Education and its Meaning
Education is a idea with a myriad of explanations but most often mistaken as having long past to school; ‘getting an education.' Having a high school education or even a university degree does not necessarily suggest that an individual is educated mostly due to the fact there are so many people who have gone to school however cannot be compared to individuals who have by no means been to a classroom. Going to college has the necessary focus on acquiring literacy while getting an education has a more enormous objective of equipping a person with the skills required to adapt to his or her environment. Therefore, being trained has a myriad of phases that all work together for the better functioning of humans who are innately rational beings when compared to other species (Ignatz 56).
The Definition of Education
The question posed in this essay has often been asked by various professionals and especially the philosophers whose primary focus is the acquisition of education and knowledge. What does it mean to be educated, therefore? Education is much more than academic performance or the replication of learned knowledge. However, educational skills may at times add on to the concept of education. Psychologists in their study of intelligence have more or less defined intelligence as the ability for a person to relate well to his environment while adapting well to any changes that might occur (Fullan 27). They propose that intelligence is composed of various aspects such as emotional intelligence which dictates the response system and pattern of the same individual. Moreover, good performance on intelligence tests means proper execution on multiple aspects of life.
The Meaning of Being Educated
Furthermore, the definition of knowledge can inform the meaning of being educated which means that an individual can coordinate various aspects of his or her life to attain higher and more advanced functionality in the context of the environment of existence. What it means to be educated is that an individual is aware of his surroundings and that he or she can find ways to make work easier for self and others. The same individual is also able to rationally respond to the different stimuli in the environment and understand that others also experience almost everything that he or she encounters though in different settings or magnitudes (Randall 152).
Virtues of an Educated Person
An educated person displays a variety of virtues such as honesty, hard work, and kindness, passion among others (O'Barr and Hardy 71). The possession of values does not mean that the person is religious but rather that they have the necessary qualities that contribute towards healthy interactions with other people. An example of the possession of desirable traits would be the difference between a college degree-holder who decides that she will not wait in line at the bank and therefore jumps queue while a farmer with only a high school education from the rural areas chooses to wait in line for their turn. The farmer has patience and is just since he understands that everyone waiting in line came in at different times and deserved to be served when their turn at the desk comes. When comparing the graduate and the farmer, the farmer appears educated while the graduate could be judged as uneducated.
Continuous Learning and Education
Education, just like learning, is a continuous process and is improved by the interaction with people from different cultures and walks of life (Ignatz 90). In light of this, an individual who is well traveled could in some ways be more educated than one who has stayed in one place all their life. Visiting areas and being aware of the differences in humankind is a form of education which adds on to a person’s experiences and interpretation of cultures. Education in this context, therefore, means exposure to more than one setting and accepting the differences between people.
A Thirst for Knowledge
Being educated in most ways means that a person is eager to learn new things at all times and that they approach everything with an open mind. The same person’s thirst for knowledge is unquenched, and he or she can connect and apply the different things learned in life (Ignatz 41). The main difference between formal learning and education is that on the one hand, students master to pass their exams and to qualify to get to the next stage or even get good jobs informal learning. Education, on the other hand, is when a person learns for the joy and thirst of knowledge and the understanding that that experience is meant to make life more interesting since one can now focus on things from different angles.
Conclusion
In conclusion, formal education does not mean one is educated but does, however, provide an individual with different opportunities of being educated in the long run. Being educated, as borrowed from the definition of intelligence, means that a person can efficiently interact and adapt effectively with his or her environment. An educated person has rational reactions and possesses positive qualities that inform his or her choices. Travelling and interacting with different cultures determines how educated a person is since it increases on one’s knowledge-base while building on appropriate behavior. The focus has been made on being educated as to when knowledge is sought to make life easier and more efficient.
Work Cited
Fullan, Michael. The New Meaning of Educational Change. New York : Teachers College Press, 2016. Print.
Ignatz, Saymon. Study in the Civilization and Education of Primitive Man. . Los Angeles: Hardpress Publishing, 2012. Print.
O’Barr, Jean and Julia M. Hardy. What Does It Mean to Be an Educated Woman?: Conversations on Activism, Scholarship, and Pedagogy. Durham: Sallie Bingham Center for Women’s History and Culture, 2011. E-Book.
Randall, Curren. Philosophy of Education. New Jersey: John Wiley, 2017. Print.
