What does this quote mean?

Question

"Education is much more than a matter of imparting the
knowledge and skills by which narrow goals are achieved.
It is also about opening the child's eyes to the needs and
rights of others"
- Dalai Lama, Tibetan Spiritual Leader

1) What does the Dalai Lama mean by these words?


2) And if you want, you can tell me if you agree with this
quote or not, and why?

Answer 1

It means that education is not just about memorizing facts. The best teacher should teach you how to think, learn, and make value judgments on your own.

Part of thinking and making value judgments is learning that there are many people beyond you who will be affected by your actions, positively or negatively. The Dalai Lama is alluding to the Eastern philosophy of interconnectedness, in saying that the student should learn to look outside himself and consider the greated effect of his actions.

Personally, my feelings are similar to what the Dalai Lama is referring to. I think that the most important thing to learn in school is what's known as "critical thinking". Not critical in the sense of negativity- Critical in the sense that the student should learn to question things, and examine things from all angles, instead of just memorizing facts and taking what they are taught unquestioningly. The skill of critical thinking, once learned, will stay with you for a lifetime and help you learn and make good decisions. I think that's worth far more than all the facts in a mountain of books.

Answer 2

The quote is pretty direct. what the Dalai Lama means in this quote is that education is not just imparting kids with information and lectures on different areas of learning (math, history, science, sociology, etc.), it's also about equipping them with the values that would give kids the wisdom of being truly human. as the saying goes "no man is an island", a person cannot live only for one's self, rather life should be in service of the other. in our school (i go to a catholic school), we have philosophy and theology classes that teach us these values. and although i'm not a catholic, i think that what they teach us about serving others has done a lot for our outlook in life. however, this does not mean that this is only true among the Christian religions. the Dalai Lama himself, if i'm not wrong, is Buddhist. This consciousness of living with others and for others is pratically universal, though there are people who doesn't think that this is true (look for Jean Paul Sartre).

So yeah, i believe in this saying, since what should be learned is not just about factual information; how to rightly and truly live should also be taught.

Answer 3

It means that education is not just about memorizing facts. The best teacher should teach you how to think, learn, and make value judgments on your own.

Part of thinking and making value judgments is learning that there are many people beyond you who will be affected by your actions, positively or negatively. The Dalai Lama is alluding to the Eastern philosophy of interconnectedness, in saying that the student should learn to look outside himself and consider the greated effect of his actions.

Personally, my feelings are similar to what the Dalai Lama is referring to. I think that the most important thing to learn in school is what's known as "critical thinking". Not critical in the sense of negativity- Critical in the sense that the student should learn to question things, and examine things from all angles, instead of just memorizing facts and taking what they are taught unquestioningly. The skill of critical thinking, once learned, will stay with you for a lifetime and help you learn and make good decisions. I think that's worth far more than all the facts in a mountain of books.

Answer 4

everyone takes the term "education " very lightly,but, besides simply "gaining knowledge" education also implies that we must be able to use our gained knowledge in some useful way.
mose of us view education as a means to fulfill our "narrow views" of getting a job..but we are'nt really making sure of the fact that our knowledge is being put to the best use possible...

the Dalai lama simply means that we mus be able to use our knowledge rightly so that others may benefit from it..and not suffer...when imparting education,dont simply give knowledge,but teach the child how to use the knowledge in the right way!

and i definately agree with it!

Answer 5

Part 1. I think what he's saying is that, of course, children are very egocentric, e.i., they think everything is about them. His quote reflects his belief that the mere memorization of facts and knowledge for the sake of knowledge, while it does develop the child's mind and intellect, does not develop her socially as a person interacting with other people. And the latter is what a lot of real life is, people skills and getting along with others.

Part 2. I agree somewhat but I think it would be a major incompetency in our educational system to neglect either.

Answer 6

In my opinion, it means that aside from just passing on knowledge--the how to's, we need to teach children how to use these skills for the greater good. It's like my church school students. We don't just teach theology, we teach them how to use these lessons to be good people.

And yes, I do believe in the sentiment behind this quote. For example a doctor -- it is more than a just treating the patient medically. There needs to be a desire to help others and to treat the whole patient medically and emotionally and with respect.

Answer 7

You are not just imparting knowledge, but putting them on the road to wisdom and enlightenment

That is the full function of education. it is not enough to know when the American Civil War was fought but why and how to aviod it in the future

Answer 8

Education is more than just spreading knowledge about certain things to others, it's also teaching them about the world and teaching them to have basic human regard.

Answer 9

I think it means that education isn't only something you do to make kids "more smart", but it's an opportunity to teach kids how to put themselves into the shoes of others.

Of course I agree with this! What about you? ^-^

Answer 10

he means that is not what u can teach is what u can make fo rthat child by teaching him, he means that you should teach the child not something specific, not what he should u need to teach him to learn so those things you teach him will make from him something Good in the future, so when he does somethings he will know why hes doing that and why is it good...