Plato's Allegory of the Cave in realtion to school teachers or Essay

Plato's Allegory of the Cave in realtion to school teachers or students - Essay Example In Plato’s story, the prisoners were chained to a cave wall with the inability to move their heads. All the prisoners could see were shadows and all that they could hear were echoes. These shadows and echoes are like feelings and hearsay. Many people have false notions based on hearsay and feelings. One misconception an elderly relative of mine has is the belief if medicine is followed by water the medicine is watered down and ineffective. It does not matter how many times I explain that a medicine’s dosage is what makes it effective, their feelings on this matter does not waiver. Many people try different methods of things not by knowledge, but because of what a neighbor recommends. If all the knowledge a person has comes from feelings and hearsay, it would be like hearing echoes and seeing shadows in a cave. No truth can be found until someone wants to walk in the sun. Teachers, like the sun in the story, must educate their students in truth. Some teachers with an aggressive or harsh style tend to put students off. A teacher must illuminate the subject they teach for their students. Just like the harsh sun beating down on a prisoner’s weak eyes in the parable, if the learning process is too taxing or painful, a student will only learn enough to pass the course, not permanently retaining the knowledge. This could lead to a student staying ignorant, because being ignorant is easy. Looking into the sun hurts and takes an effort, just like the learning process. Another important comparison is the cave and ignorance. Some students refuse to learn because of the familiarity of ignorance. The cave was all that the prisoners knew. Some released prisoners would flee from the light for the refuge of the cave. It is very easy to slide though school, only doing enough work to pass, but not to learn the thirst of knowledge. Upon high school graduation,