1973 School Magazine

TTIH PIAGAUINro OF TITH BRISBANH GTRLSU GRAMMAR SOHOOI, EDITORIAL Many things hove been written, not least in school magazine editorials, about the five years spent in secondary education. It is aclcnowledged that education is not solely a meens to a material end, but rather an intellecnnl striving towmds a broadening of sympsthiesanda maturity of outlook. Nevertheless, many critics claim tlwt contemporary education is inadequate, that the central aim of education should be to train the individual mind rather than to stress tntegtation with a group, and that education is too often believed to be a closed-end process which stops as soon as adult ffi begins. In reality, education and personal development need not mme to a hnlt with the end of formal classes: we can always learn. The individual mind must work for itself, must strive to gain an understanding that extends bryond hours and grades and marlcs. For many this knowledge culminates in a need to believe in something, to have a sense of dtrection and purpose. We must formulate a clear idea of what constitutes a satislying and signifi.cant ffi, and, as far as possible, devebp a morol philosophy consistent with its inspbation. However, man's confrontation with his world is constantly changing: we need not believe that today\ answers will serve for a lifetime. The quest is unending, but the answers we discover at a poticillar time must suffice for tlwt time. The solutions reached while still at school must enlwnce our existencethere; as Samuel fohnson wid of books - they me useless unless they help us "better to mjoy W; or better to mdure it." The whole process is necessarily an indtvidual one, and is therefore modified by the various factors affecting the individwl contact with educotion, forrnally received from institutions, or inforrrully gained from the effect of the environment, and contact with the idealism and enthusiasm of youth me all signiftcant in shaping our potentialities. Through education we receive a traditioral view of ethics and modes of thought - justifimtion for this devolves from the ancient Greek belief tlwt a properly ftained mind will turn towmds virtue. Through contact with youth we bemme aware of a growing diswtisfoction with accepted opinion,and one stimulated to thought beyond tradition and our parents' tnorality. Old conclusions camot be reapplied in a new world, but must be re-emmined and replaced by new conclusions. The society in which we will existin the future will be of our own making; the forces of change at work in the world today wanant a reappraisal of formulaefor living. C.K.