Journal 3
Language Development Course
Xanthi Papadopoulou
"Freedom to speak or write can be taken from us by a superior power, but never the freedom to think!" Immanuel Kant
Kie Hos' concern with students' freedom to think reminded me a lot of Kants' philosophy.The freedom to think is an essential right of all human beings.Sadly this can not be taken for granted everywhere...
Freedom of thinking should be, as Ho states, part of all educational systems as it enables students to form their identity and work creatively by giving expression to their inner thoughts.
There are certainly many educational systems which neglect this essential need, and attach importance to factual knowledge while restricting their students' creativeness.Students should be part of the teaching process and communicate their thoughts on how they want to learn.
Despite the fact that I totally agree with Ho concerning the issue of freedom, I still think that an appropriate amount of factual knowledge is indispensable.
Learning factual knowledge can help to enforce creativeness and broaden one's horizon.
Another point I would like to point out is Ho's way of comparing the American educational system with the ones of other countries.
Without using empirical data he places the American educational system above the ones of the other countries he refers to, claiming that it is the only one which gives expression to the idea of freedom.
Thoughj I believe that creativeness and the right for self-expression are part of the American educational system, Ho should should have given empirical research examples in order to prove his assertion.
Xanthi,
ReplyDeleteI like the connection that you've made to Kant. That's a wonderful quote. I also find it sad that some systems "attach importance to factual knowledge while restricting thier students' creativeness". The difficult thing, as you've suggested, is to find the right balance between creativity and factual knowledge. I also think it would've been nice if Ho had included some research to support his assertions.
Take another look at these phrases: "Without using empirical data he places the American educational system above the ones of the other countries he refers to" and "Sadly this can not be taken for granted everywhere". Can you find the punctuation issue in the first and the word form issue in the second?