Office Hours: What is Education?

You know you need one. That's why you set out to give it to your students in the first place. But the goal of "education" can be vague and daunting if you don't quite know what it is you're after and you only have 12 years to figure it out.  What is the purpose of an education and why should we seek after it? Is it training for real life? Is it mastery? Is it for virtue? And once you know what it is, what tools do you need for the journey? It's a big, juicy topic, and we think the great Western literary heritage has some good perspective to offer.