The Ultimate Goal of Education - Self-direction or Compliance?

The interview below was for Marie Bjerede and the interesting Student Outcomes project she is working on.

As the short interview progresses, you'll notice I become increasingly clear about the core question that lies at the heart of our beliefs about education, but which is often unspoken or even unrecognized:

Is our ultimate goal for our students to build the capacity for intellectual self-direction, or is it for them to be good at complying with external expectations? 

The answer to that question, I believe, largely determines the health of our culture.