It has been said that getting an education is a way out of
poverty and a way for people to dramatically improve the quality of their lives.
Pres. Obama certainly seems to subscribe to this idea with his emphasis on
education this month, both in his recommendation to have community college
education provided free to those who want it, and in the emphasis that he
placed on education in his State of the Union address.
But with all of the emphasis being placed on the importance
of education, what does it mean to be educated? For many educators and
philosophers, education involves more than a focus on academics, for the sake
of learning facts and figures. In some circles, being educated was
traditionally looked at as a pathway for an individual to become a well-rounded
human being.
The Cambridge Dictionary defines well-rounded as "involving or
having experience in a wide range of ideas or activities."
One
can even find online in WikiHow a series of steps that each person can take to
become well-rounded. These steps include learning about other cultures and
countries; reading books, magazines, newspapers; getting involved in lots of
activities, like painting, dancing, creating music and other hobbies; and being
open-minded to new things. The entire list can be seen at http://www.wikihow.com/Become-a-Well-Rounded-Person
It might be that in East Palo Alto, the Ravenswood City School
District Superintendent, Gloria Hernandez-Goff, is starting students off early
on the road to being well-rounded, since she and other district leaders think
that the district must go beyond the teaching of academic basics, if the
students in East Palo Alto are to excel in academics.
The superintendent has taken the position that public school education
in East Palo Alto should address the needs of the whole child (Click here to see
an excerpt from Superintendent Hernandez-Goff's recent interview on the Talking
with Henrietta show, Looking at the Common Core - Part 1.).
The district recognizes that students can't learn well, for
example, when they are hungry, when they are sick, when they are regularly
subjected to stressful living conditions, like crime and violence or when they lack
regular opportunities for exercise. So, the district has created wraparound
programs for students that address these situations. Even today, January 21, the district formally launched
a new program, which includes yoga, to promote the health and wellness of each
student. Read a brief post about the program on East Palo Alto Today's Facebook
page at https://www.facebook.com/eastpaloaltotoday.
So, as one considers various perspectives about education,
one can still ask, what does it mean for individuals to be educated? What does
it mean for the U.S. to have an educated citizenry? How best should that
education be provided and should it be accessible to everyone regardless of his
or her ability to pay? These are just a few questions our national leaders and
local educators are addressing as our country grapples with some of the global,
national and local issues we face.
When all is said and done, even the definition of education
is becoming more inclusive, with education currently being acknowledged not
only as a personal way up the ladder, but also as a national prerequisite for
the U.S. to maintain its position as a world leader among nations.
It isn't heard as often as it once was and it has undergone
change, but the United Negro College Fund's saying that "A mind is a
terrible thing to waste" is probably even more true today than ever. Certainly, such a loss would be a loss for the individual and for those who are close to that person. Now, as things are shaping up, each mind, around us, that is not fulfilling
its potential, not only represents a personal loss, but it also represents a loss for our country and for our planet, as well.
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