INTRODUCTION

Date: 2015-10-07; view: 436.

Education and learning

“Learning is like rowing upstream: not to advance is to drop back.”

Chinese Saying

Task 1.Read the following quotes about education and learning. What do you think of them? Do you agree?

"Boy! If we learn from our mistakes, today should have made me pretty smart."

“Failure is instructive. The person who really thinks learns quite as much from his failures as from his successes.” John Dewey “The only real mistake is the one from which we learn nothing." John Powell “Nine tenths of education is encouragement.” Anatole France “What we learn with pleasure we never forget.” Alfred Mercier “Instruction ends in the school-room, but education ends only with life.” Frederick W.Robertson “Whatever is good to know is difficult to learn.” Greek Proverb

Task 2.Discuss the following questions as a class.

1. Did you go to nursery school? At what age do children usually go to nursery school in Russia?

2. How old are children when they go to primary school? How many subjects did you study at secondary school? What was your favourite subject? What was your major? Are there any subjects/classes you wanted to study but they weren't available at your school/college? How many lessons did you have every day? How many terms are there in a school year?

3. Was your school a state school or a private school? Are most schools co-educational in your country?

4. Do you think school uniform is a good idea? Why/why not? Did you have to wear a school uniform when you went to school?

5. Do parents home-school their children in your country? What do you think of home-schooling?

6. What is the average age of a high school graduate? What do you think about a gap year, is this something you would consider? Should people go straight from school to university, or do something different?

7. Do you think that most parents influence what university their child will attend? Once you graduate from a university should you stop learning? What are some ways a person can continue to learn?

8. Does education guarantee a good job? What realistic changes would you make to your country's attitude toward education?