Our English Syllabus-Impressions

The proper question for a freshman is not “what will do me the most good?” but “what do I most want to know?”
As a first year student myself, this pronouncement by CS Lewis causes me to view the difference between learning for learning’s sake and learning for the sake of achievement. In this syllabus Lewis distinguishes the two very clearly, first talking about those who were coming to the college to seek an education, essentially stating that if one came to the college for that reason, they would be losing, because the pursuit of learning had been found to produce “educational value” while the this was not necessarily true of the of the pursuit of education.

He encourages us to forget about the bright ideals of “self-improvement” and instead focus on “some part of reality” to learn about. When I think to apply this to my own life, I feel I may have, in fact, chosen another major at Calvin had I taken my mind completely off the “external necessity” It has been a general rule that college students should concentrate on what can actually get them somewhere in life, up the corporate ladder, rather than what makes them happy to learn about. I completely agree with Lewis that this is not in fact the best way to learn, it restricts your potential and teaches you to simply follow the system, creating us into narrow-minded men and women soley bent on achieving a great undefined something which in its pursuit of great education, comes to very little learning.

This relates to the difference CS places between vocational training and education. He stresses that vocational training is incredibly narrow in scope, teaching only the skills necessary for the job ad nothing else, it makes a “not a good man but a good banker.” It would be beneficial, in his estimation to mix it with education in order to come out with a broader-minded individual.