We held the first Neuron Club

The Neuron Club is a gathering of patrons, scientists and supporters of the Neuron Endowment Fund. A discussion of a topical subject in a friendly atmosphere. The first Neuron Club of this year met on 15 March 2018 to discuss education. The panellists considered the question of whether changing education really is the key to changing society, and where one can start.

The starting point of the discussion was a reflection on the changes today's age brings: new technologies, artificial intelligence, the internet and the availability of information that goes with it on the one hand, and the crisis of the traditional family and the emergence of new social contexts on the other. All of this shifts the emphasis to education outside school buildings.

There was agreement that education is the key to changing society and to the quality of democracy. Democracy cannot function without a shared system of values and critical thinking, and the humanities contribute to that — they cannot be constantly levelled down. What is considered most essential is the formation of value-based attitudes in children at a young age: that is, in nurseries and primary schools. According to an analysis of the value framework of several of the world's most advanced countries, the main aims of education include, among other things, morality in the sense of standing up to evil, and also active citizenship. To establish values in society, public education and the personal initiative of each of us are necessary. From this public education it is then possible to find a reasonable degree of agreement on a vision of education in our country.

Our society lacks a fundamental understanding of why children are educated: that the aim is not some certificate but education itself, that is, the joy of discovery. With today's technologies, however, we have the advantage of being able to explain the fundamentals of education. Teachers have to understand that their role is to move every pupil forward as far as possible. And good education systems can differentiate between pupils and work with those differences.

We thank Opero for the beautiful premises.

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