A number of years ago, there was a wonderful advertisement for a 4x4 car in which a man and his dog were driving and came to a fork in the road. The signpost indicated that the right fork was 35km to the intended destination and while viewing it, one could see the road was smooth, wide, straight and clear. The sign indicated that the road to the left also went to the intended destination but was 75km on a dirt, hilly, winding track. The driver considered the two options and after a pause set off with a grin on his face on the long and dusty road! For him, it was not about reaching the destination but about the fun he could have driving this special car over challenging and colourful territory.
For many people, it is all about reaching the desired destination, usually the quicker (as well as the less stressful, more comfortable) the better. If we have to get to Bulawayo from Harare, we should fly rather than drive, they will say. It makes sense after all; it is smarter. There should be no debate! Why on earth would we waste time driving for hours encountering dreadful drivers on damaged roads? The destination is all that matters in the view of such people.
Many people have a similar view of education. All that matters is getting to the destination in the easiest possible way. All we want for our children is to get the best results (it does not matter how, just do what is required to get them, not least as we are paying for her to do so); we want them to gain their colours and to be prefects, with a university place assured — job done! Mission accomplished! Nothing else matters. As golfers have it, all that matters is the number to go on the card (there is no ‘Comment’ column); all that matters for parents is what goes on the child’s CV. It is a simple matter of “Been there. Done that. Got the T-shirt” (or in education, got the certificate).
For many other people, though, including the driver in the above-mentioned car, it is more about the journey than the destination. It is much more about the fun, challenges and experiences that can be had and enjoyed on the way. The novelist Louis L’Amour once said: “Too often I would hear men boast of the miles covered that day, rarely of what they had seen.” Similarly, many people have been attributed with the saying “success is a journey, not a destination.” Arthur Ashe, the great tennis player of a different era, added to that statement that “The doing is often more important than the outcome”. That smooth, wide, straight and clear road is dull and boring (and perhaps also sleep-inducing). It is what we see and experience on the way that really inspires and excites us.
Once again this makes a lot of sense when applied to education. The destination of certificates is not what is most important; it is all that happens during the child’s time at school. As the rapper Drake says, “sometimes it is the journey that teaches you a lot about your destination”. That applies very significantly to education. Indeed, too much of education is about the destination and not about the journey. Too much of teaching is like a railroad where the pupils can only go along the set curriculum, following the textbook, falling asleep on the way, instead of veering off to explore interesting ideas and options off-road (It is easy enough to rejoin the road later).
However, in his book, James Norbury views it differently. “Which is more important,” asked Big Panda, “the journey or the destination?” to which Tiny Dragon answers, “The company”. Flying overseas may be about the destination, not the journey, but actually there could be great benefit in the company encountered on the way, learning something new from them, helping them, making the time go more quickly. The same very definitely applies to education. The most important reason youngsters come to school is for the social interaction and development, not the certificate at the end. Neither the destination nor the journey are of any value without the company.
The car advertisement is more telling — the driver weighed up his options but tellingly he looked at his companion, his dog, and effectively got the nod from him — together they would enjoy the journey. Education is not about ticking things off our bucket list, notching up qualifications. Forget the T-shirt. It is far more about the company than the journey or destination. Let us go now.
- Forget the T-shirt!
