"Now what I want is Facts. Teach these boys and girls nothing but Facts. Facts alone are wanted in life. Plant nothing else, and root out everything else. You can only form the minds of reasoning animals upon Facts: nothing else will ever be of service to them."
So says Charles Dickens in the opening lines of his novel 'Hard Times'. Mr Gradgrind, the school master, professes this to be the sole purpose of education. The eradication of any imagination or sense of wonder in children, to be replaced only with simple fact; even for his own children.
It would appear that this has been adopted by the current Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove, as his credo in the crusade to remove any form of creativity from the curriculum.
In 'Hard Times', Gradgrind comes to regret the neglect of his charges' artistic and imaginative sides. Indeed, he is left a changed and humble man when his daughter, Louisa, returns to him after escaping her loveless marriage to Josiah Bounderby.
She has no emotional understanding or heart-warmth to deal with her situation; neither have been cultivated in her. "Let me fall", she says, "Your philosophy will not save me."
The one thing most needful in education in particular, and life in general, is the ability to wonder, to imagine, and to empathise with other human beings.
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