Children have real understanding only of that which they invent themselves, and each time that we try to teach them too quickly, we keep them from reinventing it themselves.
Jean PiagetRead
The principal goal of education is to create men who are capable of doing new things, not simply of repeating what other generations have done-men who are creative, inventive, and discovers. The second goal of education is to form minds which can be critical, can verify, and not accept everything they are offered.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Education should nurture creativity and critical thinking rather than mere memorization.
Jean Piaget emphasizes that the primary objective of education is to cultivate individuals who are innovative and capable of original thought, rather than just replicating the knowledge of past generations. He asserts a secondary goal of education is to develop critical thinkers who can analyze information and challenge accepted norms, rather than passively accepting them.
Themes
EducationCreativityCritical ThinkingInnovationLearning
In practice
Example use cases
A speaker at a conference on innovative teaching methods might use this quote to emphasize the importance of fostering creativity.
More from Jean Piaget
All quotes βLogical activity is not the whole of intelligence. One can be intelligent without being particularly logical.
Jean PiagetRead
Children's games constitute the most admirable social institutions. The game of marbles, for instance, as played by boys, contains an extremely complex system of rules - that is to say, a code of laws, a jurisprudence of its own.
Jean PiagetRead
Everyone knows that at the age of 11-12, children have a marked impulse to form themselves into groups and that the respect paid to the rules and regulations of their play constitutes an important feature of this social life.
Jean PiagetRead
Play is the work of childhood.
Jean PiagetRead
The goal of education is not to increase the amount of knowledge but to create the possibilities for a child to invent and discover, to create men who are capable of doing new things.
Jean PiagetRead
Similar quotes
My best teachers were not the ones who knew all the answers, but those who were deeply excited by questions they couldn't answer.
Brian GreeneRead
I am always doing what I can't do yet in order to learn how to do it.
Vincent Van GoghRead
I want education for the sons and daughters of the Taliban and all the terrorists and extremists. I do not even hate the Talib who shot me. Even if there was a gun in my hand and he was standing in front of me, I would not shoot him. This is the compassion I have learned from Mohamed, the prophet of mercy, Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha.
Malala YousafzaiRead
Read. Read every chance you get. Read to keep growing. Read history. Read poetry. Read for pure enjoyment. Read a book called Life on a Little Known Planet. It's about insects. It will make you feel better.
David McculloughRead
Concentration is the key that opens up to the child the latent treasures within him.
Maria MontessoriRead
Study after study affirms what I saw in the classroom every day as superintendent of Denver Public Schools: Nothing makes a bigger difference for student learning than great teaching.
Michael BennetRead