Given the ease of finding knowledge, and now processing knowledge, why teach children things to memorize? Once they know how to read and can understand basic math, should the balance of education consist of more things stuffed into their heads, things they could readily look up and have packaged for them without effort?
There is value to teaching mastery in education and no doubt languages cannot be learned without new words to remember, pronounce and put together well. However, aren’t some higher virtues being ignored? Why not teach them how to reason and debate?
Or perhaps most importantly, why not present them with options for obtaining virtue on whichever path they prefer? We should not expect children to take the same path. The values are their own and must be cultivated with hard choices. If they graduate with an ability to question, weigh, inquire and persuade, aren’t they better equipped to sustain a modern democracy than if they’ve just memorized facts they may later mistrust?