“From experience: in that all our knowledge is founded” (Locke,1). It could not have been said any better by one of the greatest philosophers in history. According to Locke, knowledge is derived from experiences in one’s life and allows a person to nurture their mind. Common knowledge in particular, can be better understood and learned through personal observations, sensations towards observations, and actions. It is essential for a person to put use of their skills of learning because it leads to a deeper understanding of their world.  We believe that practical education is the best way to develop a person’s knowledge because it enables the personal to have an enjoyable educational experience, the concepts are better stored in long-term memory and it allows for an unrestricted, free-thinking learning experience.

The scope of practical education is very wide, it can be an educational trip, experiment, or even daily interaction. Practical education concerns the process of learning through observations and actions, rather than through the classic institutionalized way of learning, which is sitting in a classroom and hearing about it from someone else. However, can we put our learning and how we end up perceiving the world in the hands of people in an infamously flawed educational system? Are we really setting ourselves up for success? Students are provided with knowledge rather than wisdom. It is typical for students to be forced to cram and memorize material to pass a test, just to forget everything right after the exam is over. Students have to try to memorize things they read on paper. However, with hands-on learning, they will automatically remember things just like how their other life experiences are stored in their memory.

Memorization of plain text does not bring any further understanding of the concept unless we manage to transfer the knowledge to action. In Emile: or A Treatise on Education, Rousseau believes that books are the least useful instrument to teach his pupil because he think “they[books] only teach us to talk about things we know nothing about” (Rousseau, 20). What he is saying is that when we “learn” about certain topics in books, we can only relay the information we have read, perhaps in most cases without a true understanding of what we are talking about. Therefore, “learning” from books can be deemed more memorization than actual conceptual understanding. One example that supports real life experience being essential in obtaining knowledge is found in Frankenstein by Mary Shelly. “Of what a strange nature is knowledge! It clings to the mind when it has once seized on it like a lichen on the rock.” (Shelly, 13) According to Shelly, the monster was using his environment as a way to gain knowledge. He didn’t know how to read or write, however, he was able to observe his surroundings in order to communicate with others. He didn’t have to go through years of schooling, yet he was able to be intellectually on par with society.  

When education is received through practical methods, it not only enables for a more efficient learning method, but also enhances sensibility. Observation is the most valuable tool for understanding. As John Locke once said “our observation, about sensible objects, or about the internal operations of our minds, perceived and reflected on by ourselves is that which supplies our understandings with all the materials of thinking.” (Locke, 2) Observations allow us to understand things, and think about them through our own scope. That is one thing that is lacking in institutional education, the freedom to think through your own scope; everyone is always forced to think the way textbooks and teachers want them to think, which may result in hindered learning.