Some may disagree with our definition and views of an educated person. Our assertion that the educated person is one who has learned through self-teaching methods as well as through formal education could easily be refuted by those who are in favor of one form of learning or the other. Some believe that self-taught individuals can be just as successful as those who have had a formal education. For example, a self-made business man who only has a high school degree can be just as successful as one who has a business degree. In contrast to this belief there are those who think that a formal education is the only option to achieving success, those who support this educational belief see formal education as a system that has a large advantage over self-teaching methods. As we have stated, our view of an educated person is someone who learns through self teaching and learns from their own mistakes. A higher degree doesn’t make you more of an educated person. “An educated person should possess the general knowledge needed for making informed rational decisions and inferences on familiar and novel situations in personal and intellectual life” (Mohanan 2005). We believe that there is room for both forms of education, education and learning is not black and white; we like to think in the gray area where self-teaching and formal education can coexist.
There can be further disagreement with our idea that the educated individual must experience different ways of learning throughout their education. We discussed visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning earlier; some believe that a student can only learn one of these ways – mostly through visual and auditory learning. We believe that individuals are capable of learning in a variety of ways, not just one form of learning. We do not argue against the fact that some individuals experience more successful learning with certain methods of education, we simply believe that there are areas within a student’s education where visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning can and should take place.
There may be further dispute with our idea that the educated person must possess an understanding of human relationships and character. Those who disagree may be driven primarily by the argument against group work – collaborative student assignments that offer positive and negative experiences. Many feel that group work does not offer any positive experiences or lessons for students, often, group work is seen as unfair because the work is rarely distributed equally and conflict often arises when a member has not done their part or the group disagrees on a certain aspect of the project. We feel that the educated person must have a solid understanding of human relationships and character, group work is an excellent way to nurture this knowledge and understanding. It is imperative to know how to work with different types of people, even if some of those individuals do not pull their weight when working on a project.
Some may also disagree with the final portion of our argument: the educated person must have the capacity to form their own knowledge and not simply absorb information given to them. Those who may disagree with this statement could believe that knowledge is not inherent, one must be taught to learn and understand subjects and concepts. We believe that learning is inherent, if one can learn, one can form their own knowledge and ideas and be an educated individual.
Sources:
Mohanan, K. P. (2005). Who is an Educated Person? Centre for Development of Teaching & Learning .
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