William Butler Yeats Quote

A quote by William Butler Yeats states that "Education is not the filing of a pail, but the lighting of a fire." When I first read this quote, I interpreted in a negative way, which confused me. I was thinking of lighting a fire as a negative thing, and was unsure of why Yeats was comparing education to it. Then, after reading it over a couple more times, I realized that the "lighting of a fire" is actually referring to inspiration. The filling of a pail is merely feeding information to students. A good teacher should inspire students to challenge ideas, ask questions, be curious, and be passionate about the subject that they love. Instead of just making them remember irrelevant information that does not mean anything to them, teachers should encourage students to on their own. Is was mentioned in class today that a bucket can only be filled to a certain point, but that a fire can spread wildly. I completely agree; learning should have no limits. By lighting a fire and allowing it to grow, a teacher gives students the unlimited ability to continue learning. On the other hand, a teacher who only "fills the pail" limits the learning capability of their students. 

I also agree that a Yeats' quote describes the ideal learning situation, and that our education system does the exact opposite. The point of going to school should be to learn, but in reality, school only teaches us to memorize information in order to pass tests. Most of the things that we are taught are forgotten after the test. I believe that school would be more successful if education was focused more on inspiring students and making them want to learn themselves. Putting less emphasis on test scores and being less concerned with how students compare to each other would cause us to be able to "light a fire" instead of just "fill the pail."