:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/GettyImages-11410491702-07f03ccd0eb54d36a9b62212cd2f55a1.jpg)
I believe that education relates to the cave Plato talks about in the Allegory of the Cave. In the Allegory of the Cave, there are prisoners who are chained up and only are able to see the shadows on the wall. They never saw the outside world so their reality is this cave wall and warped shadows on the wall. The shadows can represent the limited knowledge they have about what is outside of the cave.
In school, we are confined to learning specific things determined by our teachers, the curriculum, and our grade level. We do not get the opportunity to explore our interests does not come until we are “released.” Even if we have no interest in a particular subject, we still need specific grades to fulfill our academic desires. For example, I am required to get a high mark in social studies even though my passion is in math and science. The knowledge I gain is limited to what my teachers present. I cannot even ask any questions and am just forced to believe what they are telling me is true. They teach me my reality.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/graduates-throwing-caps-1066324992-2000-c66181da679b46dab1f62f4b2fbe3e84.jpg)
Graduating from high school is our world’s way of being released from the cave. It allows us the chance to learn specific subjects that relate to our interests but, we are still fed the reality of our professors. Complete freedom only comes after graduating from university.
I am currently in highschool and my older brother, who will graduate from university in about two years. He tells me what I will not need to know once I am out of highschool. I have no choice but to ignore him because in my reality, I have to know this information right now. In my grade 11 curriculum, I am required to learn and study photosynthesis even if I lack interest in plants. This is much like how the cave people do not understand what the freed people who come back are saying.
I am absorbing a specific perspective and reality based on my teachers opinions and values. True freedom will not come until I graduate highschool or university.