What Does It Mean At Be Educated?

I can picture being in Thomas Jones place and listening to a student wondering what the speaker is saying, their interest is not listening to the speakers, but walking the stage and the end commencement. As Thomas Jones pointed out; why did we not discuss the educated person question prior to commencement? We do need to answer the question: “What is an educated person?” (Jones)

Aristotle said, “Educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all.” What does it really mean to be educated? Many people thought that they knew what education meant, even I felt confident in myself to define education. However, the ideas discussed in class really made me question my definition of education. My definition has changed within the past few weeks as I discovered more about education. I am here to present my definition of education; with the lack of resources, one can still become educated by learning the unknown and putting your knowledge to good use.

In “The Poet of Our Dreams: The Real Meaning of Education,” David James discusses defining an educated person. He strongly believes that no one has the same definition due to individual differences in religion, ethnicity, gender, nationality, geography, culture, and many more factors. James identified many issues that often surface in education today including: should sex education be infused into the curriculum, are values appropriate in an academic environment, and if technology should take precedence over books. These problems he believes are due to lack of consensus and preference will always win out. No matter what the case is, we as individuals are given the responsibility to define our own lives and have different strengths and weaknesses,

John Spayde’s article What Does it Mean to Be Educated (June 1998) offers insight into the world of philosophical questions and studies of our educational system. Spayde shares and responds to the opinions of different novelists, journalists, professors, and colleges that have taken a stance on what it means to be educated. His article briefly covers topics such as; educational decisions, financial division, entitlement, humanities, and technology. Spayde also discusses the importance of being connected and learning from a real-life experience. Spayde believes that having a connection to the world around you allows you to use any experience as a learning mechanism to further your education.

Why is education important to society? Would one be able to read without a successful teacher teaching one how to read? Education is a key that holds the ability to open many doors - doors which open into vast rooms of knowledge, love, experience, discovery, and dreams. Education is an essential to human living and a fulfilling life, but what happens when the path one takes is not the choice that one personally wants? In “University”, written by Leona Gom, and “Warren Pryor”, written by Alden Nowlan, the poems present both negative and positive effects of education on society.

Education is a wonderful asset to anyone. With a good one the sky is the limit, and without one opportunity may never come knocking. In today’s society, so much emphasis is put on education. How many times have we heard the saying “if you get a good education, you’ll get a good job and make a lot of money”? Even today, my parents remind me of how much a college degree would add to my marketability. But when does it become too much? Is it possible that one could overlook the more important values in life in search to become a “learned man”? In Richard Rodriguez’s story Challenging The Traditional Classroom he examines his life as a student, and the affects his learning has towards his attitude about family and heritage.

In this analysis of the two core reading “How I bluffed my Way Through College” by Kate Harding and “ The Idea of a University” by Roger Scruton we will look at the differences and the similarities of the ideas and thoughts of the two authors. Both authors discuss the advantages to Universities but they differ in how universities can be a challenge to students. Scruton refers to the old university and how they were grand and important to anyone considering further education,(Scruton,2010), but he fails to bring a personal aspect from students. Where Harding explains that however Education is important it comes with stress and some down falls if not completely done in the right way. She explains how college and her choices made things harder

Yet even with these realizations that delve into the deeper meaning of education, modern education is still calling for simple measurable outcomes and continues to be geared towards specific employment ideas. This model of education is blatantly inadequate though. Many students today will end up holding jobs not yet invented in fields not yet discovered, so the teaching of answers to today’s questions is utterly useless. Albert Einstein once said, “Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.” and this statement reigns true throughout time. To continue academic success, the education system needs to impart a mastery of one’s own mind that allows students to not only answer current questions but also to pose questions that will shape the future world.

In his essay “What Does It Mean To Be Well-Educated,” Alfie Kohn challenges the current standards that people consider crucial in order for a person to be considered well-educated and explores some interesting questions that help provide the reader with a completely different understanding of education. At the beginning, Kohn explains how people can argue about the purpose of education, but then fail to realize and recognize whether or not education has truly been successful. Then, Kohn provides the reader with an example of his wife, a successful physician who completed her study for a doctoral dissertation in anthropology at Harvard, yet still lacks some educational basics that people consider necessary factors to possess in order for a person to fit in the defined (fit the definition of well-educated) group of well-educated individuals (Kohn 231-232). After that, Kohn explores some definitions that people set as essential measurements for determining whether or not a person is well-educated and explains why all these standard definitions fail to either evaluate a person’s knowledge or make a person knowledgeable. For example, many people consider test scores, seat time, job skills, and memorization of facts as indicators of well-education. However, Kohn explains that sitting in class for a certain amount of time, “reducing schooling to vocational preparation…to suit the demands of employers,”

Quality in education is one of the most discussed issues around the globe among educational community. There is an emerging consensus that quality in education depends on the enabling inputs, educational processes, teachers’ abilities, and learners’ characteristics and the specific context.

in a chair, holding a magazine or book, is a person who was being given too much

Rhoades, G. (2014). The Higher Education We Choose, Collectively: Reembodying and Repoliticizing Choice. Journal Of Higher Education, 85(6), 917-930.

When it comes to the topic of education, most of us will readily agree that as students, we need to be dedicated learners. Where this agreement usually ends, however, is on the question of how we should be educated. Some are convinced that we need to stick with what is currently in place. From this perspective, it is completely unnecessary to do something different if the method being used works. However, others maintain that we need to change. According to this view, people need to move away from what we are comfortable and familiar with in order to be better students. In sum, then, the issue is whether we should keep how our education works the same or not.

There are several different concepts surrounding the topic of education but most problematic is in regards to the aims of education within society. With several aims proposed by educational philosophers there is confusion surrounding what education is for and which type of education best suits the individual. Lewis (2015) posed that education promotes student learning and potential as well as fostering of community and self esteem within a school environment. Overall education is the defining product of good citizens in contemporary society, with diverse cultures, social norms and political standpoints. Liberal, vocational and wellbeing education will be discussed throughout arguing that a combined approach to education is most relevant within modern society. The ethical obligations for teachers within education will also be discussed.

As Daniel J. Boorstin said, “Education is learning what you didn 't even know you didn 't know.”