GP ESSAY!

“It is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.” – Albert Einstein
- Examine the validity of this statement.
- Evaluate his claim.
- Would you agree?

In the modern world today, formal education is of vital importance and has been made compulsory in most parts of the world. It is a standardize method of teacher set by the Ministry of Education of every nation. In my opinion, as everyone goes through formal education from young, it will instill in them a sense of wonder and interest from the basics of what they have learnt, leading to curiosity which is a strong desire to know and learn something. Therefore, I do not agree that it is a miracle that curiosity survives formal education.

Formal education has made most learned men and scholars achieve success all around the world as it indeed cultivates pride, ambition and courage in young adults that can lead them to love, protect and exercise the freedom to demur and think independently. While learning the subjects taught in school, like social studies and history, it may generate ‘curiosity bubbles’ into people’s minds that allows them to apply whatever they have learnt into their daily lives.

For example, Singapore’s top thinker, Mr. Lee Kuan Yew, went through rigorous years of formal education and it developed him into a fine intelligent man who paved the path for Singapore, leading it into a world-class city. This cannot be possible without having curiosity. In addition, The United States has adopted Singapore’s method of teaching mathematics, and has also taught their students via Singapore’s mathematics textbook. The Singapore method is used by around 100,000 pupils in the U.S. and is popular amongst parents involved in teaching their children at home. From the previously flexible education system, to Obama, U.S. president, adopting Singapore’s method of educating students shows that Americans find the necessity in formal education, and that it is not affecting the aspect of curiosity. With this method, U.S. nonetheless produced high calibre people who have innovative ideas and curiosity to venture into different aspects of the economy.

However, it is true to a small extent that formal education stifles a probing mind. Formal education may not be able to cultivate the curiosity and creativity of every individual as it may not suit their teaching needs, leading them to lost interest in it. It also affects a person’s innovative way of thinking out of the box, and thus unwilling to ask more questions for deeper understanding due to the systematic way of teaching. Due to the hectic lifestyle we are living in this fast-paced world and exam-oriented learning, we study by rote learning, therefore causing us to not think.

An example would be Albert Einstein. He dropped out of school at a young age of sixteen as he disliked school. He did not received any form of formal education after he had dropped out of school, but due to his inquisitive mind, he was very successful in his career of inventing and investigating useful products. In addition, the Greek philosopher, Socrates, has his own method of teaching, which is the Socratic Questioning. It awakens the curious minds of people who are in doubt. This made him into a quick-witted legendary character without receiving formal education. Even in the modern world today, Bill Gates, the successful Microsoft creator, is a school drop-out. It is due to his intrigued mind in which he is able to achieve this success. These people are exceptions of the human mankind because not everyone is able to reach that high level of intelligence. This is evident that formal education is not necessary to achieve success, and even without it, because of their inquiring mind, they are able to make it through their live successfully.

The globalised world cannot do away without formal education due to having wide masses. The Ministry of Education in Singapore made it compulsory for everyone to go to school, and most people would study until university level. With formal education taught, it can help the nationhood to prosper as the education system is modified regularly to suit the requirements of the nation. For example, Singapore depends largely on technological education; therefore there are several Polytechnics and Institute of Education (ITE) to facilitate this movement. As students are able to choose the course they desire, they will be more curious and passionate in their related fields. This leads to the growth of Singapore, with the help of formal education.

In Singapore today, the Ministry of Education taps on the advantages of different systems available to prevent the stifling of curiosity caused by formal education. Singapore is a developed state, in which more demands are made by the public, thus the government provides flexibility in teaching, like allowing various school systems, autonomous to independent schools to form, and even opening up to the idea of homeschooling. There is a variety of pedagogy which includes mind-mapping and independent learning taught by schools which allows them to think, generate ideas and find the answer for themselves for further application. These benefit students and make them curious about things they have been taught.

In conclusion, it is not a miracle that curiosity survives formal education as most high-ranking and notable people went through formal education before they can make such a great achievement. Einstein’s validity of making this sentence is not valid because it only applies to a minority. He is saying it base on his own perspective, and being a genius man, this statement is therefore not true to a large extent.