Does Education Create Wisdom? In a culture drowning in information it is easy to confuse education and wisdom. After reading the article “What Does It Mean to Be Well-Educated” by Alfie Kohn, it can be concluded that education alone does not cause one to be “well-educated”. Becoming well educated is a lifelong process requiring constant effort. Multiple examples from my personal life can be used to defend Mr. Kohn’s argument’s stating that to be “well-educated” is a title no one really knows how to define. Like Mr. Kohn stated, “No single test is sufficiently valid, reliable, or meaningful that it can be treated as a marker for academic success (Kohn, 2003).” In my personal life this has been a defining statement many times. My best friend Neel and I in high school were very competitive in classes. We would compete in history classes the most due to our strong interest in the subject. He would focus on studying …show more content…
for final exams while I would focus primarily on projects and essays. Due to the sheer number of assignments compared to the final exam my final grade would always be slightly higher. This proves that one single assignment or test in this situation has a limited ability to define overall academic success. In a later paragraph Mr.
Kohn states “If the term applies to what you now know and can do, you could be poorly educated(Kohn, 2003).” Using this statement as a factor in defining a well educated person is quite absurd. Ever since the industrial revolution and the invention of the assembly line, the idea of specialization came into effect. According to Merriam-Webster Specialization is “structural adaptation of a body part to a particular function or of an organism for life in a particular environment(Merriam-Websters,2016)” This means going to college is the equivalent of specializing in a subject such as business, law, health, etc. Specialization is the act of becoming well educated in a specific field of study. For example, it would be highly illogical and inaccurate to call a surgeon uneducated due to his inability to teach math on a college level, therefore, why would we judge someone based on that principle? Becoming well educated would be more accurately defined if it were questioned on a situational basis rather than comparing unrelated
people. In a competitive market like the United States, specialization is necessary in order for a student or employee to separate themselves from the crowd. Mr. Kohn states in his article “This emphasis is not only on depth rather than breadth(Kohn, 2003).” I find that this statement contradicts the goal of a free market system. If you plan to have a minuscule knowledge in every aspect of a field, it will reduce your efficiency. Therefore it would be more beneficial for a future employer to replace you with a few people specialized in the multiple fields you had knowledge in. In doing so, the employer would see increased profits. During the summer I had a job at a restaurant in a local private community. This restaurant rather than sticking to a single type of food or theme decided to cook whatever the customer would request. Due to the lack of specializations, the restaurant made poor tasting food and rarely saw repeat customers. Due to this the manager (who has a masters degree in business) decided to create a menu consisting of about a dozen meals. After this, food quality increased and customers began to return. This is an excellent example of how education alone will not generate a great deal of wisdom. In order to truly be wise and well educated you must gain experience in real life situations. In conclusions, Mr. Kohn’s argument may not be perfect, however he sparks interest and makes us wonder what it truly means to be well educated. Maybe due to this conversation,, us readers can strive to increase our knowledge and wisdom. The true meaning of well educated may never be found, however in my personal experience, I would define it as a combination of specialization and wisdom. Due to this definition, well educated people are everywhere. Also, a test to find out if someone is well educated will never be found due to the vast areas in which you can specialize. I believe in order to stay well educated, learning is a process which never ends, and that you can always improve no matter the level of education you have.
Being educated can help people earn their living and be more responsible. Nowadays, education level is one of the most important requirements and comparative advantage for searching a job. The people who finish higher education, they would have more opportunity. Just like the author Wes’s father, “he finally had the chance to host his own public affairs show. And he’d hired a new writing assistant. Her name was Joy.”(12) After graduate from Bard College, his father gained more opportunities to realize his dream, being on television. Studying in college, we can learn the professional skill and know more about the
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 point of a college while referring to an entering student “In looking at him we are forced to reflect on what he should learn if he is to be called educated.” (422). The main reason students continue their education falls under the assumption that will be considered educated at the completion of their studies. But, what does it mean to be educated? Deborah Tannen proposes in “The Roots of Debate in Education and the Hope of Dialogue” that students since the middle ages have gone to places of higher education to learn how to argue or, more formally, debate (538). Where does the ability to argue fall into education? With little support for the education system currently in place, Barber, Bloom, and Tannen discuss in their respective articles the existing problems, their origins, and what they entail.
It is evident that Gerald Graff’s article is bias because he avoids talking about acquiring academic intelligence through academic learning rather than non-academic ways. For instance, Graff shows bias when he generalizes our way of seeing educated life and academics. He said that, “We associate the educated life, the life of the mind, too narrowly and exclusively with subjects and texts that we consider inherently weighty and academic. We assume that it’s possible to wax intellectual about Plato, Shakespeare, the French Revolution, and nuclear fission, but not about cars, dating fashion, sports, TV, or video games.” (Graff 264-5). Graff clearly thinks that everyone associates educated life with academics, when in reality this is not true. He believes that
... a tedious process, but the change can have immense, positive effects for the future college student. The ACT and SAT that supposedly measure a student's learning potential through multiple-choice questions should be replaced by a test of a student's desire to learn determined through the analysis of essays, recommendation letters, and school or community involvement. This change can result in a more academically motivated freshman class. Standardized testing in its current form does not accurately measure most students' learning potential. It does not allow for diversity and creates a huge hurdle for many potential academic achievers. An adjustment to a diverse, open testing format of the ACT or SAT and a stress on the student's other academic accomplishments can accurately measure the student's desire to learn, therefore measuring the student's learning potential.
Spayde notes that education takes place in the classroom and university setting, as well as the hands-on experience that takes place in the world at large. One of the main points in his essay is that in society, education is a great value that separates classes from economics. The general understanding in society is that there is no divide in American life that hurts more than the one between those we consider well educated and those who are poorly or inadequately schooled (Spayde, 60). This understanding is defined by popular society stating that education is a big influence on how one lives their life and to what degree this is done. Society determines the difference between the educated and the uneducated in many ways.
Even with material being taught incessantly, standardized tests can not accurately measure a student’s ability. The tests are “single-target—meaning that every student, no matter what level of achievement or ability, course selection, or cu...
Education is in itself a concept, which has changed over the millennia, can mean different things and has had differing purposes according to time and culture. Education may take place anywhere, is not constrained by bricks and mortar, delivery mechanisms or legislative requirements. Carr (2003. p19) even states, “education does not necessarily involve teaching”. Education, by one definition, is the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge, developing the powers of reasoning and judgment, and generally of preparing oneself or others intellectually for mature life (education, n.d.).
It is a fact that some people are better at taking tests than other people. Intelligent students who challenge themselves throughout their high school careers and have high grade point averages can do poorly on a test, while a student who has only taken basic level classes can score significantly higher. Is that a fair representation of what was achieved in high school?... ... middle of paper ...
Often society places a label on things. Such as if you see someone wearing baggy jeans and a tank top you would not assume this person worked for a Fortune 500 company. On the other hand imagine a male who just won Jeopardy that cannot perform something a common task such as checking the oil in a vehicle. The baggy jeans guy can in fact be a scientist who is embarking on an invention that change mankind. Perception plays a huge role in judgment for people. Contrarily perception is not fact. It is no way possible that man can learn everything there is to know. Therefore the level of someone’s education does not vary among career fields. Rarely when the term well educated is brought up is not associated with a person knowing it all.
Everyone has an opinion concerning what type of education is most useful. We all know that a college education is important in the competitive world we live in today. For instance, if you want a career in engineering, medicine, chemistry or law, a bachelor's degree or higher is mandatory. We often see people who have made it really big, and yet have little or no formal education. My opinion is, in order to get and keep a good paying job, you need both “street smarts” and “book smarts.” The combination of practical knowledge and explicit knowledge is the key to a successful career. Both types of knowledge have distinct advantages.
Education can be defined as the “investment in skills”(Hoyle 1). Smart people make the decision to go to college to gain knowledge in a certain field through those very skills. People are more educated than ever before which can be related to
Growing up under the myth that “If you do not go to school you will not learn anything,” was the logic behind getting an education when I was a child. However, what should have been our focus perspective, was the quote by Ingersoll, n.d.), “It is a thousand times better to have common sense without education than to have education without common sense.” That is to say, that there are many people who have an elite education, but have not applied that education to their life. Moreover, they have failed to employ common sense in understanding the necessities of learning the fundamentals of their education. As a result, they are ignorant to the simplicity behind life from which to succeed, but have assumed that their Ivy League education has made them elite and well educated. Nevertheless, I am in partial disagreement with this way of thinking, and believe common sense and education should work hand in hand, because education without common sense is worthless.
Rich people assume that College is important, but it is not a one way ticket to success, and happiness. However, Middle class people believe that education is important to be successful in the future. Education for middle class student is an important tool that is applied in the modern world to succeed, as it reduces the challenges, which are faced in life. “With nearly half of the nation 's undergraduates enrolled in community colleges,…….are playing an increasingly important role in higher education.”(David Hosansky). The information gained through education allows individuals’ future life to be optimally utilized due to training of the human mind. This eventually opens doors of opportunities for individual to achieve better chance in career growth. Education has played a major role in the modern industrial world. “This is attributed to the fact prospective employees must be qualified adequately to perform various tasks effectively.”(David Hosansky) Industries entail resources that are sufficiently equipped with the modern technology to suit the needs and wants of the society. This makes education to become a norm for services in all industrial
Being educated is to be adaptable, willing to entertain new ideas, and pursue knowledge. Throughout the semester, my idea of an educated person has changed quite a lot, starting with the necessity of higher education, ending with a more substantial, personal motivation. I thought that the only way to be truly educated was to attend college, and get a degree, obtaining proof that you were a refined, cultured, person. However, I’ve come to believe that as long as you’ve come to understand that education is constantly evolving, that your level of knowledge about things can constantly be refined, then I believe that you are an educated person. Educated people know that there is always more to learn, and go find ways to introduce themselves to the new information, through either fantastic circumstances or by the sheer force of will.
University education trains students in academic subjects. But non-academic fields can lead us to success as well. There are countless entrepreneurs, actors/actresses, political leaders, authors, directors, critics, designers, and more who prove that success does not merely depend on having complete education. These non-academic fields require people’s enthusiasm, but not academic knowledge. For example, Abraham Lincoln completed only one year of formal education, yet became a world famous lawyer and the U.S. President. These examples shows tertiary education may not be a necessary factor for success. On the other hand, it is generally believed that university education is necessary for successful life. Education is the key to success because it opens doors for people of all backgrounds, and it expands the human mind with knowledge. Roland (1997) claim that the vast amount of knowledge gained through education prepares individuals to solve problems, teach others, function at a higher level and implement transformational ideas. The 21st century is ever changing, new inventions are coming up non-stop and without proper education, it’s