Summary Of What Does It Mean To Be Educated By John Spayde

Andrew Simmons published his article for The Atlantic, “The Danger of Telling Poor Kids that College is the Key to Social Mobility” on January 16, 2014, which raises his concerns that higher education is only being promoted as an opportunity to increase their economic status, when it should be an opportunity to experience an education (Simmons). Through the use of students such as Isabella, Simmons disagrees with the way students now look at higher education and blames the educators through the students’ lives for this view. Instead, Simmons views education as an intellectual opportunity rather than a way to elevate ones economic class which is all people see when they see “higher education.” He believes that education, ambition and work ethic is how you have a satisfying life, not with how much you make. He makes the point that when economics becomes the main goal of education it’s all children begin to think about and they might not pursue something that they are truly passionate about or what they want to learn about, which then does not create an intellectually awakening experience (Simmons).

When Shorris explains his goal to the prospective students he indicates, “You’ve been cheated. Rich people learn the humanities; you didn’t. The humanities are a foundation for getting along in the world, for thinking, for learning to reflect on the world instead of just reaction to whatever force is turned against you.”(Page 4) That the rich have had the opportunity to buy that type of learning and embrace it, while the poor have had more things to deal with like getting food on the table from day to day. Therefore, Shorris believes that a liberal education will provide poor students with a new kind of lens to outlook the world. With the knowledge of philosophy, poetry, art history, logic and American history, Shorris trusts that these students will begin to uncover hidden talents and interests that will inspire them and help them to not only solve problems, but also seek plausible solutions. He believes that these qualities would provide the poor with an escape route from the ongoing cycle that have them trapped and it will provide them with “a certain kind of life, a richness of mind and spirit.” (Page 5) After his first thriving year teaching this class, sixteen of his prospective students completed the course, which then some went on to universities.

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,

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.

College is the next stepping stone to better or advance ones social standing in life, whether it is moving from a blue collar lifestyle to white collar, or to continue to further their career path. However, it comes with an “unavoidable result.” Alfred Lubrano discusses this “unavoidable result” in his text “The Shock of Education: How College Corrupts.” Lubrano discusses the topic of how furthering ones education opens more possibilities but at the same time distances those held most dearly. He explains that the more knowledge gained, the bigger the gap caused between friends and family due to differences in levels of knowledge. That distance is greatly increase if one comes from a poorer region where blue collar workers are the social

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,”

“Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people that are prepared for today.” These heartfelt words were spoken by the civil rights activist Malcolm X who believed that people should never stop learning. I’m very much like him in that way. I believe that everybody should have the right to a fair education. I certainly enjoy learning at my current school, Julia R. Masterman. Masterman has taught me many things that I never thought I would learn. In this essay I will discuss how my education, so far, has impacted my life through improving social skills, rigorous academics and has increased my sense of independence.

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, perspective, and possibility for standards of good 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 doctoral dissertation in anthropology from Harvard, yet still lacks some educational basics that people consider necessary factors to possess in order for a person to fit in the defined 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,” receiving high results on tests, and memorization of pieces of

A common belief today is that the humanities have lost their place in modern America. After a controversial article on the humanities, written by Stanley Fish, was published by The New York Times, many of the online readers had disagreeing or negative comments proving that some Americans still long for the humanities. What Fish could not accept, and what most of the readers believed in, was that the humanities have a specific purpose and task. McClay discusses the burdens of the humanities, but also the things that they are able to do for us. The two main burdens mentioned are the humanities as preceptor, and the humanities as task. McClay goes on to explain some ways in which that the humanities can be reborn in America’s society and also

Evolving constantly, our society values education more than ever. It has become necessary component to criticize individual’s background and talents. Education is given by presence of teachers and other individuals with authoritative status who consistently lives the ideal. It takes many forms through verbal education, physical education as well as self-education. In The Risk of Education: Discovering Our Ultimate Destiny (Chapter I), Luigi Giussani defines as “to educate means to help the human soul enter into the total reality of the real.” (Giussani, 45). He argues that understanding this total meaning of reality is the only way to give young people certainty to their world’s reality. Genuine education must allow the young individuals

Perusing higher education can be done for a few reasons; either wanting to obtain a professional degree for a job or a liberal arts degree for a set interest. Either way, higher education has become a mandatory thing in many peoples lives. Ronald Barnett and Martha Nussbaum both have similar views on education. Barnett believes that there will always be more to learn and a proper education should make you realize that there is always more to learn. Nussbaum’s approach to the situation states that the way the United State’s education system is built, students are almost forced into caring about learning the humanities and such. I believe that higher education is something that can be used to teach students how to act and react when pushed

Mireya, the student particularly interested in pursuing a successful life, questioned the school’s actions when she asked “Why is it [...] that students who do not need what we need get so much more? And we who need it so much more get so much less?” (Kozol 208). Students like Mireya do not get to experience the variety of challenging preparatory classes that many others take for granted. A classroom full of hopefuls should have the chance to experience the liberation that knowledge provides for them, but because the school they attend doesn’t cater towards their needs, they are stuck in a perpetual confinement void of education and success that manages to extend to the generations below them as

“Education should be a right, not a privilege,” (Bernie Sanders). The quality of education is suffering as we know it. A 4-year Bachelor’s degree is quickly becoming the equivalent to what a high school diploma was 20 years ago. Bachelor’s degrees are becoming more and more of a requirement for jobs where those skills aren’t necessarily reflected with a degree, while the costs to attain them are getting higher and higher.

Without a knowledge in the Humanities, one would have a difficult time understanding the reason and purpose of a productive life. Today’s world is trying to downplay the importance of a liberal arts education. The ancient classical philosopher and the Renaissance thinkers understood the need for a liberal arts education. Alberti in the 15th century remarked “Letters are indeed so important that without them one would be considered a rustic, no matter how much a gentlem[a]n.” Humanities are necessary to understand how to conduct oneself purposefully throughout life. Some today question the importance of the study of history. Bruni explained “For the careful study of the past enlarges our foresight in contemporary affairs and affords to citizens

Bowles and Gintis felt it was important to write this article, because they believe that the politics of education are better understood in terms of the need for social control in an unequal and rapidly changing economic order. This point is illustrated on page 396 when the authors say, “The unequal