ABSTRACT

Education in schools and further education establishments does not inevitably encourage thinking. Particularly when driven by a set curriculum and examinations, the learner may act more in the manner of an information absorber and regurgitator. Apps (1982) likens this to the actions of a small child pulling a wagon around the house adding items that take her or his fancy en route. When a parent says, ‘Can you give me the little red block’, the child reaches into the wagon and hands the item to the parent as requested. This happens to students at examination time, and they are apt to be successful the more effective they have been at collecting and memorising the items called for. Engel (1971) goes so far as to say,

Intellectual activity – from science to poetry – has a bad reputation in my generation. The blame falls on our so-called education system, which seems designed to prevent its victims from learning to think, while telling them that thinking is what you do when you study a textbook. Also, to learn to think, you must have a teacher who can think.