Education in a Free Society

Abstract

Education is not an independent variable in an economic growth equation. In its broadest sense, it is a fundamental aspect of, and prerequisite for, human existence. Even if we are not blank slates, our functioning as human beings is deeply conditioned by what is consciously and unconsciously passed on to us: we are shaped by the actions, attitudes and behaviour of others and the environmental context in which these interactions take place, most especially in the first years of life. No more fundamental question about society can be asked than how we are to be educated.