"Good grades, that's my philosophy, try your hardest to try to get the best grades possible." Hold up! Not true, as a matter of fact, I find that grades don't matter in the least, not even in the same realm as good education. Grades are a simple way of distinguishing hard working and naturally gifted to lazy and rugged in learning process.

What then, makes an educated human being? The answer is in no way simple, at least certainly not as simple as slapping down a grade and dismissing the matter. Every person knows that at heart, but it would be inconvenient to go fishing for true educationally gifted people, so we go with structured method, the (personally) worse method. I am still but a student, yet I feel strongly that many of my classmates are overlooked because of their inability to contain a decent amount of maturity, allowing them as a result to express respected views in school or wherever, for that matter. I applaud such scrutiny upon one condition; that we do not give up hope on them or even slap a number on them and let them pass by without much thought or effort. The greatest way to stop such acts is to have a mentor, or one on one teacher, and if not that, then at least a small class that would allow for a greater distribution of "quality" work and thought amongst the students and faculty of a school.

Having said my share on the actual school system, I'd like to drive your attention straight back to the heart of the problem, namely, we do not know WHAT makes an educated human being. So what is it? What makes us considered as educated human beings? The answer lies in no books of any sort except in the minds of great philosophers such as the common people of today, or even then times of Socrates, Plato, and in this matter especially, Quintilian.

An educated human being is created when one human displays great amounts of intelligence, smarts, wisdom, maturity, and acceptance or perspective.

The primary is determined by the way this person thinks on a natural basis, without any aid from any source, just pure human vs. animal (another fascinating debate by the way.) thought processes.

The second being smarts might seem like it contradicts my previous statement, yet it doesn't if I take society into mind. Society loves smarts, as a matter of fact, that's all it cares about, and is exactly why the school system is an awful judge. However, knowing a good general history of everything helps conclude some of the most exciting philosophical issues and everything else encountered in life.

Next I think you'll find wisdom, which oddly enough is exactly what Socrates preached for the great majority of his life. I shall however, combine wisdom and maturity for they are very alike. They both entail experience, the more experiences or experience one engages in, the wiser he/she may become, which in turn is hopefully used to conclude some well mastered thought processes. Now, notice that I do not see maturity as having good values, or acting a certain way; no, it's much more than that, it is the way you use wisdom gained, not gaged by bad or good, but by how complicated or simple and to what achievement.

At the back of the chain I am proud to announce acceptance/perspective. These two are one as I feel it is important to recognize mistakes and also to give in to your mistakes and others so you can grow and learn. Humility is the first step to education.

Learn more about this author, Nicolas Verhoeven.
Click here to send author comments or questions.

---

Add your voice

Know something about Personal philosophies of education?
We want to hear your view. Write now!