Whatever an education is

Whatever an education is, it should make you a unique individual, not a conformist: it should furnish you with an original spirit with which to tackle the big challenges; it should allow you to find values which will be your roadmap through life; it should make you spiritually rich, a person who loves whatever you are doing, wherever you are, whomever you are with; it should teach you what is important, how to live and how to die."

-- John Taylor Gatto

I don't usually warm to teachings that house the word 'should'.  But in a world where education has strayed so far from what it could serve for a person - to prepare them to fully enjoy and live their life, to make decisions that fit them, to be learning and able to self-teach throughout all of life - it seems acceptable to judge education as it stands now.