Education Values of a Decaying System

On the way home from a wedding this weekend I had a six hour car ride with the Social Working wife a, professional counselor, and a magazine editor. One thing we focused in on was how we all had to memorize Shakespeare while in high school.  Some had Macbeth, some had King Lear but all of us dreaded it, and looking back we failed to see any value in memorizing prose. 

I think we all keyed into fact that the education system is failing to educate itself on the new and useful skills and values of the modern age.  Education is not a fad, but the ability to creatively think and analyze information are stalwarts in the real world.  Communication is essential, but if you can not generate an original thought or put two clues together the ability to self express becomes moot. 
For our country to succeed it seems clear to me that we need to take the responsibility of teaching thinking upon our own shoulders.  If we want to see our children grow and prosper we must help foster a sense of intellectual curiosity and spur on creativity and development of an active mind.