Introduction
Many think that the major function of educators is to give certain amount of knowledge to young people to make them ready to complete some tasks in the society. Many people also stress that educators should help young people develop an appropriate moral system to help them fit in the contemporary society.
Nonetheless, even this approach is not a complete one as young learners also need to form a strong character to be able to employ obtained skills and principles in their lives.
Dr. Martin Luther King gave quite a comprehensive definition, “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically… Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education” (King n.p.). I believe these words should be known to all students.
Moreover, these words should become a certain slogan for all students as this can help them make the right choices.
I was not acquainted with these simple but wise words when I was in high school. However, now I understand that I followed the principles mentioned by Dr. Martin Luther King even without knowing them. More so, I would employ them many times in different situations.
It may seem that these principles are manifested when it comes to major life decisions, e.g. choosing a higher educational establishment, going to another country or starting a career.
Nevertheless, now I know that following these principles in one’s everyday life is what makes an individual think intensively and critically integrating intelligence and character.
New Matter
I have always loved history and I have always understood that history is what makes us people of certain cultural background. History was one of my favorite subjects when I was in high school. One day a new history teacher came into our classroom.
From the very beginning, we understood that our classes would not be a bed of roses. We had to work really hard, but still the teacher was never satisfied with our results. More importantly, we got really bad grades, which was quite frustrating especially for me the one who loved the subject.
It was clear that our works had nothing to do with our teacher’s assessment and evaluation. Soon we understood that to get a good grade it was enough to read certain books and be as close to his lectures and the assigned resources as possible. Many students decided to accept the new rules and their grades did improve.
Being Consistent
However, I did not want to choose that path. Of course, I would not say the teacher gave wrongful data and facts. Nonetheless, it was obvious that there was so much to find out in various sources. I also saw how narrow my studies would have been if I had accepted the teacher’s rules.
I understood that I could have deprived myself of a variety of interesting and important facts which could make me more experienced. I was eager to be an active learner.
I knew that only different opinions and different viewpoints can make people see the truth and find out more. Our teacher’s approach deprived us of possibility to develop our personal viewpoints. Students did not want to search for more facts and opinions.
I was very young and a bit too self-confident. I wanted to make all students as well as the teacher himself see how wrong they were.
I started preparing for every class harder. I also paid attention to the chapters we were about to discuss. I had to be prepared for everything. I started asking our teacher different questions which were far beyond his lectures. I added a lot of facts during our classes and I made him answer questions which were relevant but were somehow omitted in his course.
I kept getting really bad grades but I knew I was right and I knew I had to follow my principles. Eventually, we had a very important project to carry out. I have to admit that it was one of the toughest periods of my life as I worked really hard. In the end, I came up with a perfect project which was based on profound research.
I answered all questions and the teacher had to grade me accordingly. Soon, my persistence made our teacher ask students to implement their own research without any restrictions and without assigned sources. Our lessons became more interesting and more efficient.
Integrating Intelligence and Character
To sum up, I had to integrate my character and intelligence not to lose my fascination with a subject. Moreover, it is possible to state that I had to employ my intelligence as well as remain consistent to be the dedicated student I had always been, i.e. to be myself.
I believe every person has such occasions and has to integrate his/her character and intelligence, but some students do it occasionally and do not understand how important it is. They only do it as if it were a single case which should not be repeated.
Therefore, it is essential to make students aware of Dr. Martin Luther King’s words concerning intelligence and character. Young people should be consistent and could not change their ways to fit certain situation.
Works Cited
King, Martin Luther. The Purpose of Education. n.d. Web.