"Now, what I want is, Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life." How horrible for the pupils at Professor Gradgrind's school; Charles Dickens pulled out all the grim stops in describing it. No one today really thinks that school, especially in the early years, should consist of nothing but dreary rote learning.rnBut children do love learning real things-why trees have leaves, how two minuses make a plus, the number of wives' heads Henry VIII removed. Only if they begin to build up a core of knowledge can they develop the habits of mental discipline that must last them a lifetime. You cannot look up on Google something you do not know exists; and the ability to hold facts in your head is a prerequisite for many careers-the law, say, or engineering. It is not enough in primary school to learn about learning; children need to learn actual stuff.
展开▼
