The Meaning of Education: Are You Truly Educated?
In today’s modern and highly progressive society, the concept of education is commonly associated with one’s schooling. It is commonplace for one to say that being educated means attending school from a very early age, and then eventually pursuing a degree in order to specialize in a particular field of interest. From there, individuals can become employed and contribute to society in some way, and therefore it may be said that education is the premise for social progress. These are all valid points, but school alone cannot shape an individual into someone who is genuinely educated. One can be educated through various other means. An individual receives education from his or her own personal experiences. Lessons given by elders, who play a crucial role in inculcating morals into the modern generation, further contribute to one’s education. All in all, those who are characterized as being truly educated are those who can potentially expand the already existing bank of knowledge, thereby further educating others. Moreover, the truly educated are those who have built strong character through experience and the morals instilled in them.
What I have come to notice after years of my own schooling is that at times — certainly not always, however — students are taught a plethora of facts in a certain subject. For instance, in a typical biology class, students end up memorizing the scientific names of various species or the multitude of functions carried out by enzymes. On test day, students regurgitate the information they had crammed into their brains, and in the end they may receive a high grade on the assessment. Soon after, students start forgetting about the information they had learned for the test and fail to apply it in their lives. Therefore, in this case, are students truly being educated? Are they learning something valuable that they can apply in their lives at some point and benefit off of? In this case, school actually may be limiting the education received by a growing student.
However, school still plays an integral role in developing and honing in on skills that have multiple applications in the real world. This can be seen in the forum of my AP English Language class at Farmington High. Located in Google Classroom, this forum is modeled after the ancient outdoor forums of the Roman empire. Just like the great Roman empire, which is deemed the birthplace of democracy as well as education, the AP English Language forum on Google Classroom aims to be a place where students eloquently express their various views on a variety of issues, from current issues in the high school to more pressing situations in the outside economic and political realm. The goal for students is essentially to learn and thoughtfully reflect on their peers’ viewpoints and then formulate their own meaningful perspectives. This kind of spirit stimulates the exchange of ideas among students, and after learning about the new points made by their peers students possess greater knowledge of the issues that are being discussed; in other words, students begin to view the issues through a different lens, and this makes them much more informed than they may have been before. Therefore, through the varying views they develop, students expand each other’s knowledge, making one another well-informed of ongoing issues and current areas of debate. In the end, the skills of expression and persuasion, as well as the whole general concept of a forum, shape individuals into educated beings who are not only eloquent speakers and writers, but also critical thinkers who have a great depth of general understanding and knowledge.
Personal experiences and the morals taught to an individual since childhood also serve as key means of education. Some of the important experiences I have had in the past few years are my experiences as a high school volunteer in the greater community. The volunteer work I have done during my high school career includes volunteering in the Farmington Public Library and Bristol Hospital. By carrying out tasks as simple as organizing bookshelves, serving patients food and drinks, and delivering packages to hospital departments, I gradually learned the true value of volunteering. My experiences taught me that I have the moral responsibility to contribute to the community I am part of. My volunteer work helped sculpt me into a compassionate, responsible citizen, and having such human qualities is, without an iota of doubt, an integral part of being educated. The morals that are instilled into an individual serve a similar purpose. I can say this with great confidence as I come from a Hindu family who has raised me with morals over the years. One of the crucial concepts the elders in my family have taught me all along is the idea that one must always give utmost respect to his or her elders, who have great life experience and wisdom. The category of “elders” includes teachers and instructors — in other words, one’s gurus. As I have learned since childhood, our elders deserve our respect due to the valuable guidance and advice they provide us, the younger generations; we can learn from their experiences and the knowledge they have accumulated over their lifetimes. By respecting my elders, and acting according to other similar morals, I have developed into a person who is not only knowledgeable, but also respectful and kind-hearted. Once again, possessing these moral qualities build strong character, making one more fully and genuinely educated.
As famous Enlightenment thinker John Locke once claimed, at birth each of us enters the world as as a tabula rasa, or a “blank slate.” In this one and only lifetime, each of us has the golden opportunity to shape ourselves into knowledgeable human beings, critical thinkers, and humane and civilized members of society. Yes, it is true that almost all of us are fortunate enough to have access to adequate schooling and are expected to attend school and college in today’s growingly competitive society. However, we must accomplish more than that. That is, we should all strive to become persons of great intellect and high standards of ethics, contributing to society through original and sophisticated thinking and humanitarian acts. Only then can we be members of a sublime civilization. Only then can we be truly educated.
