What Is and What Might Be

In this thoughtful study the author argues that modern schooling has become too fixated on outward results, letting the deeper, vital aspects of learning slip away. By tracing the roots of this “externalism” to long‑standing Western attitudes, he insists that genuine education must be measured by the growth it nurtures within each child, not merely by test scores or visible achievements. The book sets out a clear, if challenging, vision: education should feed both the mind and the spirit, offering the nourishment and exercise needed for latent abilities to blossom.

Drawing on intimate experience of elementary classrooms, the writer shows how the youngest learners can already demonstrate a liberating, life‑affirming education that many higher levels lack. He portrays teachers as well‑meaning victims of entrenched traditions and punitive “payment‑by‑results” policies, yet also highlights the pioneering educators who manage to spark true development. The work invites listeners to reconsider what schooling ought to achieve and how a shift in values might revive its purpose.