Albert Einstein at School

Chapter Summary

Patrick Pringle, the writer of the story, tries to evaluate the problems faced by “Albert Einstein” in his school days. This is an extraction of the book “The Young Einstein” and it is called the biography of “Einstein”. The story as well as the entire book provides that Einstein does not have any liking for school.

The story starts with an introduction between little Albert and his history teacher. The teacher here asks him about a particular date but Albert does not have any answer to the question and he expresses his unwillingness to memorise the date. According to little Albert, he can search for the pages when it is necessary to know the date of something and that is the reason he does not believe in “mugging up” facts.

The teachers applied the “traditional method” for teaching in the school and the little boy does not like it well. His disliking was for the conventional educational forms and that is the reason the teachers also do not like him much. The incidents in the class of history make the teacher irritated and he asked Albert to leave.

Albert also did have not any liking for his home and the reason for this is that he was not comfortable there. Although he did not like the school he likes the subject of science and wishes he could study only the subject of science. Then he planned with his friend, “Yuri” and they arrange a doctor and ask him to certify Albert as a lunatic and not fit for the school. Albert also expresses his love for mathematics to the doctor. In the meantime, the headmaster then calls him and told him that his behaviour in the school is creating a disturbance. The environment of the school is getting disturbed and therefore the teacher asked him to leave the school. Firstly, Albert gets astonished because he was ready to present his lunatic report but before it, the school rusticated him. He happily leaves the school and only meets with "Yuri" and "Yuri" wishes him luck.

What do you understand of Einstein’s nature from his conversations with his history teacher, his mathematics teacher and the head teacher?

The nature of Albert Einstein presents that he was an intelligent student but he had hatred against the traditional learning process of education. He hates the facts of memorising dates as well as the facts of history. He consists of a spontaneous nature and that is the reason he finds memorising dates useless.

The conversation of this little boy with his Math teacher proves his extreme interest in this subject. This was the only class in the school in which he pays full attention and presented in class very attentively. He does not become open as well as outright in front of the teacher of Mathematics. The merit of this little is not get recognised by the principal and therefore, he is expelled from the school.

The school system often curbs individual talents - Discuss.

This comment seems quite true and it is often seen that the system of education in schools sometimes curbs individual talents. The picture is that most of the time it is outdated as well as unproductive. The system of education should be present in the way that it must bring out the best from within. Different it is seen that schools interfere with the free growth as well as the development of the children.

The schools do not give a proper atmosphere for the proper growth of the children. There are too many disciplines in the school that makes the student unproductive. This discipline destroyed the creative instinct of the children but children only needed freedom. It is presented that there is no mental as well as physical growth possible without freedom.

The educational system in the school should not be heavy and education, as well as entertainment, should go together. Only the dates, figures, and facts are not education but ideas are also important for the system of education.

How do you distinguish between information gathering and insight formation?

There is a huge difference between the two concepts of information gathering as well as insight formation. Here gathering the information is nothing but the collection of facts as well as data. It refers to gathering data or knowledge about specific situations as well as events. This gathering of knowledge can be done by the process of communication.

On the other hand, insight formation is considered to be the concept that one has on a matter or subject. It has come from within through the process of deep understanding of this matter. This phrase refers to the capacity for discerning the real nature of a situation. The concept can differ from man to man and it is depended on the concepts as well as their ideas of them.

FAQs

Q1. How many characters are found in the story Albert Einstein at School?

Ans. There are various characters in this story of Albert Einstein at School and they are Albert Einstein, Mr. Barun, Yuri, Mr. Koch, Landlady, Head Teacher, Dr. Ernst Weil, as well as Elsa. Here Albert was a student, Yuri was his friend, Mr. Barun was the history teacher, and Elsa was his cousin.

Q2. What is the moral of the story Albert Einstein at School?

Ans. The story of Albert Einstein at School has come with a moral thought and it is said that education does not refer to the matter of cramping. It is the overall growth and development of a student.

Q3. Who narrates the story Albert Einstein at School?

Ans. The narrator of the story Albert Einstein at School was Doctor Ernst Weil. This person narrated the story and he knows all the likings as well as disliking of Albert.