The Fault in Our School System (Ethics)

‘Non vitae sed scholae discimus.’

A pun on the famous Latin expression ‘non scholae sed vitae discimus’, which means that we do not learn the most important things by sitting in a classroom and listening to what the teacher has to tell, but that we as human beings only truly can gain knowledge by experiencing certain events that we want to know more about.

Seneca has made a pun by switching two words, namely vitae and scholae and with this play on words Seneca’s thoughts about the role that school plays in our society is shown.  

Let me first start by explaining how I interpret this quote.

Non vitae sed scholae discimus.

Meaning

We are taught for the schoolroom, not for life.

Seneca’s way of thinking was the total opposite of what was custom during that time. (I mean the period of the Roman Empire)

Seneca has switched the words to make his statement clear as to how much his environment has changed.

In his eyes we do not longer learn what is the right thing for ourselves to do in life.

We purely do whatever our teachers expect us to.

Basically, Seneca believes that society is based on whoever can shout the right answer in class without the learning process having any further result in the life of the relevant student.

Contrary to the previous belief that it is not important what we exactly learn at school, it is important to know how to apply the knowledge to our own life.

The things we used to learn were not given to us by our teachers, it was all solely self-discovery by experiencing every bit of knowledge.

Of course the teachers played a huge role in the process to gain this knowledge.

However, it was not important to be the best in class and do the best in class to be able to make the best of your own life.

Seneca is stating that this kind of self-discovery by experiencing the interesting things in life has been pushed aside.

It is all about learning what the school system expects us to answer.

Shout the right answer the loudest in the classroom.

We should do as is expected of us, if we want to aspire anything higher in life, because after all according to Seneca: society has taught us that we do not learn anything by experiencing itself.

After all the right answer is there, with your teacher. We should only learn that and simply repeat what we have been told.

Even though I do not know in what circumstances this quote was written, I can understand which direction Seneca is going with these kind of thoughts, because I observe the same kind of behavior in my own learning environment. (The fact that school comes before the self-development of the talents a person possess.)

I only think Seneca has missed a crucial point.

You see, Seneca states that not P but Q is the case. (We only learn for school and not for life.)

I rather think that these two, almost opposite seen, cases actually walk hand in hand during the life of a student.

In my eyes because of P à Q is possible. (Because of school we are able to experience life to its fullest.)

Seneca states that in order for one to take place (P) the other should be absent (Q).

We solely learn for the schoolroom, not for life.

If learning for the schoolroom is taking place, automatically the learning of life isn’t.

My opinion is that we will be able to experience life to its fullest with a proper education system.

Let me substantiate what I mean by this.

The reason we are in the classroom to begin with is because we see ourselves as people who have not experienced enough in life to fully be developed into our superego (=the person we want to be, opposite to who we are right now) and we don’t understand everything that we come across to.

We are still infants, who look at the world with big astonished eyes.

There is someone needed to help this infant and help him develop those potentials in which he excels.

This is the teacher who does not want his students to push their self-development aside and solely repeat after him.

This teacher is not denying their potential knowledge, this teacher is not trying to suppress the talents of his students in the suffocating classroom.

This teacher acknowledges the talents of his student and his purpose is to lead these students to the end of their learning journey, so they can become self-conscious people who will use the knowledge of the teacher to experience life to its fullest and thereby understand every event that befalls them.

This teacher adds meaning to the these experiences.

Therefor he should be seen as a companion, who travels behind the infant and helps him whenever this child is looking surprised at the big world, because he has potential to understand life but not the knowledge of how to develop these talents to its fullest and thereby experiencing life.

Thereby I believe that because of the schoolroom we are not shutting ourselves off.

Not at all.

We gain knowledge from people who have experienced everything we want to experience.

It is only logical to embrace this knowledge given to us as aid in our further journey what is known as life.

The question is, why is self-development so important?

Why should we gain experiences?

I see this as the most important thing in the ladder of life.

Next to the primary needs like water, food, shelter and secondary needs like family, friends and respect, the highest form of living, in my eyes, is the chance to be able to live in an environment where self-development is possible so we can know who the real me is the accept it and love it for who it is.

Even though I showed you earlier that there were a few points that I didn’t agree with, I can’t say that Seneca is fully wrong.

What I showed you earlier was, in my eyes, the ideal school system and I honestly don’t think our school system is that bad.

However it is slightly much more focused on getting high grades and passing classes.

I am not stating this as a bad thing, not at all actually.

There needs to be some kind of motivation in order to do the thing you should do.

In exchange you get recognition for your intelligence in the form of a grade.

This can make a person happy or rather self-satisfied, because, if done correctly, the student knows that this grade only tests him on his ability to understand what he wanted to understand and he passed it, therefor he has gained more knowledge and will have more experience in the rest of his life by using this gained knowledge.

Unfortunately this kind of behavior is lacking.

When a student gets bad grades, he or she is rather frustrated about the fact that he’ll get trouble with his environment than the fact that he didn’t learn as much from the class as he should have, because that is after all what should be the priority when you go to school.

Theoretically speaking things like cheating and fooling your teacher shouldn’t take place at all, just in order to achieve a high grade.

By doing this you’re forgetting the reason you’re going to school.

But it is understandable.

The classroom is full of anxious students, who know that their intelligence will only be recognized in the form of a grade, typed down in big black letters on their grade card.

I am not saying grades should be banned, it is an encouraging way for the students to show what they know.

However I think that method on which our school system is based emphasizes grades and repetitive behavior a lot more than the self-development of the students.

Achieving the opposite of what school is intended for, not self-development but exactly as Seneca stated.

Non vitae, sed scholae discere

Not learning for life, but for school.