If you don't live in any other culture how can you have a point of view ?

What constitutes the best education has been debated since the days of ancient Greece, a debate that has covered a huge number of forms, styles and content.

But there is a general agreement that the best education starts young, includes the rigorous teaching/learning of mother tongue + other languages, mathematics and the natural sciences, philosophy, the arts, morals/ethics all laced with exposure to and use of analysis and challenging ideas or what is presented to the student.

Travel does get a mention in a great deal of the descriptions of the best education, but as a finishing to a thorough education, not an education in its own right.

Clearly, you can be immersed in a culture, but if you are not equipped with the tools to observe analyse and understand what you are observing you'll not learn anything and very likely assign values and ideas to what you are seeing that you either assume by yourself or that are deliberately given to you by your host.

As witnessed on TVF on an almost daily basis.

Edited October 10, 201213 yr by GuestHouse

55555......point of view and opinion is what public forums and use internet data bases are about mate, whether you have never left your bedsit in Clapham or live in the middle of an Asian jungle.

Traveling is an education of course .. unfortunately, for various reasons, not always an option for many ....so armchair travel , discussion on the internet and reading is a great alternative.

Also a great incentive to go and do it!?

I am still waiting for time travel ....what an eduction that would be.....

Those who don't have any formal education will tell you its not necessary (and tell you about Bill Gates dropping out of university); those who do have a formal education will tell you how important it is. I think i have just saved us all alot of time

I think any exposure to differences from our own every day lives can broaden our minds and educate. Travel certainly provides this. When we travel, we experience new and different things. We experience other ideas and other values. We also see different social norms and different lifestyles. We also see different parts of the world and different sides of nature. Experiencing a different landscape or different activites can also broaden our minds. Travel allows us to experience new things as well as new sides to ourselves. We might see something new in ourselves or discover new interests.

Traveling is a great way to see that not everyone does things the way you do it, and not everyone believes the same things you do. Additionally, our minds are broadened by the simple absorption of information, images, memories, etc.

Beyond that, travel can broaden the mind by simply being a challenging thing that causes us to think critically and problem solve, plan and adapt, and in some cases overcome obstacles that may present themselves along the way. Travel can be a rich and rewarding experience, it can also be fraught with nightmares and danger if not thought through, either way, an education for sure.

Ive always thought some of the ungrateful lazy kids of today would appreciate their lifes alot more seeing how some live in poor countries.

Those who don't have any formal education will tell you its not necessary (and tell you about Bill Gates dropping out of university); those who do have a formal education will tell you how important it is. I think i have just saved us all alot of time

Yes, I think you have. Now, what are we going to do with it (the saved time) ?

Traveling and masturbation go hand in hand and there's not much education in either of them.

Same as it ever was.

A very astute and erudite response well worth repeating!

What constitutes the best education has been debated since the days of ancient Greece, a debate that has covered a huge number of forms, styles and content.

But there is a general agreement that the best education starts young, includes the rigorous teaching/learning of mother tongue + other languages, mathematics and the natural sciences, philosophy, the arts, morals/ethics all laced with exposure to and use of analysis and challenging ideas or what is presented to the student.

Travel does get a mention in a great deal of the descriptions of the best education, but as a finishing to a thorough education, not an education in its own right.

Clearly, you can be immersed in a culture, but if you are not equipped with the tools to observe analyse and understand what you are observing you'll not learn anything and very likely assign values and ideas to what you are seeing that you either assume by yourself or that are deliberately given to you by your host.

As witnessed on TVF on an almost daily basis.

Dont believe travelling is best form of education, but it certainly has a role in education.

I have spent most of life travelling around and do I regret it ? no, Are there certain places I wouldnt go back to ?..yes...do I regret going to them in the first vplace no ?

Along the way I have learned a lot things which I wouldnt have learnt/experienced by finishing my education where I grew up and staying in the same place and working there for the rest of my life

My education offered me an endless lifetime of work, travel and leisure combined.

Lausanne Hotel School was my window on the world...

my education was done at home

The education ive been given out here is purely sexual

i think surfing forum is the best form of education. there are debates among the experts, politician and scientist on daily hourly basis, where else can you get that?

i think surfing forum is the best form of education. there are debates among the experts, politician and scientist on daily hourly basis, where else can you get that?

Most bars I would imagine......

Formal education is learning more and more about less and less until you know everything about nothing.

I don't know if you learn much from travelling. I guess it's a bit like everything else, it depends if you pay attention or not. But at least it's more entertaining than sitting in a classroom.

Edited October 11, 201213 yr by JurgenG

Travel broadens the mind, enhances its foundation.

Simply one of the vast repertoire of stimuli that contribute to education.

i think surfing forum is the best form of education. there are debates among the experts, politician and scientist on daily hourly basis, where else can you get that?

Kinda like kindergarten groundhog day.

An education or a Hangover, is hit or miss which one I experience more when traveling. Maybe leaning more towards hangover!

No.......just read #2...... GuestHouse has hit the nail on the head.

I have travelled probably more than most.....and some of those who have accompanied me during my travels and whom I have met who also have travelled extensively......have not gained the slightest bit of education or understanding of things outside their own little universe.

So for those...travel is not the best form of education. The people I refer to reminds me of a prank many years ago......people would find their beloved garden gnomes suddenly missing from their gardens. In the ensuing weeks and sometimes months, the owners of the garden gnomes would receive post cards from their "garden gnomes" describing what a wonderful holiday they were having etc.

This would go on for some time....post cards from all over the world, sometimes photos of the garden gnomes "enjoying" their holiday.

Then just as suddenly, the gnomes would return to their proper place of residence ie, the front garden.

I am sure that these well travelled garden gnomes did not improve their education one iota, as can be said for some of the people I mentioned earlier.

Edited October 11, 201213 yr by Rsquared

The best kind involves people learning to read and write and think for themselves.

There are other things which GuestHouse covered pretty well but these are the crucial things.

Yet to see anywhere manage it 100%...

I have travelled probably more than most.....and some of those who have accompanied me during my travels and whom I have met who also have travelled extensively......have not gained the slightest bit of education or understanding of things outside their own little universe.

Absolutely agree. There are people who travel to find their narrow interests in different weather only. British people coming out to Spain and eating English breakfasts, drinking in English pubs and speaking to other English people.

For me, it´s the finishing on an education. It makes one well-rounded, builds self-esteem and self assurance. It also leads you to stereotype people less, having been to Iran I see the Iranians as incredibly warm people, Israelis on the other hand though..

Having said all that I´ve met some shockingly racist Right-wingers abroad.. In the end, you´re either going to be an auto-didact and learn or your not

One thing is for sure, and that is a great deal of what is served up to the kids in school has always been pretty useless (I am basing these comments on a career in UK schools and co-operating with many schools across Europe). Thankfully, the education system is slowly changing, and is starting to become more relevant to our ever-changing world, but the greatest challenge is that we a trying to prepare young people for jobs that might not even exist yet..... Education is being tasked with a very hard task. When most of the Tv inmates were in school, things were far more predictable than they are today: we had local manufacturing and service industries which swallowed up young folk as they left the school gates, but now we have to prepare youngsters for the great unknown.

In my own experience, I had a steep learning curve long, long ago when my wife died and I had to young children to bring up. When faced with challenges, we learn new strengths and new capabilities. I became self-employed at that time, which was something I had never envisaged. After the main crisis was over, I drifted (at first) into education again.

Where does travel come into education?

Travel also gives us challenges, as long as we choose to travel outside of our prior experience. I have been lucky that for more than 10 years I have been working with schools in most of Europe, and this has involved taking groups of students with me to work with their counterparts. We've used these opportunties to view what they've learned in school to various real-world examples outwith school and formal education. In the past two or three years,

More recently, I have travelled far more than at any previous time in my life (I am now 60 and finally about to retire), and I continue to learn, which allows me to enjoy different life experiences as they arise.

Och.... I'm rambling.... just as well I am retiring in a few weeks!!!!

Edited October 11, 201213 yr by Rob8891

I think the answer to the Ops question is it depends on the value of the education.

• Can it help you get a job? What are the chances?
  
• Can it help feed your family? What are the chances?
  
• Can you retire from it? What are the chances?
  

If everyone is being hired from their traveling education, feeding their family from their travel education, and have the ability to retire from their travel education then there is a good chance you can do it too. However, if most folks are getting hired because they have an education, then chances are you will not get a job, feed your family, or retire from traveling.

So, pick a path and take your chances!

Edited October 12, 201213 yr by richard10365

I have a dream.

it is to take my kids out of school where they learn a lot of stuff that you will never use again in all your life and travel the world.

My biggest dilemma and hurdle is their education. You could home school, but this would mean me as a teacher and I am crap and failed school myself. I would have no idea to teach the upper levels of schooling, I cannot even do long division.

So this hurdle currently keeps me in place, but I am searching for the way and coming up with various ideas.

It depends on what you call traveling I don't really think I learnt very much traveling around South East Asia because essentially a traveler is still like a holiday maker and there is not much opportunity or reason to submerge in to the culture you just you dip in to a few. Nothing can compare to actually living in a place where you also need to work and live a bit like the natives of that culture do before it can be a learning experience.

I wouldn't say that traveling is the best form of education but it certainly does broaden your horizons if you walk off the beaten track.

A journey of a thousand miles starts with the first step