Importance of Education

American’s have utilized education as a tool to combat the marginalizing effects of the broader society and culture. Described by Fredrick Douglass as “the pathway from slavery to freedom” (1041), educational attainment created opportunities for Black women and men to ascend socially, compete with Whites economically, and assert their humanity in a country intent on denying it. In a country with a vested interest in keeping African-Americans from reading and writing, the fight for literacy has been a crucial part of the Black identity. Under that analysis, one can understand its frequency as a theme in works of literature by Black authors. However, it is a theme often accompanied by unique social implications that sometimes prove to be problematic. As the term itself implies, to be an African-American is to be a liminal figure.

Historically, people of African descent in the United States have had to operate on two cultural fronts simultaneously — particularly for those with significant levels of education. For various reasons the realities of unequal educationand disenfranchisement sometimes result in rifts between the “educated” class and the “uneducated” or “less-educated” classes. Throughout history, the unequal distribution of literacy among people of color has occasionally proven to be a source of familial strife, guilt, and conflicts within the self. Alice Walker’s Everyday Use and the Narrative of the Life of Fredrick Douglass, an American Slaveare texts that explore the obvious benefits of literacy and education among Black Americans, while simultaneously examining the potential conflicts that stem from educational attainment.

Walker’s text appears well over a century after Douglass’s. In Everyday Use Walker echoes elements of Douglass’s philosophy on literacy as a stepping-stone. Dee, who prefers to be called “Wangero” (2636), is the beautiful and well-educated daughter of the narrator in Walker’s text. While not a slave like Douglass, her upbringing in a house with “three rooms”, a “tin” roof and “no real windows, (Walker 2635) indicates that she comes from a poor rural background under less than ideal conditions. Dee’s leaving for school in Augusta is akin to Douglass’s transition from the plantation to Baltimore that “laid the foundation……to all [his] subsequent prosperity” (1040).

In both instances, we see that access to education introduced both Dee and Douglass to “entirely new train[s] of thought” (Douglass 1041). Through literacy, the subjects of the texts are able to foster their own sense of freedom, and gaininsight into the worlds in which they live. Dee becomes hyper-aware of the realities of racism and changes her name in order to distance herself from the people that “oppress” (Walker 2636) her while Douglass concludes that the “white man’s power” to enslave (1041) is largely attributed keeping slaves from reading. Thus, Douglass knowing that his master believed reading would “spoil” (1041) him, made education the thing that he “most desired”.

While Walker and Douglass both examine education as a critical step on the ladder to upward mobility, they also explore the fact that education does not provide insulation from the realities of being an African-American. Likewise, they examine some ways in which educated Black men and Women navigate being educated while so many of their people are denied the very same right. Dee and Douglass are both confronted with the fact that while they have ascended to a degree, the condition of their people is still “wretched” and “without…remedy” (Douglass 1044). Douglass is forced to leave Baltimore for another plantation and Dee takes a trip back home and faces the rural community she left behind. Here, we begin to see conflicts take shape. Bringing new perspectives into old environments where most people are uneducated or illiterate creates difficult territory to navigate. In these texts, we see elitism, guilt, confusion and regret as themes when the world’s of literacy and illiteracy collide.

Through the narrating mother’s lament, Walker reveals that Dee often uses her educational background to demean and belittle her mother and her sister Maggie. Dee’s mother was only able to complete the “second grade” (Walker 2635) before the school shut its doors and Maggie is described as knowing “she is not bright” (Walker 2635). Knowing they were victims of circumstances beyond their control, Dee still read to them “without pity” and “burned [them] with…knowledge” (Walker 2635). Dee’s air of superiority is exacerbated by her disrespect for the family traditions, namesakes and heirlooms. Some might conclude that Dee’s advice to Maggie that she “make something” (Walker 2639) out of herself because it’s a “new day” (Walker 2639) for African American’s, is a pretentious self-exaltation masquerading as encouragement. Sadly for Dee, her educational attainment provided her with a degree of success while simultaneously driving a wedge between herself and her family.

If the dark side of Dee’s literacy lies in her relationships, Douglass’s issues are the result of internalized conflict.

While he credits his “enjoyment of freedom” (1040) to becoming literate, Douglass also discusses the mental and emotional distress that his newfound knowledge brings him. We see a degree of elitism in Douglass’s writing when he speaks of his envying his counterparts’ “stupidity” (1044) or when describing himself as “the first, last and only choice” (1040)among his fellow slaves. It would appear however, that these statements are coming from a place of self-pityand sadness rather than arrogance. Further contrasting Dee and Douglass is the fact that most of Douglass’s conflict is internal and not dependent upon his relationships with others.

Also, we do not see the same degree of blatant and intentional disrespect for his less fortunate comrades. Douglass is forced to leave Baltimore and begin work as a field hand. While Douglass’s reading had provided him with “the power or truth” in order to express his opposition to the system that held him in bondage, his status as a slave remained unchanged. Thus he was left without an effective outlet to assert his dignity and humanity. He describes himself as “tormented” (1044) by his knowledge and “everlasting thinking” (1044).

For better or for worst, these texts demonstrate that because of America’s racial history, the ideas of educationand literacy are filtered through a racial lens for African- Americans. While Walker’s text portrays a character that appears to be antagonistic at times in comparison to Douglass, they both serve to illustrate the complex and nuanced territory of being Black and educated in a systemically unequal society.

The importance of education has become apparent to many families across the globe. Entering a University has become progressively easier over the past decades. Even though the entrances have become easier, it doesn’t mean that actually graduating college is any easier. Education is the essential part of every minor’s life, if they aren’t subject to a good education or they are but they fail to take advantage, they will most likely end up on the “losing end” of the race to make money once they graduate from either college or high school. As a whole, getting into a college and graduating provides the student with a “fast pass” in life.

For example, if someone were to drop out of high school, they would most likely never get the spot that requires a college degree because they have to know what they are doing in order to actually complete the job. The college graduate on the other hand, could easily take the position of any person that has not completed college or especially high school. But thanks to the opportunity provided to the children in the United States, they have a chance at getting into college as long as they don’t have bad grades or are students who often misbehave and acquire a large array of referrals.

Children that do not behave and/or have bad grades have a much lower chance of actually getting into college, let alone actually graduating from it. Education is most likely the most important aspect of a child’s life, whether they know it or not. An education not only provides students with the tools they need to survive a normal day in the life of a normal working adult, but it provides them with the knowledge to solve problems some have never seen and/or heard of. Even one of our founding fathers clearly understood the importance of an education.

George Washington knew that an education was important, especially to a democracy because they need people to understand the issues, discuss them, and be able to solve them. Without an educated population, there could easily be criminals who could oversee the non-educated and use their knowledge to loop around laws and commit crimes easily considered some of the worst by today’s standards. Due to this, it is clear that an education isn’t only important to the individual and their lifetime income, but it is also very important to major departments of society and law.

As a whole, Education gives us knowledge of the world around us. It develops in us a perspective of looking at life as well as helping us build opinions and POV’s in our lives. Education helps us develop a world that could function and what is right and what is wrong. Considering the fact that in today’s society everything is about business, the students who have studied the most and have the most desirable degrees become necessities to the companies recruiting them. No matter how important it may seem to someone, it is most likely the most important aspect of their life.

“Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare it today.” These words said by Malcolm X indicate how significant is the impact, which schools have on young minds. Good schooling is essential for every society and individual, as it is supposed to prepare students for the world of work later in life as well as to teach them the values and morals required in the society.

In other words, it is school where teenagers are equipped with necessary skills so that they can participate effectively as member of community, hence they have a chance to contribute towards the development of common identity. For that reason, there have been many attempts to create a school environment that will allow young people to grow emotionally, physically and mentally. Consequently, there are two main choices to make. This is having a single-gender education, or a school where students are in classrooms with a mixture of genders.

However, as it has been previously stated, the school should be regarded as a reflection of the real world. The real world is coeducational though, so mixed schools are rightly considered to be more proper setting for the young learners. The main concern about single-sex classrooms is that its members will not be capable of maintaining successful relationships throughout their lives since they will be accustomed to interaction only with either boys or girls. Nevertheless, being able to communicate with the other sex is crucial to prepare students for the professional world. Coeducational schools perfectly serve this function, because collaboration in classrooms is both purposeful and supervised.

What is more, children there have the opportunity to be taught a broader range of essential life skills e.g. understanding more diverse points of views, mutual respect or simply how to cooperate efficiently and create successful interpersonal bonds. On the contrary, single-sex schools not only limit these possibilities for forming friendships with the opposite sex but also hinder them, as such restrictions lead to perceiving the other sex in an entirely unrealistic, ideological way, simply because children lack the time spent together.

Additionally, deficiency in mutual contact deprives young people from gender segregated classrooms of an enriching experience that is learning about and from each other. That fact can be further confirmed by many researches, in relation to which children need a mix of traditionally masculine and feminine characteristics, like playing competitive sports and discussing emotions, in order to be mentally healthy. Therefore, boys who spend their time mostly with other boys are thought to be possessive and to display aggression. Girls also benefit from the boys’ presence by being more courageous while performing in the society.

Moreover, classroom assignment based on gender teaches young people that males and females have completely different types of intellects, which firmly supports stereotyping along with discrimination. Correspondingly, the common beliefs, that only boys can play football or videogames and only girls are allowed to play with dolls, reinforce sexism in schools and in the culture at large, as children tend to favor members of their own group, and be prejudiced against those in contrasting groups. By contrast, the children in the coed classroom are less probable to limit their interests according to gender – the girls can play football and the boys are allowed to play with dolls.Still, it has been argued that both sexes adopt different approaches towards learning, and taking it into account, they should be taught dissimilarly. Indeed, most same-sex classrooms allow teachers to tailor their lessons toward the specific needs of their students.

For example, a class discussion of “Romeo and Juliet” in a boys’ school can involve a study of a boy’s first love analyzed from his perspective. Likewise, using books featuring lead female characters may be more appealing to young women or debating the impact of religion on young girls has the potential to really reach the target group, while such discussions in co-ed schools are usually less open and extended than those in a single-sex school. However, very few teachers are effectively trained to manage a single-gender learning environment, yet very few colleges offer specific programs or courses.

Considering the fact that learning is best accomplished when the delivery method matches the subject itself, it is the quality of teachers’ training— not gender of their students — that determines how successful the outcome is.Because of that, although students can also learn from home, school environments are irreplaceable during development of young minds. Rather than separate boys and girls, schools should move in the entirely opposite direction which is training boys and girls how to work together, respect and support each other. It is not long before the youth of today will be the parents, co-workers, and leaders of tomorrow. Due to that fact it is especially important to take better advantage of coeducation to frame the truly egalitarian society, that we expect to encounter in the future.

Education involves a solid student/teacher relationship, as well as both student and teacher incorporating imagination into the teaching process. Both student and teacher must work together to reach an understanding of education in the classroom; this enables students to grasp full advantage of the material being taught by the teacher. Knowledge in most cases, allows you to see yourself, and to understand what you can produce. The most important aspect of education is change. Change is basically what education is; you are becoming educated and expanding your mind or in other words changing it.

The more educated you become, the more able you are to approach the world, and the better off you are to introduce new thoughts to your society. A key example in demonstrating the teacher/student relationship and education as a whole, is explained by Sheldon Solomon. In Solomon’s lecture on education, he discusses critical thinking and aesthetic awareness. Both, form creativity, and creativity equals change. Change, in the sense of altering ideas or approaching concepts from different angles as you become more educated and mature.

Creativity allows you to take your ideas in any direction that you wish. When you start your education in elementary school you learn very easy concepts. As you proceed, you build upon early ideas with more advanced concepts. Your intuition increases through education and you have a broader background of facts and information to use. In addition to critical thinking, aesthetic awareness includes a change of your emotions. Deep visions start forming with all the information you have gathered through the years.

Visions, in the sense of what the future will bring to one’s life and what can be accomplished in the years to come. With these visions, students can determine what they want to do with the rest of their life. In addition, Professor Solomon includes a “dynamic interaction between active students and active teachers” (Solomon 9/9/99), as one of the five integral parts of a solid education. Students and teachers should work together to decide what and how they will be taught. The role of the professor is to keep the students interested, while the task of the students is to do what is asked of the professor.

When students and teachers work together to find an effective and interesting way to learn material, the students don’t have any excuse but take full advantage of the education that is being presented to them. To ensure student interest, a re-evaluation of the teaching methods should be reviewed every so often to keep the level of enthusiasm. One of the most important aspects of a person’s education is the direction in which it takes you. The course the student wants to take is up to his or her imagination. As Alfred North Whitehead states, “imagination is not to be divorced from the facts: it is a way of illuminating the facts.

It works by eliciting the general principles, which apply to the facts, as they exist, and then by an intellectual survey of alternative possibilities, which are consistent with those principles. In enables men to construct an intellectual vision of a new world, and it preserves the zest of life by the suggestion of satisfying purposes” (Whitehead, 15). Many individuals in my generation have very short attention ps. They can’t be fully interested in school, without the freedom to express their own ideas and imagination.

I believe that capturing student’s interests involves acts of incorporating imagination in the classroom and being encouraged by the teacher. If this happens, students will use their talents to their fullest potentials “illuminating the facts. ” Standard curriculum in schools can incorporate imagination as the key to students understanding boring information that they think they’ll never use again in their life. An example of this is teaching mathematics, word for word, right out of the textbook in elementary school. The kids do the work mostly because they are required to do so rather than the desire to learn.

If math is taught with objects on tables and a group interaction of the specific lesson is incorporated, a better understanding of the material will occur. These objects are the things that get you to imagine concepts and personal ideas. From an idea, imagination can spark the brain to open up to other possibilities and renditions of their original idea. A personal concept of an idea gives forth a creative personalized understanding. An excellent example of what a teacher should not aspire to is Gradgrind.

I disagree with the narrow mind of Gradgrind, in Charles Dickens, “Hard Times for These Times. Teachers’ should constantly doubt the credibility of the content and teaching methods. The idea of giving students a mass quantity of facts is very appealing because it will act in a way similar to an encyclopedia. However, Gradgrind failed to link these facts in an interesting, imaginative way. He was useless to his students and the students were useless to him. The clever point of this piece is the use of satire incorporated into Dickens’ writing, clearly implying that the students should be incorporated into the teaching process.

In no way, should they feel inferior, or feel like prisoners to the teacher. When a teacher dictates to students, they shut their brains and they become irritated by the teaching process. The teacher must provide encouragement plus interest with his or her students. Students want to accomplish work for themselves but also need the respect from their teachers to feel positive about their learning. When the teacher works at the level of the student it makes both feel equal, and better communication occurs, a friendship develops. Both student and teacher work together to reach this understanding of knowledge.

My belief is that both students and teachers absolutely must work together to reach the ideal education. It is my experience that there will always be a disagreement of opinion about what and how students should learn, but in the end, I think that it is the responsibility of the students and their teachers to find this equality. If teachers weren’t viewed as the dictators of life but rather education tools, I believe that students would get a little more out of the average education. Most importantly, teachers would be able to see the enjoyment of teaching, and find their jobs more rewarding.