A True Education

"Education is a concept as difficult to define as it is essential to our identity" (Shea, Scanlon, and Aufses). Education has a different definition for every single person. Everyone understands the word differently but at the same time it means the same thing. It is the combination of "knowledge, wisdom, and skill" (Shea, Scanlon, and Aufses). It is important to step back from the debates on grades, standardized testing, and teacher evaluation and really understand the meaning of education. There is a very accurate quote by Jean Piaget which says, "The principle goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done." Schools today focus on students' abilities to be better at being an 'overall student' than other students. If a person was able to manage to keep their grade's high, finish many volunteer hours, and be a leader in extracurricular activites then that person is able to continue their education and have a successful life. Through grades, standardized tests, and teacher evaluations, is not the right way to determine the capability of a student. But, sadly, that is how it is nowadays. All the way back to 340 B.C., Plato has said, "The object of education is to teach us to love beauty". Students at school should not be competing with each other to get a better opportunity. They should learn about life, be able to find themselves, learn to do things their own way, to learn to enjoy what they have, and to be able to love the beauty of this world. They should learn to have their own opinions, work on making this place a better one for future generations, learn to come together and make a change. These ideas are what is lacking in the education system today. This does not mean that students should not learn math, science, history. It just means that there is much more than just memorizing formulas, theories, and battles. There is so much more to this world then what schools expose students too. Sadly, not all students are able to see what they are missing because they are too busy competing with each other. This is something to be worked on and changed. This world is a beautiful place and we need to learn to see it in our own way. 'The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows" (Sydney J. Harris).