For successful education there must always be a certain freshness in the knowledge dealt with. It must be either new in itself or invested with some novelty of application to the new world of new times. Knowledge does not keep any better than fish. You may be dealing with knowledge of the old species, with some old truth; but somehow it must come to the students, as it were, just drawn out of the sea and with the freshness of its immediate importance.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Successful education requires knowledge to feel fresh and relevant to current times, like fish freshly drawn from the sea. Even old truths must be presented with immediate importance to students.
- In plain terms
- Education works best when knowledge feels new and relevant to today's world.
- What can you take from it?
- Present old knowledge with fresh relevance to students.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Is your learning fresh or stale?
- How can you apply old truths now?
Another view
It values novelty over depth or tradition.
More from Alfred North Whitehead
Education is the acquisition of the art of the utilisation of knowledge.
Permalink to quote #19 The consequences of a plethora of half-digested theoretical knowledge are deplorable.
Permalink to quote #21 It is the business of the future to be dangerous; and it is among the merits of science that it equips the future for its duties.
Permalink to quote #18
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