Being Educated

Knowledgeable, educated, and wise have become descriptive characteristics that have become seemingly interchangeable in today’s society. However, what does it mean to be educated, wise or knowledgeable? In the article “The Educated Student: Global Citizen or Global Consumer” by Benjamin Barber, he says “…young people were exposed more and more to tutors other than teachers in their classrooms or even those who were in their churches, their synagogues-and today their mosques as well.” (417). It is suggested that the places where these characteristics are obtained have changed with industrialization and capitalism. “The Student and the University (from the Closing of the American Mind)” by Allen Bloom directly postulates from the vantage

In Kisautaq Lenona Okakok’s essay “Serving the Purpose of Education” she discusses the education dilemma in her borough of North Slope, Alaska, where many of the occupants are indigenous people of the Inupiat. Western education was thrust upon the Inupiat people of Alaska, changing the traditional way they taught their children. Okakok explains why and how The Board of Education for North Slope, Alaska took entire control of their education system after having Western education try to influence their way of teaching. The way the Inupiat teach is different from that of Western education, not only do they teach a different language (Inupiaq), they also need to teach a different curriculum that is better suited for the people of the North Slope compared to that of Western education. Okakok’s essay analyzes the way Western culture and teachings influenced her own culture, and how the Inupiat have taken control of their own education again while using considerable examples to defend her claims.

Although, there are some specifics that were found to be common. For example, Coulter and Wiens (2009) conducted an experiment which they entitled “The Educated Person.” For this experiment, they asked several different types of people of all ages and backgrounds to pick one person in his/her life which they deemed to be “educated.” Although, their responses were divergent, there were in fact similarities found among them. Namely, they found that most of the people picked as “educated” by the participants, were older, had more life experiences, and many had humility as a common characteristic. What I found fascinating was, of the people they chose, none of them had any “formal education.” I have said for years that some of the most “educated” people I have ever met don’t necessarily have a formal education or a degree, but they do have rich life experiences. I was happy to see that Coulter and Wiens confirmed my thoughts in their book, Why Do We Educate?. Further stated in their book is the notion “Education introduces us to worlds we might otherwise never encounter thereby reshaping our vision of the world we think we know.” (Coulter & Wiens, 2009, p. 32). A perfect example of this is the research and readings I did for this paper. It opened my eyes up to new avenues of exploring the craft of educating. Without this class, I may have never come to question my educational philosophy or my

Education is not defined by knowledge, but rather by how one uses it to improve. As stated by Angela Lee Duckworth, “In all those very different contexts, one characteristic emerged as a significant predictor of success. It was grit.” This is an effective statement because we think that a person’s success is defined by their college degree, but people have never thought beyond the fact that someone without a college degree is more educated than someone who had graduated from college. People who learned from observations and make creation from scratch were more likely to make a difference even when they do not have a high school and/or college degrees. Those who went to school and earned A’s for their schoolworks would be less likely to make a difference because their passion is to get good grades rather than learning new ideas. The motivation to be smarter

“School provides a place for mental, physical, and ethical development. Character is taught and learned in many settings: in the classroom, in the hallways, in the lunchroom, and on the sports field” As, Diane Ravitch stated in her essay “The Essentials Of A Good Education”. So, now I wonder what does it mean to be an educated person. Well, today I am going to give you an explanation of what it means to be an educated person in my own opinion. I will also be narrating one particular experience from my own life which lead me to the conclusion of this term. My experience is in reference to my job; which has made me expand my knowledge. Further-more this made me the educated individual I am today. (Ravitch 111,112).

Choices can make or break us depending on what we do. That is what Jon Spayde attempts to convey to his audience in his 1998 Unte Reader article, “What Does it Mean to Be Educated?” He goes through many examples and arguments that could possible answer this “surprisingly tricky and two-sided question” (Spayde paragraph 1). Although the actual arguments he poses throughout his article, he uses the rhetorical devices – ethos, pathos and logos, to get his readers to accept his purpose.

What does it mean to be well educated? To be well educated it is a balance between academics and practical knowledge. Throughout this paper I will show that one does not necessarily need a college degree to be deemed as well educated. I will explore both aspects of academics and practical knowledge and how it affects individuals.

Lions, magic, secret worlds, these are the words that pop into mind when the name of C.S. Lewis is mentioned. Many are familiar with his series The Chronicles of Narnia, but Lewis is also well known for his other fantasy books, as well as apologetic writings. However, as Mark Pike (2013) broaches in Mere Education: C.S. Lewis as Teacher for our Time, “…even fifty years after his death… the remarkable, some would say prophetic, insights he offered concerning the education and schooling of your people are not so well-known” (p. 9). Pike (2013) goes on to state that his purpose in composing this book is to take Lewis’ ideas on education, which are scattered throughout his literary work, and make them more straightforward and accessible to the

Do you know what it means to be educated? Is it earning a degree in a certain field? Or is being educated is just the knowledge you gained through schooling? Many people have different answers to this question. I think to be educated is to have the willingness to learn from others, to be an avid reader and interact with texts, as well as being independent and having the motivation to improve.

7:25 to 2:15. We spend 180 days a year here. We spend 900 hours here. We spend the majority of our adolescence here. School. We ,the millennial generation, are in our prime time for intellectual development, ready to forment our opinions, beliefs, and our perspectives on life. The information we process flows into our thoughts, then into our actions, then into our habits. These habits become our identity. We can not help but absorb and evaluate the flow of information continuously presented to us in this vast place: Students, teenagers, are like sponges. School grants us constant stimuli, or water, for thought. School is the cultivation center for all our experiences conscious and subconscious. The simple of task of receiving an education has more far reaching effects than we can ever imagine. The quality of our education, the extent to which we utilize our education, and our time dedicated to our education, guides our identity. School leaves imprints on our souls: politically, culturally, and physically. Education is defined as the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction. But it is so much more. As an adolescent who has been afforded a high quality education, I can understand the influence a commendable education has had upon me contrasted with other factors such as familial influences. Also, because I’ve had very diverse friends groups I can clearly identify the effects their quality of education

Growing up in a relatively minute town in Ghana, West Africa I was tenacious to find answers to questions pertaining to my social environment such as economic growth and pricing. However, since my parents were never privileged to attain any form of higher education most of my questions were either answered logically or were completely left unanswered could not give answers to most of my questions about, they always made sure I understood the importance of being educated.

There are those who say that the goal of education is to avoid boredom, but they are only partly correct. Avoiding boredom, like the many other goals of education, is only a secondary goal. The primary goal is to succeed at the many aspects of life. Education is a process of becoming a more capable person than before the learning process began. It allows a person to get a job, have interests, and to improve society.

Most individuals consider an educated person to be a professor, lawyer, doctor, or anyone who has completed at least four years at a university. I, however, consider an educated person to be anyone who holds a piece of knowledge that can be obtained through one’s day-to-day life. One is not required to attend an institution of higher learning to be considered an educated person, nor is it necessary that he or she earns a degree, or even a diploma. Despite many individuals believing that a traditional education must be received in order to be considered an “educated” person, there are multiple routes that one can choose; therefore, one is not defined by the amount of schooling that he or she has obtained. Although an individual may be considered “educated”, he or she does not necessarily possess greater knowledge than a carpenter or a real estate broker. In fact, individuals who attend a four-year university are usually only “educated” in a particular field. Therefore, someone without a college degree has the ability to be just as knowledgeable in a different field.

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

Even though a well-educated person is thought of as one who has extensive college education and attend the finest schools, a well-educated person can also be one who is educated with hands-on experience without a college degree.