The ills of education are caused, this text argues, by the fact that we have inherited three major educational ideas, each of which is incompatible with the other two. These mutual incompatibilities, it continues, bring about clashes at every level of the educational process, from curriculum decisions to teaching methods. The text presents an alternative. It concludes with practical proposals for how teaching and curriculum should be changed to reflect this new conception and fit in with how we actually learn.

Kieran Egan (born 1942) is a contemporary educational philosopher and a student of the classics, anthropology, cognitive psychology, and cultural history.

He has written on issues in education and child development, with an emphasis on the uses of imagination and the intellectual stages (Egan calls them understandings) that mark different ages from birth to adulthood. He has questioned the work of Jean Piaget and progressive educators, notably Herbert Spencer and John Dewey.

He currently works at Simon Fraser University. His major work is The Educated Mind.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kieran_Egan