Learning from the past is an essential aspect of education, but we see also that static knowledge is constricting, it decays over time and becomes outdated. We need to go beyond our own heritage and stretch out to embrace different possibilities, other cultures, new technology, fresh thought patterns. Yet recognising the value of diversity is also essential if we are to avoid repeating those past intolerances to our neighbours, and to alternative views that are often merely different than our own. With diversity comes choice and it is this personal choice, within a social context, that is the essence of effective democracy.