Scalzo 1

Aileen Scalzo

Mr. N. Gwozdz

AP Language and Composition

25 March 2019

Educational Enlightenment

Oftentimes in society, people believe that a true education is only accessible through

skills learned in school. However, a true education is not only achieved academically, but

through students having the experience to reach their own conclusions on what they are learning,

giving them the opportunity to think individually. In the current American education system, a

true education is not being met, rather disregarded.

A true education offers enlightenment for students, to not only have the chance to learn in

school but also to give them time to come to their own conclusions on what they have learned.

When a student is able to experience the world around him, he is able to think about what he has

learned as an individual, rather than only what is being explicitly taught in school. A student that

only believes what he is taught in school, is ignorant to his own perspective. In a true education,

teachers facilitate the learning to encourage their students to reach their own conclusion on the

topic they are learning.

This idea was also explored by Plato, an ancient Greek philosopher. In Plato’s “The

Allegory of the Cave,” he alludes to the idea that once a student becomes exposed to the nature

of a true education, he is able to experience life for himself and then make connections from his

own experiences back to what he was taught in school when he said, “Clearly he would first see

the sun and then reason about it” (Plato). Through Plato bringing up this form of enlightenment,
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he is saying that when that student can recognize that he is able to come to his own conclusions,

he may not ever see eye to eye with what is being taught in school, but that does not mean that

what he thinks is incorrect. A student that has the ability and mindset to willingly come to his

own conclusions without being influenced by what is being taught, has reached a tier of his own

true education.

Knowledge is gained for all people at different paces, but all through a common mode:

perception and senses. A teacher could lecture a class for hours on a single topic and while that

information given is important and noteworthy, what is of value is the student’s perception on

what they heard. The student has to have the ability and willingness to challenge what he has

been taught and to individually perceive the information given. Ralph Waldo Emerson explored

this same idea of a student having the willingness to learn on his own and to ponder on his

education in his essay, “Education,” when he said, “...become associated with distinguished

scholars whom he has interested in his pursuit; in short, had formed a college for himself;...”

(Emerson 190). Emerson is illustrating that each person’s reality comes from their own senses

and if a student is eager to learn, he will strive to do so. A true education is designed to hand

students material with guidance, to facilitate them to ponder on their thoughts of what they think

is correct and incorrect, or what they want to believe or not believe.

An ideal education system which utilizes a true education guides students in how to think

individually and encourages them to do so. However, the American education system does the

exact opposite. In American schools, students are penalized for trying to think independently.

Students are put under a constant pressure of thinking the same way as what the teacher says and

if a student thinks otherwise, he is incorrect. There is a constant brainwashing of these students

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to the point where they are becoming so unaware of what potential there is to think outside of

what school is teaching. David Foster Wallace explained a very similar ignorance that needs to

be recognized when students are outside of school when he said, “The really important kind of

freedom involves attention and awareness and discipline,...That is real freedom. That is being

educated, and understanding how to think. The alternative is unconsciousness, the default

setting,...” (Wallace 29-30). Wallace is illustrating to students that they need to be aware that

what is being taught in school does not fulfill a true education. He does not discredit school, just

simply explains that each student needs to see the world outside of school for himself, without

being fed answers and opinions by teachers. Teachers are causing their students to be blind of

everything around them and what potential they have to go out and think for themselves, because

they might have a different view than what they were initially taught.

In addition, a strict classroom setting is a major part of American schools today. Students

around the nation are being numbed by the lack of individuality. Sir Ken Robinson, an

educational writer, spoke on his views of the education system and its effects on students in his

speech “Changing Education Paradigms.” Robinson explained that putting this immense amount

of pressure around learning is causing students to be penalized for getting distracted in class or

trying to talk with their peers, which is inaccurate. He instead, encouraged a solution for the lack

of self-expression in students when he said, “...that’s what I mean about changing the

paradigm...divergent thinking... to think not just in linear or convergent ways, to see multiple

answers, not one…” (Robinson). Robinson is conveying his idea of creating divergent thinkers in

school. An idea that a student can challenge the ideas of his teacher and not be penalized, to

encourage him to think on his own. He is showing that when a student is collaborating on an
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assignment with another student, he is not automatically cheating. Instead, teachers should be

encouraging and guiding their students to reason on their own, thus reaching their own

conclusions.

A true education is achieved through individualization of a student and his experiences

with coming to his own conclusions on what was learned in school. While a true education

encourages students to think divergently, the American education system does not meet the

standards. In order for students to become independent in their thoughts, teachers need to

encourage them to take the information learned in class, and to apply it however they want. With

the proper guidance, a student can break free of the restricted education system, and start

thinking for himself.

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Works Cited

Emerson, Ralph Waldo. ​Education. The Language of Composition: Reading, Writing, Rhetoric,

edited by Renee H. Shea, et al., Bedford/St. Martins, 2013, pp. 190.

Plato. “The Allegory of the Cave.” ​YouTube, ​uploaded by DystopiaUK, 8 April 2012,

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_dlmsULpgjI.

Robinson, Sir Ken. “Changing Education Paradigms.” ​Youtube, ​uploaded by The RSA, 14

October 2010, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDZFcDGpL4U.

Wallace, David Foster. “This is Water.” ​This is Water by David Foster Wallace (Full Transcript

and Audio), 2​ 005.

https://fs.blog/2012/04/david-foster-wallace-this-is-water/