Endless Definition

At the beginning of the semester, I must admit that I had a narrow minded and typical definition of what education is. Still, I cannot fully define what education is because there are so many aspects to cover. I do, though, have a much greater understanding to what education is.

I came from a small town Elkhorn, WI and before that I lived in Milwaukee, WI. I did have experience with smaller and bigger schools, but that does not mean I could fully grasp all the differences in education. Reflecting on past articles and the presentations throughout the semester of English 100, there is so much more to education than what I had been exposed to. Education is not just merely going to school 5 days a week, sitting in class and learning, trying to get good grades, and having goals of going to college.

Education really can differ from one person to the next, especially if one has a disability or is considered a minority. The ways people learn have to be accomodated for in our education system. Education changes all the time like in the article "Floating Foundations..." when Hurricane Katrina hit. The curriculum and ways of teaching had to change with the changes of the environment and peoples' lives. In the article "Living in Savage Inqualities..." (I believe that's the correct title), students show their passion for wanting better education and to have better schools. It's sad to realize that not everyone receives the same equality in the education they receive and their facilities. It's even more upsetting because one of the articles discussed higher education as a natural resource, expressing that education is crucial and expected especially in our nation. If young children do not receive the education they should, how should they succeed in a nation that demands for people with higher education?

Though there is much more I didn't mention that we have learned throughout the semester, bottom line is that education is such a broad term. I don't believe it can be simply defined in one sentence. I mean, we took a whole semester to scope out the different aspects of education. But here, I'll try my best to define what I think education is. Education is individual to the person who receives it; it's the way they learn, what they want to take out of the education they receive. Education is broad in the respect that there are so many possibilites and options and broad in the respect that education really differs from place to place. Education is not defined by the grades one receives but the knowledge and tools for their future, like the children who fought for better schools. Their education was not necessarily curriculum based, but they learned to make goals and how to achieve them. Education is a natural resource that is renewable; it's a resource that we should not worry about if it will ever run out. The definition is simply endless.

One research question that I think is important to look into relates to some of the later articles we read about the quality of higher education. Colleges should not be just based on numbers, but we do need to look at the qualitative data to judge the quality of colleges and universities. Though the articles say that it is a very expensive process, I think the money is well worth it to evaluate whether or not these colleges are actually "good".