knowledge and wisdom than we will also learn more about God.  I think this is very interesting because the Bible also says seek and you will find.  When we seek wisdom and understanding God brings us back to himself, the ultimate source of wisdom and knowledge.