"Where the teaching process is undeniably harmful is in history, religion, and other similarly controversial fields. Such issues touch on the interests that sustain the existence of schools, and these interests maintain schools in order to channel specific opinions [...]. In every state, history is taught in such a way as to magnify its image: children learn to believe that their own country has always been on the side of justice and almost always victorious, that it has been the birthplace of almost all great men, and that it is, in every respect, superior to other countries. [...]
The reason why modern education rarely achieves great results is because it is almost never inspired by some great hope. The desire to preserve the past, instead of the hope to build with the future, dominates the minds of those who control the education of youth. Education should not aim at mere information [...] but should be an activity directed towards the world we are struggling to build. It should draw its inspiration from a dazzling vision of the coming society, of the triumphs that thought will bring in the future, and of the ever-expanding horizon of human exploration of the universe."
Bertrand Russell