Thomas Jefferson Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Thomas Jefferson - Essay ExampleThe purpose of education is to enlighten and promote inquiry. Religion has an antithetic purpose. It closes the mind, discourages inquiry and promotes dogmatism. As Jefferson writes, the churchmen who taught him betrayed a deeper interest in how many angels could dance on the head of a pin while they should have taught their students how to make that pin work better for mankind. The implication here is that piety in the classroom and churchmen as teachers will not promote investigative inquiry and may break students natural curiosity.Jefferson advocates a practical approach to education, angiotensin-converting enzyme which will teach students that which they need for their own knowing maturation and that which the nation itself requires for its development and advancement. With that objective in mind, Jefferson first proposes general diffusion of knowledge, as in the provision of public education to all citizens. Within the context of public educa tion, the subjects which should be taught are reading, writing, arithmetic and history. Beyond the parameters of a curriculum whose goal is the promotion of numerical and linguistic literacy, Jefferson proposes that the more(prenominal) advanced, the more happy of the students receive a higher education at the expense of the taxpayers. The subjects which should be taught should be reflective of insight and reason. These subjects are anatomy, medicine, modern languages, and science. The selection of these subjects is predicated on Jeffersons belief that they promote practical and useful knowledge. Opposed to the despotism of the traditional curriculum, Jeffersons education plan revolves around three core objectives. The first is the propagation of knowledge for the purposes of maturation a literate, knowledgeable populace who is capable of constructively contributing to the nations growth and advancement. The second is a more intensive and focused period of higher education, pr ovided at the taxpayers expense, to those who have displayed intellectual talent and who have the electromotive force to constructively contribute to national advancement. The subjects that these students will be taught are practical, useful and determined by their inclinations. The tertiary core principle upon which Jeffersons education plan is founded is the exclusion of religion from educational system in repartee to the tyranny of religious dogma and the extent to which it functions as an obstacle to the promotion of investigative inquiry, knowledge and scathing thinking.It need be noted that despite the fact that Jeffersons own educational experience left more to be desired, his education was typical of his peers. At first, he was educated by his father and taught basic literacy and pick skills. Following that, he was educated in a family schoolhouse by both secular and teachers and churchmen. At this point, his education was traditional and focused on the classics. As he explains, fear was the primary motivator in his education fear of being beaten by his teacher. Added to that, from Jeffersons perspective, his education, while typical of that of his contemporaries, was impractical. In commentary upon the stated, one may affirm the validity of Jeffersons evaluation of the educational system of his time. Besides diffusing knowledge, education is sibyllic to broaden the mind and contribute to the development