Snapshots Supplementary Reader Chapter 4 Albert Einstein At School

Albert Einstein was not at all satisfied with the school education in Germany. It was completely outdated and unproductive. The History teacher considered that education was nothing more than learning dates and years of events. For Einstein education meant ideas. He didn’t see any point in learning dates. One could look up the dates in books.

Albert’s Mathematics teacher was different from other teachers. He had a very good opinion about Einstein. He was very cooperative and helpful. He willingly gave Albert the reference that he needed. This encounter revealed Albert’s character too. He showed his modesty by praising Mr Koch. He told Mr Koch that he enjoyed his class. Einstein didn’t like his school nor his teachers.

Einstein’s worst encounter was with the head teacher. He told Einstein to leave the school of his own accord. Albert didn’t take the insult lying down. He asked what crime he had committed. The head teacher replied that he had become a nuisance for others. Albert was very angry. He wanted to tell the head teacher what he thought of him and the school. But he kept quiet. He showed his contempt by not closing the door as was asked by the head teacher. Nor did he have even the last look at his school.

It is quite true that the school education often curbs individual talents. Most of the time it is unproductive and outdated. Education must bring out the best from within. Education received within the four walls may not be the real education. Actually it has been seen that schools interfere with the free growth and development of children. They don’t provide proper atmosphere for their proper growth. Too many restrictions and dead formalities kill the natural growth in children. Too much of discipline also proves quite unproductive. It kills the creative instinct in children.

What children need is freedom. Without freedom no physical or mental growth is possible. Drive and dynamism mustn’t be curbed. School education should not be heavy, dull and cumbersome. Entertainment and education must go together. Education is not just facts, figures and dates. Ideas must dominate our education. Only then our schools will produce geniuses like Einstein.

Education is not confined to mere information gathering. Information only keeps us well informed about things. Albert Einstein’s views about education only confirm that information gathering has its limitations. The History teacher asks when the Prussians defeated the French at Waterloo. Actually, he is seeking an information. It can be easily gathered from any good book on history. Einstein thinks that learning of days, dates and figures have no meaning or importance. What is important are the ideas. Ideas are the basis of education. So, insight formation must be the aim of education. Schools shouldn’t overburden students with the heaps of data collection. It is not important how many soldiers are killed and when they are killed. It is important to learn why soldiers try to kill others in war.

The real growth and development of the mind is more important than mere information gathering. Depth comes from the basics and not from facts and figures. Ideas are the essence of real education. Without the basics and ideas, education will be reduced to mere dead formalities and information gathering.

Mr. Braun asked Albert in what year the Prussians defeated the French at Waterloo. Albert told him that he didn’t know. Albert told him that he saw no point in learning dates. These could be seen in books. This made him speechless.

According to Albert, education should be based not on facts but on ideas. Albert said that one could get these facts from books. He was more interested in knowing why soldiers killed other soldiers in war. He was not interested in knowing their numbers.

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The History teacher got irritated. His eyes got cold and cruel. He said that he didn’t want a lecture from him. He punished Albert by making him stay in for an extra period that day. He also told him that he was a disgrace to the institution.

Albert didn’t misbehave. Nor was he impolite. He addressed the history teacher quite respectfully as ‘Sir’. But Albert Einstein was not a blind follower. He had his own concept of education. He considered learning days and dates of history quite irrelevant . No doubt, he was fearless, frank and even unconventional. But he was anything except being impolite.

Albert didn’t feel cheerful to return to his lodging. His room was in the poorest quarters of Munich. Then his landlord beat his wife after he returned home drunk on Saturdays. He hated the atmosphere of slum violence. The atmosphere made him sick.

Elsa was Albert’s cousin. She told Albert that she was sure Albert could learn enough to pass the examinations if he tried. She told him that she knew many students more stupid than Albert. They got through the examinations. So he should also try and pass the examination.

Elsa told Albert that she knew many boys who were more stupid than Albert. They could pass the examination easily. For this, Albert didn’t need to learn what had been taught to him. However, he should be able to repeat it in the examination.

Albert told Yuri that it was foolish he should go on like that. In the end, he would realise that he had been wasting his father’s money and everyone’s time. It would be better if he stopped behaving in that manner.

Albert didn’t feel at ease at school. After his encounter with the teacher he felt insulted. He decided to get rid of his school by producing a false certificate from a doctor. The doctor was to certify that he had a nervous breakdown. It would serve his purpose. He would not be medically fit to stay in the school.

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Ernest Weil was a doctor. He had qualified as a doctor only the previous week. He was a good friend of Yuri. Albert told Yuri of his plan of staying away from the school. Yuri told him to go to Dr. Ernest Weil to get a medical certificate for that purpose. Dr. Weil really helped Einstein in this matter.

Albert needed a medical certificate from a doctor. If the doctor could certify that he suffered from a nervous breakdown, he would stay away from school. But Albert was a simple and straightforward boy. He didn’t know any craft. He had spent the whole day wondering what to tell the doctor. He was so much worried that he was about to have a nervous breakdown.

Yuri told Albert not to deceive Dr. Ernest Weil. He should tell everything clearly. He should be frank with him. He shouldn’t pretend to be what he is not. He should behave honestly and normally.

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Albert told him that he would go to Milan in Italy. There lived his parents. Dr. Weil asked him what he would do there. Albert told him that he would try to get admission into some Italian college or institute.

Yuri knew his friend Albert quite well. He also knew that Albert was a simple and straightforward boy. He wanted to have a false certificate from a doctor. But he didn’t know how to tell a lie. This is exactly what happened when Albert went to get that certificate. He felt so nervous that he was really going to have a nervous breakdown. It was really a compliment that Yuri gave to her friend.

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Albert hoped that Mr. Koch, his Mathematics teacher would issue him a reference in writing. It will prove his ability and intelligence in Mathematics. Mr. Koch recorded that Einstein had learnt all the Mathematics taught at school and a bit more. Albert hoped that Mr. Koch’s reference will be enough in this matter.

Yuri advised him that it was a right step. Six months was a good period. That way he wouldn’t leave the school. So even if the worst happened he would be able to come back and continue with his diploma. He also asked him to get a certificate from Mr. Koch, the Mathematics teacher.

Mr. Koch wrote that Albert was ready to enter a college for the study of higher Mathematics. He also wrote that he couldn’t teach him any more. Probably he (Albert) would soon be able to teach him. It was such a wonderful recommendation that no one could have got from a teacher.

Albert was summoned by the head-teacher. He thought that he was to be punished again for bad work and laziness. But he had hardly bothered to wonder why he had been sent for. He knew him quite well. He was prepared to face any situation.

The head teacher told him that he had become a nuisance for other students and teachers. He was not prepared to keep him in his school any longer. He was a great disgrace to the institution. He wanted him to leave the school without any further delay.

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The head teacher told Albert that his presence in the class made it impossible for the teacher to teach. It was also impossible for the other pupils to learn. He refused to learn anything and rebelled constantly. No serious work could be done while he was there.

Albert Einstein needed a medical certificate from a doctor. If the doctor could certify that he suffered from a nervous breakdown, he could stay away from the school. Albert had really worked hard to get that certificate from Dr. Ernest Weil. But now the certificate was of no use to him. It was almost ‘burning a hole in his pocket’. He was being expelled from the school even before he could produce it to the head teacher.

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For a moment Albert felt incited to tell the head teacher what he thought of him and his school. Then he checked himself. He didn’t say even a single word. Holding his head high, he went out with a sense of pride. His silence showed his resentment and dislike for the school and the teachers.

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Albert left his school without any regrets. He, in fact, left it arrogantly. He had no soft feelings for it or for its teachers. He was completely disillusioned because of the ill treatment meted out to him by the head teacher. He didn’t turn his head to have even a last look at his school.

The class was on. The History teacher asked Albert in what year had defeated the French at Waterloo. Albert said that he didn’t know the answer. The History teacher Mr. Braun asked why. Albert told that he might have forgotten. He asked Albert why he didn’t try to learn the dates. Albert told him that he didn’t see any point in earning dates. One could look up the dates in books. This irritated Mr. Braun. He attributed to Albert that he didn’t believe in education at all. He asked sarcastically what he meant by the Einstein theory of education. Albert told him that for him what mattered in education was ideas, an not acts. He was interested in learning why soldiers tried to kill others in war. He was not intereste in knowing how many of them were killed.

Elsa was Albert’s cousin. She lived in Berlin. Her father was a businessman. He had his business in Berlin. Albert met Elsa when she came to Munich. She told him that if he tried, he could learn enough to pass the examinations. Passing them was not difficult. She also told him that she knew lots of boys who were much more stupid than Albert. They had passed easily. They told her that one didn’t have to know anything at all. A student didn’t have to understand what he was taught. He was required just to be able to repeat what he was taught. Elsa then told Albert that he didn’t need to be good at learning things. Anyone could learn like a parrot. Albert could do it easily. He would find no difficulty in passing the examination.

Yuri is Albert’s only friend. Albert tells him everything of his life. He tells Yuri that he doesn’t like to go to school. At once he thinks of a plan. He asks Yuri if he has a doctor as his friend. His plan is to get a medical certificate from that doctor. The doctor shall certify that Albert suffers from a nervous breakdown. This will enable him to leave school for some period. Yuri tells him that he knows Dr. Ernest Weil. He has qualified as a doctor only the previous week. Yuri fixes an appointment with him. Yuri tells Albert to tell the doctor everything clearly. So Albert hides nothing from the doctor. Dr. Ernest Weil issues him a certificate. His fees are that Albert shall host a dinner to Yuri. In this way, Yuri helps Albert in his efforts to stay away from the school.

Albert doesn’t like to go to his school. He asks his friend Yuri to get a medical certificate for him from a doctor. Yuri fixes an appointment between Albert and Dr. Ernest Weil. Yuri has already asked Albert not to deceive Dr. Weil. He asks Albert to tell everything clearly to the doctor. However, Albert is really nervous before meeting the doctor. He at last meets the doctor. He tells him that he doesn’t know how to describe his trouble. But the doctor says that he needn’t do that. Yuri has told him everything about him. Dr. Ernest Weil tells Albert that he is sure Albert is nervous about his school. He asks Albert if he certifies that he is close to a nervous breakdown, what he will do. Albert says that he will go to Italy and get admission to some Italian college or institute. Dr. Ernest Weil encourages Albert saying that he is not doing good in staying there.

Albert got a medical certificate from Dr. Ernest Weil. But Yuri told him to get a reference in writing from Mr. Koch. Mr. Koch was Albert’s Mathematics teacher. He had a very good opinion about Albert. He was very much impressed by Albert’s knowledge of his subject. He was different from other teachers. He was very cooperative and helpful. So Albert met Mr. Koch. He willingly gave Albert the reference that he wanted. Mr. Koch asked Albert if he should write that he was not able to teach him anymore. Actually, Albert was so intelligent. He admitted that it was the only truth. Mr. Koch wrote that Albert was only wasting his time in his class. In fact, Albert would soon be able to teach him. Albert tried to be modest. He told Mr. Koch that he enjoyed his classes. In a way, Mr. Koch was the only good teacher who never pretended to be what he was not.

Albert got a medical certificate from Dr. Ernest Weil. Dr. Weil certified that he had a nervous breakdown and must stay away from school. Albert didn’t have to show this certificate. The next day the head teacher called Albert to his office. He told Albert that his work was terrible. So he was not prepared to have him in the school. Albert asked if he thought he was to be expelled. The head teacher told him that if he left the school of his own accord, the question would not arise. Albert asked what crime he had committed. The head teacher told him that the teacher couldn’t teach the class when he was in it. He had become a nuisance for others. The pupils couldn’t learn when he was present in the class. Albert wanted to tell the head teacher what he thought of him and the school. But he didn’t say anything. The head teacher asked him to close the door behind him. But Albert didn’t do so. Nor did he have the last look at his school. He only met Yuri.

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20 Workers’ Colony

Munich

Germany

20th April, 2008

Respected Father

I know you are quite worried about my education. To be frank, my experience at the present school has been quite shocking. The school education in Germany is totally outdated and unproductive. It requires immediate overhauling. Otherwise, more and more students would drop out like me from their schools.

I don’t mean any disrespect to teachers as a class. But they are not moving with the times. Their approach is quite Primitive. They take pleasure in vexing their students. The worst thing is that they discourage new thoughts. They hate freedom of expression. The History-teacher of our school is a living example of the decay that has come in the system. He punished me simply because I couldn’t tell the year when Prussia defeated France. The behaviour of the Head-teacher was equally insulting. Only the Maths teacher is an exception. He understands the problems of his students and tries to solve them.

I feel ideas are more important than facts and dates. Students should be allowed to choose the subjects of their choice. Music, fine arts and sports be made integral parts of the school education. The school education should be made inspiring, interesting and purposeful.

Yours affectionately

Albert Einstein