My education and yours

Sometimes I see forms that include a space for "education".  It is usually clear that what is being asked for is what is often called "my level of education" or what degrees have I earned.  I graduated from kindergarten, elementary school, junior high school, high school, college and graduate school.

When I learned that I needed to state what I wanted to study in graduate school, I answered "educational research", even though I wasn't sure that any schools taught that or related subjects.  When I inquired at some schools, I sometimes found they said they didn't offer a major in that subject.  My doctoral program was labeled "Educational Research Methods. Measurement and Statistical Analysis".  

OK, let's get real.  You and I started "learning" and getting impressions before we were born.  You can look up "learning in the womb" to see some of what is often learned before birth.  As toddlers, we learned all sorts of things.  If you are hot to learn about toddler intelligence, you can refer to sources listed on this page:   t.ly/nE6BE

I spent some time in doctoral studies learning about what has been referred to as an American obsession: trying to "measure" a child's intelligence, given though it is not quite clear just what intelligence is.  Efforts to "measure" intelligence date at least from 1916.

A common image of people being educated shows students listening to a presentation or a person reading.  But we sophisticates know that activities like being frowned at, punished, kissed, fed, bullied, flirted with and tackled are quite educational, also