ALBERT EISTEIN AT SCHOOL

Questions and Answers What do we learn about Albert Einstein after reading this account? We often think that great and famous thinkers must have well behaved, possessed born talents, were studious at school, excelled in studies from an early age and received recognition and encouragement from teachers. This extract shows how a creative genius like Einstein was ridiculed by his teachers and expelled from school for daring to be different. Why was Einsteins presence in the school a persistent soreness for his teachers and classmates? Albert Einstein was not a good student at school when we perceive his performance. He was rather a rebel. His intelligent questions left his teachers with no answer. Most teachers entered his class with dread about the questions he would ask. His classmates, who were either jealous of him or disliked him for his questioning behavior, hated him, too. OR Albert Einstein was too genius for a school like the one that he attended in Munich. He pestered his teachers with questions that they were not able to answer and made his classmates feel jealous of his genius. OR Einsteins honesty is mistaken for arrogance. He is punished and told that he is disgrace to the school. Einstein thus, felt miserable at school and longed to escape. Besides, the head teacher told Einstein that all the teachers were vexed with his rebellious attitude and wanted him to leave the school. What was Einstein's theory about education? Einstein believed that the then existing education method was incapable of meeting the purpose of education. He believed that learning facts and dates was not education. He was against learning facts and dates by heart. He was really disappointed that there was no research in his school. What were Einsteins views regarding rote learning? Why is mere rote learning useless? As a student at Munich, Einstein was different from the other boys of his age. He was unable to cope with conventional system of education which says a lot of emphasis on learning by rote. He believed that there was no point in memorizing facts. Facts, he felt, could easily be looked up in books. Thus, on being asked when the Battle of Waterloo takes place, Einstein replied frankly that he had forgotten the date. He added that it would be more interesting to find out why soldiers had killed one another, rather than to memorize a string of facts. Who was Yuri? How good a friend was he for Einstein? Yuri was the only friend Albert had in Munich. Yuri had great concern for Albert. It was Yuri who understood Albert's helplessness in the school and his desire to go to Milan to join his family. Yuri was greatly helpful for Albert, especially in getting a medical certificate. What made Einstein's life miserable in the slum where he lived? Albert Einstein lived in a slum where his landlady made his life a hell. She most often beat her children and then occasionally she was beaten by her husband. She was so rude with Einstein that she didn't allow him to play his violin for a relief from all this stress. Apart from this, he was constantly sad for the thought of having to go back to the school where he had not a friend. What for did Einstein require a medical certificate? Einstein enquired his friend Yuri about a friendly doctor, who would certify him falsely for a nervous breakdown as he longed to escape from the school. Einstein hated the school at Munich and longed to escape. But he knew that if he left his studies and went to Italy to join his family, his father would get angry and send him back. One day he gets an idea. He decides to play a small drama. He would pretend that he has had a nervous breakdown. He would say that he has been advised by the doctor to discontinue studies. He asks his friend, Yuri, if he knows a kind and sympathetic doctor who will give him such a certificate. OR Do you think Dr. Ernst Weil had given Einstein a fake medical certificate? Why do you think so? Dr. Ernst Weil's certificate stating Albert's mental condition as abnormal was not a fake one because Albert was in a way mentally not fit to attend the school. He said that Albert would

not have come for a fitness certificate if he were fit and believed that by staying in his school, Albert had been really stressed and was close to a breakdown. What surprises awaited Einstein in the Principals room? Einstein got a false medical certificate and was about to go to the head teachers office to submit it. To his surprise, however, the headmaster himself sent for him and informed that the school had decided to rusticate him for his hostile presence in the school. The head teacher explained that all the teachers were vexed with his rebellious attitude and did not want him in the school any longer. He then suggested the simplest way out for Einstein to cope with the school - leave the school on his own. Why was Einstein glad that the school management was expelling him? Einstein felt uneasy in a system which lay emphasis on rote learning. He was sure he would fail in the examinations. One day Einstein shares his misgiving with his cousin, Elsa tries to make Einstein realize that she knows many boys who, in spite of being for more stupid than Einstein have passed the exams. Einstein need not really know (or) understand anything he has been taught. He could simply repeat the lessons by rote. Einstein tells her that this exactly what he cannot do .He is in capable of memorizing facts like a parrot. . How did Mr. Koch certify Einsteins caliber? Mr. Koch, the benevolent mathematics teacher, declared in a statement that he had taught Einstein all he knew and Einstein was in fact in a position to teach him. This, though a true statement, was a great certificate for Einsteins future life and success. Today's school system curbs personal talents and ignores the genius in students, imposing a teacher-school cantered approach upon the students. Discuss. Einstein studied in a school in Munich, where he was unhappy with the teaching. He was particularly averse to the idea of learning facts by heart. When his history teacher asked him when the battle of war was fought, Einstein was unable to give the answer. The history teacher rebuked him for this and said he should know the answer as it had been mentioned many times in the class. Einstein replied that he did not believe in memorizing facts, He was more interested in answering the why questions rather than how and when questions. Why was Einstein glad that the school management was expelling him? Einstein felt uneasy in a system which lay emphasis on rote learning. He was sure he would fail in the examinations. One day Einstein shares his misgiving with his cousin, Elsa tries to make Einstein realize that she knows many boys who, in spite of being for more stupid than Einstein have passed the exams. Einstein need not really know (or) understand anything he has been taught. He could simply repeat the lessons by rote. Einstein tells her that this exactly what he cannot do .He is in capable of memorizing facts like a parrot.