Education never ends, as Sherlock Holmes once told Watson – but where does it begin? And how many different paths can we take on the journey to knowledge?

From preschool to postgrad, from private to public, and from sandstone to the school of life, what do the parameters of our educational experiences add up to? Australia is one of the most educated countries in the world, but not every Australian has access to a world-class education. What does a good education look like in a country with an increasingly segregated school system, public funding for private institutions, and a tertiary sector that’s facing an uncertain financial and philosophical future? How does education change in a country where political regard for its most basic principle – that education matters –  seems to have so profoundly changed?

Griffith Review 75: Learning Curves explores what we can learn about learning.