Since the dawn of humanity, education has always been one of the main driving forces,

pushing humans to an elevated society with greater peace and prosperity. As of such, it is
viewed as the backbone of civilization. But some people hold the notion that education
should train the mind to think, not to feed it with facts. Personally, I partly agree with the
statement.

Some people consider the real meaning of education lies within the process of learning new
words, or memorizing new knowledge: fact learning. Fact learning is a procedure of
consuming and storing them in long-term memory for future usage. Through time, the
information aggregates inside the mind, and the first hints of wisdom appear, finally
coalescing into humanity’s overall insight of the world. For individuals, possessing a wide
range of crystallized knowledge across many fields and facets enables split-second problem
solving and helps them see the big picture, as well as analyze specific facets. In academic
settings, knowledge of facts is deemed as very important: rigorous subjects such as Maths
require a substantial memorization capacity to fully grasp the material. Because of that, the
importance of fact teaching and learning in academic settings cannot be downplayed.

But some people suggest that acquiring information is necessary but not sufficient to really
define the term "education." A well-rounded education should include not just information but
also wisdom - in other words, the way to think. As more knowledge is absorbed by the brain
via successive levels of schooling, an individual's reasoning capacity develops. But, without
wisdom, one cannot effectively use the information they know. Knowledge only answers the
questions “what and why”, but only wisdom can answer the questions “when and where”.
Most importantly, wisdom helps people become empathetic with others and adjust
themselves to fit the needs of the greater society. Therefore, education should set out to
create progressive thinkers, or “torchbearers” for the next generation, who will be able to
enhance the future human condition and guide others to enlightenment.

Given that both learning theory and thinking have always been strongly correlated, it’s
necessary that education should strike a balance between these two facets. For instance,
schools can offer students the opportunity to employ what they have learned in practice by
holding meetings and vocational training with companies or organizations. Last but not least,
rather than limiting the learning experience to simply reciting facts, schools can integrate
critical thinking into curriculums and let students be their own teachers: give students the
freedom to gain knowledge into whatever they please.

In conclusion, given the fact that both sides of education: fact-learning and mind-training are
equally important, one must try to even out the different sides so that maximum efficiency of
education can be achieved. Society will greatly benefit from those who possess a great
range of knowledge and have expertise on critical thinking.

An outline of what we wrote.

Intro: we partly agree with the statement that “education is not the learning of
facts, but the training of the mind.”

Body:

1) Education IS the learning of facts.

● Topic sentence: real meaning of education is to teach and to
learn facts
● Supporting reason 1 + example: education should be centered
around truthful statements regarding the world and how it works,
an education lacking in information cannot be effective
- Example: if students were not taught basic arithmetic and
the principles behind it, it would be impossible for them to
understand higher-level maths => shows that facts are
essential to develop an understanding for all subjects
2) Education IS the training of the mind to think
● Topic sentence: Many thinkers, old and new, have expressed the
feeling that education should create a “thinking” mind, rather than
a “knowing” mind
● Supporting reason: A proverb has said “If you give a man a fish,
he eats for a day; If you teach a man to fish, he eats for a
lifetime.” In terms of education, the fish is comparable to
knowledge. “Teach a man to fish” can be intepreted as to teach
someone to do it themselves. The true meaning of the proverb is
 then unraveled: it is better to teach people the method to do
something, rather than doing it for them. If education only shows
the result of years of work in the form of facts as-is without
teaching people HOW to achieve that result, it will not educate
anyone but rather only “imprint” knowledge on people’s minds.
3) Recommendation
● Topic sentence: per the reasons mentioned above, it can be
inferred that a good education is one that can strike a balance
between fact-teaching and mind-training. To achieve this
equilibrium, schools should provide greater access to study
materials for students to perform their own research on a given
topic. This encourages learners to cogitate and form new
understanding actively, as opposed to the old-school dictation
method which places students in a passive position.
4) Conclusion:

To sum everything up, a good education must maintain a balance

between factual knowledge and mind training. That way, the next
generation will receive the best environment to develop into progressive
thinkers - leaders, scientists, and pioneers of the future.

THE ACTUAL ESSAY:

Since the dawn of humanity, education has always been one of the main
driving forces, pushing humans to an elevated society with greater peace and
prosperity. As of such, it is viewed as the backbone of civilization. But some
people hold the notion that education should train the mind to think, not to
feed it with facts. Personally, I partly agree with the statement.

Some say the real meaning of education lies within the activity of memorizing
new words, or knowledge: fact-learning. It is argued that, education should
center around truthful statements regarding the world and how it functions for
an education lacking in information can never be of good use for learners and
teachers alike. For example, if students were never taught basic arithmetic
and how it functions, it will be impossible for them to advance to higher levels
of math. Therefore, facts should be made the foundation of any education as
they are very necessary in everyday and academic situations.

Certain thinkers, both old and new, have expressed the feeling that education
should create a “thinking” mind, rather than a “knowing” mind. A proverb has
said “If you give a man a fish, he eats for a day; If you teach a man to fish, he
eats for a lifetime.” In terms of education, the fish is comparable to facts and
figures. “Teach a man to fish” can be intepreted as to teach someone to do it
themselves. As the proverb implies, it is better to teach people the method to
do something, rather than doing it for them. If education only shows the result
of years of work in the form of facts as-is without teaching people HOW to
achieve that result, it will not educate anyone but rather only “imprint”
knowledge on people’s minds like a printer churning out newspaper:
monotone and identical to many other copies, with no unique traits.

Per the reasons mentioned above, it can be inferred that a good education is
one that can strike a balance between fact-teaching and mind-training. To
achieve this equilibrium, schools should provide greater access to study
materials for students to perform their own research on a given topic. This
encourages learners to cogitate and form new understanding actively, as
opposed to the old-school dictation method which places students in a passive
position.

To sum everything up, a good education must maintain a balance between

factual knowledge and mind training. That way, the next generation will
receive the best environment to develop into progressive thinkers - leaders,
scientists, and pioneers of the future.

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