Essay/Term paper: What is good education

Essay, term paper, research paper:  Education

What is a Good Education?



Education literally means the things a person learns by being taught.

So, the definition of a good education would be the things a person learns

by being taught well. But what exactly does that mean? No one has ever

told you that, right. To me a good education is basically achieved when a

person has a general to specific knowledge of the things that have

happened in the world, things that could happen in the future of the world,

how to communicate with others, and how to live safely in the world today.

In order to live in this day and age, a person needs to know what has

happened to people or places before their time. This is basically learned in

a history class. If the person is well educated in history, they should know

major events that have happened in the US as well as other parts of the

world. Some examples of "major events" would be the signing of the US

Constitution, World War I, World War II, Vietnam, space exploration and

any other important events in the world. If a person does not know basic

things like this then they have no place in society. People do not

necessarily have to know the exact day that a war started or ended or who

signed the Constitution and when they signed it, they simply need to feel

comfortable in a conversation about the Constitution or any other historical

event. People also need to have a general idea of the history of English.

This is taught in any English course. People should know a little about

Beowulf, Romeo and Juliet, The Crucible, and The Canterbury Tales.

These are just a few examples of popular works in literature. If people have

a general understanding of these and other important literary works, they

will not feel uncomfortable if they end up in a discussion about English.

They should also know a little about the famous authors of the past such as

William Shakespeare, Emily Dickinson, Edgar Allen Poe, and Charles

Dickens. To know the names of some famous authors and what they are

famous for should be enough for a person to be able to function in society.

However, knowing a little bit of detail about authors in history would be of

great help.

People should also know a little about what could happen in the

future. They should know a little about the ways the government could

change, space exploration breakthroughs, who is forming a peace treaty,

as well as if a war could break out. This information is very general and



changing constantly, however, it is very important to know. If a person did

not know for instance that one country has problems with another, a war

could break out and they would have no idea why. This could put a person

in an awkward position in society. People do not realize that this kind of

information is important until they are out in the real world. It does not

seem so important when you are in high school, but when you graduate and

go out to pursue a career, it becomes important. Not necessarily because

you have to know this to do your job efficiently, but because you need to

know what to say if your boss asks your opinion on the Iraq situation. Think

of how you would feel if you had no idea what he was talking about.

Many high school students complain about having to learn about

things in school by saying "when am I ever going to use this". The answer

to that question normally is "you may never", but you never know when you

are going to be at a social gathering and end up in a conversation about

history or English or math or any other subject for that matter. People

simply need to know enough so that they do not feel stupid in public. Now

this does not mean that learning everything that a person learns in high

school is not important if you don"t mind if you sounding stupid. People

also need to know enough to get a good job, but you can tell if you are well

educated by going out in to public and trying to have an intelligent

conversation about the world and things that are going on in the world. If

you can not carry on a conversation with someone about an intelligent

subject, then to me, you do not have a good education.

I feel that anyone who has at least graduated high school or passed

an equivalency exam as well as passed all TAAS requirements should

have a good education. That is of course unless they cheated on

everything throughout high school. Most public schools as well as private

schools offer the curriculum that give a student a good education. There

are some schools that do not offer as extensive curriculum as others, but

they offer enough for a student to make it in life. A person could more than

likely get the best education at a private school where students are taught

more on an individual basis than most public schools. They also offer more

discipline, however the student does lose the opportunity of functioning with

all kinds of people as in a public school. So, specifically dealing in

education, private schools offer more, but overall a child will get a lot more

out of a public school and will more than likely operate in the "real world"

better.





A person could better their education by going to college after high

school. This would make them more able to operate in society than a

person who only graduated high school. The person with the college

degree would also get a better job than the person with the high school

diploma, but a college education is not required to get all jobs. A person is

capable of living with no complications with only a high school diploma, but

not with less than that.