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Education and Narnia

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Education and Narnia

Postby Danman » August 14th, 2007, 3:00 am

Ok, here's a topic that I'm sure wiser and more learned minds than my own will be able to add much more insight to. But I thought I'd get it started.

Lewis must have had some pretty strong feelings about education, being that he was, himself, a professor. I'm certain he must have wearied of the student who's grammar was so aweful that reading an essay was painful. Or of the student who's grasp of metaphor was nil.

But I think he certainly gave us a glimpse of his attitude toward public education (at the very least, in his own time) within the words of CoN.

Let's consider... The dear old Professor in LWW who questions to himself, "What do they teach them in these schools?" And I believe he says this more than once. He's truly amazed at what the children don't know. It's all in Plato, after all.

And we can't begin a conversation about this without including a reference to Experiment House in SC. I have no idea if this school was based on any real facility Lewis knew of, or if it was simply a conglomorate of different 'shortcomings' Lewis saw in education in general. Whichever it was, he was not impressed.

There are other references to education in the books.... Caspian's education by Cornelius, Cor's statement that all sorts of horrible things were going to happen to him now - he was to be educated. The young lady in PC who teaches the 'pig-boys' in Beruna and how miserable she looked. There are a lot of things we might infer from these instances....

So, what do you think? Was Lewis making a comment on education, or was he just adding some kind of humorous note about school (something his young readers could identify with - I know I could), or was he doing both? Let's discuss!
"And this is the marvel of marvels, that he called me, Beloved, me who am but as a dog---" Emeth.
And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; But the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them.
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Postby Pine_Tree » August 14th, 2007, 12:12 pm

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Postby Danman » August 14th, 2007, 12:47 pm

"And this is the marvel of marvels, that he called me, Beloved, me who am but as a dog---" Emeth.
And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; But the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them.
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Postby A#minor » August 14th, 2007, 1:44 pm

"My brain and this world don't fit each other, and there's an end of it!" - G.K. Chesterton
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Re: Education and Narnia

Postby robsia » August 14th, 2007, 10:38 pm

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Postby rusmeister » August 16th, 2007, 10:43 am

"Eh? Two views? There are a dozen views about everything until you know the answer. Then there's never more than one."
Bill "The Blizzard" Hingest - That Hideous Strength
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Postby Danman » August 16th, 2007, 12:51 pm

"And this is the marvel of marvels, that he called me, Beloved, me who am but as a dog---" Emeth.
And as He spoke He no longer looked to them like a lion; But the things that began to happen after that were so great and beautiful that I cannot write them.
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Postby friendofaslan » August 16th, 2007, 3:20 pm

Good topic! Lewis does indeed seem to challenge "new" conventions in education and whether young people are taught to think--especially outside the box. One of his quotes from The Abolition of Man is the heart of my philosophy of education: "The task of the modern educator is not to cut down jungles, but to irrigate deserts."

You see much of his feelings about public education in the Narnia books.
Member of the 2456317 Club. "How will you know? . . . Odd things they say--even their looks--will let the secret out. Keep your eyes open. Bless me, what do they teach them at these schools?" - Professor Kirke in LWW
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