Abstract

In the modern world, education has taken a functionalist hue, and its purpose has become one of ensuring that pupils have sufficient generic skills and competencies to meet the needs of employers. It is argued that the aims of education are broader than this. Education needs to prepare students to have understanding of themselves, of their relationships to others, to have an ability to make good moral and other judgements and to act on these. If education has a role to play in the alleviation of the crises facing the world, then there is some urgency in reflecting on what needs to be changed to form individuals who are far-sighted and able to think creatively about solutions to the problems facing humanity. It is our contention that the major problem with modern education is that it has forgotten that its main task is helping students to learn to be wise. That is, in considering the aims of education, it is proposed that it is wisdom which is the main aim of education.