Ever heard of "learning to learn"? The idea is that knowledge per se will soon be outmoded and educationally useless, whereas if you have the ability to learn, that will be a permanent acquisition. It's the old saying, "It's better to tell students how to fish than to give them a fish." To me, this is a gravely inadequate metaphor of learning. The difference between learning skills and learning factual knowledge is an almost totally misleading opposition. Both are necessary in life, and that's why I aim to achieve both goals in my classroom.