...What Does It Mean To Be Well-Educated? Greg Bonner Abstract To be well-educated mean more than the quality of the schools and colleges I attend. My education began with the sovereignty of God, the Creator. At birth my training and education began with my parents and care-givers. Throughout my life I was taught by those whom God had predestined for me as stewards, mentors and teachers. God created me in His image in every way. Divine wisdom, knowledge, and understanding are gifts inclusive of His image. I was and am increased in His knowledge through the nurturing and discipline of the Holy Spirit, our parents, teachers, and professors. To be well-educated expands further than the class rooms and curriculum of studies. My God given knowledge is released in “precept upon precept, and line upon line” in all that I do personally, academically, and otherwise (Isaiah 28:9-10 ESV). The best schools do not merit one to be well-educated. To be well-educated is forever learning, never ceasing to learn the knowledge of God in one’s self and others. What Does It Mean To Be Well-Educated? Reading Alfie Kohn’s article, “What Does it Mean to Be Well-Educated?” compelled me to answer the question. His article caused me to reflect and assess my own meaning of one being well-educated. My initial thought was that of academic and scholastic achievement. Being well-educated entails greater experiences than academic success. Life lessons, discipline, and...
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...ENG 101-D23 LUO Professor Desiree B. Sholes 11/12/2012 To be or not to be well-educated: A Narrative Response to Alfie Kohn’s “What does it mean to be well-educated?” To be or not to be well-educated: A Narrative Response to Alfie Kohn’s “What does it mean to be well-educated?” Alfie Kohn’s essay “What does it mean to be well-educated?” begins on a personal note using his wife as an example to substantiate his hypothesis. Encountering Alisa at the very beginning of the essay was indeed a refreshing way to initiate thought into a subject not often considered. Today not everyone ponders the real relevance behind education nor does anyone contemplate just how much of education is needed to be considered well-educated. Alisa has a doctorate in anthropology and is an excellent physician yet her lack of knowledge in basic math and English leads her husband to question the implications behind what true education is all about (Kohn, 2003, pars. 1-4). My first response to this startling line of thought was that something like this had never occurred to me before. One is either educated or not. But where does one cross over from educated into well-educated and what does the latter term encompass? These were interesting premises that galvanized me into Kohn’s text, rapidly seeking a resolution for my questions. The first question that Kohn tackles involves the purpose of education. Is education meant to create better individuals or introduce better...
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... 2 Introduction The question of what does it mean to be well-educated is addressed by author Alfie Kohn. Mr. Kohn expresses, “It’s not enough to memorize facts or score well on tests but a good education is hard to define.” The author shares some personal reflections about his wife Alisa, as an illustration in building a foundation to help provide the answer to the question, what does it mean to be well-educated. Mr. Kohn outlines his wife’s educational background, her current employment, and certain perceived deficiencies in her education. The author’s conclusions are markedly different than my own, inasmuch as I am convinced that to be well educated means to possess a balanced education that exhibits orthodox academic achievement, and practical knowledge that contributes to the fulfillment and enjoyment of daily life. The author shares: When I met Alisa, she was at Harvard, putting the finishing touches on her doctoral dissertation in anthropology. A year later, having spent her entire life in school, she decided to…apply to medical school. Today she is a practicing physician…She will, however, freeze up if you ask her what eight times seven is because she never learned the multiplication table. And forget about grammar (“Me and him went over her house...
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...Being Well Educated Febraury 13, 2010 Patricia Ricks-Armstead In exploring what it means to be educated one must take a closer look at how we seek and acquire knowledge beyond the traditional sense. If you take a closer look you will discover that there is an evolution of how knowledge has been shared and obtained throughout human history. And it is with this discovery that we will learn that acquisition of knowledge is not a “one-size-fits-all” process that has dominated most educational institutions in the recent decades. Being well educated does not always mean that you know everything all the time. If that was the case, we would all be perfect. I feel that everyone has a bit of ignorance in them. To define ignorance so no one will be offended; it is the lack of knowledge: lack of knowledge or education, unawareness: unawareness of something, often of something important. Synonyms are the state of unawareness, inexperience, illiteracy, unfamiliarity, obliviousness, witlessness. Now if you look at this, I don’t know how to fly a plane so therefore I am ignorant to that fact but it definitely does not mean that I am not well educated. Some people would argue the ignorant factor asuming that this is a way of calling them stupid. Like it says in the "What does it mean to be well educated story", the husband talks about how his wife is very knowledgable when it comes to medicine and anthropology; she freezes up when you ask her what eight times seven is. (Kohn...
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...David Pope Mr. Grant English 101 June 11, 2013 An educated person does not need good writing and speaking skills. Most people would argue that one needs to be able to write and speak well in order to be educated. However, these people are not looking at the word educated objectively. The mere definition of educated is simply: having an education; especially: having an education beyond the average. This simple definition does not prove that one does not need good writing and speaking skills. In fact, it raises more questions on the subject. What is the definition of education? Does one need good writing and speaking skills to have an education? The answer as shown above is no. Objectively, education can be defined as the following: the imparting and acquiring of knowledge through teaching and learning, especially at a school or similar institution; the knowledge or abilities gained through being educated; training and instruction in a particular subject. If education is training and instruction in a particular subject that would mean being educated would be having training and instruction in a particular subject. An example of this could be the job of a carpenter. A carpenter may go to a trade school. At this trade school he will learn Geometry, English, and will also receive hands on training in the basics of carpentry. By taking these classes he has become educated in each one of these. Because he was educated in English 101 he learned how to speak and write properly...
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...Natalie Petersen S. Feldman English 1A T/TH 5:00PM December 6, 2012 The Art of Being Educated In life we all tend to be confined by our own beliefs and the beliefs of others. Our personal development depends so urgently on our sense of self. To be educated means living with an open mind and having a strong sense of self, for when we live with an open mind we are no longer confined by our beliefs nor are we confined by the beliefs of others. There are numerous opportunities available to us everyday and if we don’t expose ourselves to possible changes then we can never truly grasp true education. “In fact, a green banana is waiting for all of you who leave your own centers of the world in order to experience other places”(Batchelder). Batchelder wants us to understand when we are finally in a position to open ourselves up to change we are susceptible to successes we may never of imagined. Furthermore, letting go of old habits can be a necessary change, because by doing so we open ourselves up to life supporting us more fully in ways it can best do so. If only we all could decipher Lopez’s true message in his excerpt “ I could see the sheen where I’d sat for years,” and relate to the epiphany he had when he realized “there was no reason to sit where I was”(Lopez). We would grasp being truly educated means being able to make the choice in life to move in a different direction even if it means jumping out of our comfort zones. Now and again our comfort zones are located in Petersen2 ...
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...I Want a Husband Every woman wants what she thinks is the perfect husband. Not every woman wants the same thing in a man. Some women want a man who is a little rough or some want a man who is college educated. A few things all women can agree upon is we all want a man who is gives attention, committed, a good provider, great listener, educated, and handy around the house. That is just to name a few things us women want in a man. When I think of what the world says a good man is to me it is like they are looking for the perfect man. To me the perfect man cannot be found every man has there flaws. You just have to find the man with the flaws that you can deal with. Every good man is not college educated; but they know how to get up and go to work to make an honest living. To find a man that is educated is a good thing that means that they are on your level and can keep up with you. Education is important to every woman when it comes to finding a husband, because you know that their values are in the right place if going to school is important to them. What woman you know wants a man that is not committed to them. If a man cannot be committed you might as well say there is not a relationship. Woman want to know that they are the only one in a man's life. Women like to know the man is not out and about doing things that he should not do. When a man is turns into a husband commitment is important. No woman wants to find out that her man was not committed totally to her...
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...or a democratic society. In Plato's Republic, Socrates and his interlocutors discuss how to educate children. Is it right to keep them censored, or should they be allowed to study all and every subject(s). The education of children is very important because they are the future of the society. They are the possible rulers, philosophers, guardians, and so on. So, it is important to shape them wisely. This concept is no different than what shapes our society today. It is well known that one of the many qualifications of a good leader is that who can improve the country's educational system. Why?, because the youth are our future leaders and teachers. A parent would rather pick a private school over a public school, and a job interviewer would look more highly on a private school graduate over a public school graduate. You can say that education is important in today's society, as well as Plato's society. The youth can be educated in many different ways, either by keeping them in the shadows, or exposing them to the light. this means that the future of the society can be either ruled by a person who is oblivious to the society's past, or by a person who has been fully exposed to the society's history. If a person is censored from education, then they love their life as a perfect world. this is best described when Socrates says that a Guardian should be a person who "must be gentle to their own people and harsh to the enemy." (375b-c). Socrates wants to educate...
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...What does it mean to be a BSN prepared professional nurse? To answer this question, we first need to answer three different questions. First, is what does it mean to be professional? Let’s first define the word profession. Webster defines profession as “a calling requiring specialized knowledge and often long and intensive academic preparation.” 2 Professionals therefore are individuals that are expected to demonstrate well-informed and skillful behaviors that are aligned with their profession. Being professional then is the act in a manner defined and expected by the chosen profession. Now the second question is what are characteristics needed to be a professional nurse? Communication skills, emotional stability, empathy, flexibility, paying attention to detail, interpersonal skills, energy, problem solving skills, and respect for everyone we come into contact with just to list a few of the...
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...life experiences. The debate of what to be educated really means has been going on for centuries, yet the answer isn’t esoteric at all! The scintillating Henry David Thoreau amazed scholars of his philosophy that one simply doesn’t just go to school to be educated, but one has to experience the world in order to be prepared for it. He lived in a small house on Walden Pond and lived off of the land. He quoted “I went to the woods because I wished to live deliberately, to front only the essential facts of life, and see if I could not learn what it had...
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...Thesis: I believe that education has become a business that has brought American families into great debt. Education is overrated! Ok class who can tell me what photosynthesis means? Ray? Yes, photosynthesis is the process in which plants absorb energy from the sun to get energy. Third grade, I will never forget it because it was questions like this that made me want to run and hide. I never got anything practical out of school except for girls in plaid skirts with black and white saddle shoes which drove me crazy. I could only imagine what high school would be like if I never really retained any information that was vital to my success. I hated school as much as it hated me and I know hate is a strong word. To use the term “Well Educated” sounds like someone who has accumulated a lot of books that they will never read again and debt that will follow them to the grave. I am a late bloomer because most of my peers went off to college while I went to work. I decided to go to college much later in life. When I speak to most of my high school friends they complain of college tuition and debt that still hunts them. Now I have been out of high school for twenty years, so that’s at least fifteen years of debt from college. Yes, I believe it’s all about the money and not the elite education that we so eagerly have to obtain right out of high school. Why is it that when we purchased homes for forty to seventy thousand dollars we needed a down payment? However when it comes...
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...Identify 2 or 3 issues faced by the aging population. 1. Physical issues such as loss of vision, hearing, etc. 2. Welfare issues such as loss of income, harder to get a job, 3. Discrimination and stereotype issues Answer the following questions in 100 to 200 words each. Provide citations for all the sources you use. • What is ageism? How does ageism influence the presence of diversity in society? According to ageismhurts.org, “Agesim is stereotyping or discrimination of a person or group of people because of their age” (2014). Ageism influences the presence of diversity in a society because there is a lot of discrimination and older people tend to be a diverse type of group amongst the younger population. Older people are being competed against younger people for many things. Agesim can cause a lot of cause and effects such as older people losing their job or getting ill due to their age. No matter the cause, the effect causes a more diverse population and it influences the elderly population, as well as people younger than them. What is the Age Discrimination in Employment Act (ADEA)? How does the ADEA address issues for the aging population? The ADEA prohibits employment discrimination against persons 40 years of age or older. The ADEA addresses issues for the aging population by “Specifically dealing with discriminatory policies involving employers, employment agencies and labor organizations” (elder-laws.com, 2014). Basically, the...
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...What a Real Education Should Be Knowledge is one of the most important and powerful tools we have in our lives! Many people of our generation chase after degrees, not sure of what they expect to receive from their education. Students may predict their education will only allow a few direct rewards, when in reality it will broaden many horizons! When students become more educated, they are expanding their minds to think in multidimensional ways and tend to be happier in life overall. A real education should allow multiple ways of thinking, create positive feelings caused by thinking, and have positive life changing results. An education should allow students to confidently use multiple ways of thinking. There is much more to being intelligent than having the ability to memorize and relay facts robotically. A good education should teach the student how to learn and think critically, causing them to question everything they learn in many ways. Usually, the student will be able to answer most of their own questions because their education taught them how to do so. Most questions do not have a single answer but many answers that can be perceived differently. When people develop a strong thought process, it's due to the ability to think creatively and passionately about the topic. Within an introduction to Conscious Reading and intelligent writing it is stated, “After all, those moments when we confront the different, the weird, or the offensive are often the very moments...
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...TEEN PREGNANCIES Teen pregnancy is an issue that has been a problem for many decades. It was frowned upon until about the 1970s. After that, it started becoming more acceptable just like many other things in this society. Just because society is not seeing it as much of a big deal does not mean it is not a problem in this day and age. There was going to be interviews conducted until it was realized that no research or outside resources to be done. It almost seems as though some shows are glorifying the fact that teens are getting pregnant. An example of a show that seems to glorify teen pregnancy is a show on MTV called 16 and pregnant. How much of a problem this team pregnant today? Are teenagers really not that well educated when it comes to teen pregnancy, or to they just don't consider the consequences when they lay with someone and not use protection? Depending on the area on where specific individuals live can result in the amount of teenagers getting pregnant. The majority of the parents that I know that have teenage children that got pregnant were pretty well-educated children. A man that I know does well in fact educate his children about teen pregnancy. He is not dumb and know what his children are capable of when they are alone and unsupervised. He takes his daughter to the doctor every three months to get a shot that fits her from getting pregnant. My 14-year-old sister is very smart, but I know for a fact my parents have not talked to her about the consequences...
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...What does Literacy mean to Alexie? It all started out with a comic book; a superman comic book that opened up three year old Alexie’s eyes to success. Along with learning to read by himself by looking at comic books and trying to associate words with pictures came different struggles, his parent’s not being able to afford great books, spending his whole day trying to learn how to make the words become real to him, and of course the biggest struggle; his peers making fun of him for being smart. For Alexie to go through all of these struggles alone; learning to read and write must mean something more than just scanning through words on a page or writing the alphabet mixed up in different combinations, it must mean something much greater. The first thing that shows that Literacy means something more to Alexie is that it means being sufficiently educated with his writing and reading skills. Alexie’s wild adventure began with opening a comic book back when he was three years old. He had tried to associate the words and the pictures to try to teach him-self how to read. To this day, he cannot recall exactly what the comic book was, but he was indeed successful. After trying to read that comic book, Alexie wanted more, he didn’t want to learn how to read; in his mind, he had to. Alexie’s Father was an avid reader and I believe that Alexie got the idea to teach him-self to read because he wanted to be just like his father. The family was not rich; very far from it, but Alexie’s...
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