The Educated Mind offers a bold and revitalizing new vision for today's uncertain educational system. Kieran Egan reconceives education, taking into account how we learn. He proposes the use of particular "intellectual tools"โsuch as language or literacyโthat shape how we make sense of the world. These mediating tools generate successive kinds of understanding: somatic, mythic, romantic, philosophical, and ironic. Egan's account concludes with practical proposals for how teaching and curriculum can be changed to reflect the way children learn.
"A carefully argued and readable book. . . . Egan proposes a radical change of approach for the whole process of education. . . . There is much in this book to interest and excite those who discuss, research or deliver education."โAnn Fullick, New Scientist
"A compelling vision for today's uncertain educational system."โLibrary Journal
"Almost anyone involved at any level or in any part of the education system will find this a fascinating book to read."โDr. Richard Fox, British Journal of Educational Psychology
"A fascinating and provocative study of cultural and linguistic history, and of how various kinds of understanding that can be distinguished in that history are recapitulated in the developing minds of children."โJonty Driver, New York Times Book Review