Without any doubts, education plays a very important role in the life of every person. Knowledge helps us comprehend the world, we live in, better and deeper; knowledge provides us with the opportunities to analyze and solve every day problems; and, of course, knowledge is something that makes this life more interesting and really worthwhile. Each person should comprehend that education is one of the best means to get more and more knowledge in order to enjoy this life.
It turns out to be crucially important to decide when it is better to start own education and define which spheres of life are better to concentrate on. Of course, each person has his/her own attitude to education: lots of children find education is not that significant and think that it is possible to get it later. It is one of the possible options, but still, this option is no the best.
This is why it is better to clear up why education is important for you and start getting it as soon as possible. Now, the question is all about the ways of how to learn everything better. So, the works by such writers like Daniel Pink and Peter Singer should help me to comprehend how education is important and prove once again that one of the best ways to learn is to study and then to do it.
Education is all about human growth and personal development. For many people, learning turns out to be rather a continuous process. People have lots of methods of learning to choose from; so, it is better to weigh all pros and cons of learning processes, evaluate personal skills and preferences, and then make a decision concerning the way of learning. I truly believe that one of the best ways to learn is to study. Going to schools and other educational institutions is one of the possible ways to learn, so, it is just the time to remember how wonderful and important the time at schools was, is, and will be.
Daniel Pink is one of the authors, who concentrate on schools’ significance and admit how schools may or may not differ during different periods of time. “Whenever I walk into a public school, I’m nearly toppled by a wave of nostalgia… Such déjà vu warmed my soul…” (Pink, 2005) Is it really so great and pleasant that schools of the 21st century have no differences with the ones of the 20th century? Hardly! I cannot agree that the information that was significant and had power at the beginning of the 1990s should be the same at the year of 2010.
This is why I want to admit that our education and learning processes should be developed with time, and the vast majority of innovations should be taken into consideration. At schools, people get education in different spheres of life in order to get a clear picture of this world and be aware about the opportunities, this world presents. However, in order to learn and be able to do studying is not the only means. This is why theory, taken into account alone, is of poor use. Practice and personal experience turn out to be crucially important as well.
It is quite possible that a person has studied certain theoretical issues concerning carrying out some surgical operation. However, when it is high time to conduct an operation, it is impossible to be sure that this person conducts it perfectly, because lack of experience is always noticeable.
This is why I cannot but agree that another significant way to learn is to do. Practice is really important, because this life and its development is caused by human practical achievements but not on knowledge, taken from text books only. It is much better to use hands and brain simultaneously in order to be a really sophisticated person. Peter Singer is a really great utilitarian philosopher, who provides his readers with a chance to comprehend what is necessary to live. We learn in order to buy, have, and use things in our life.
However, lots of people still cannot comprehend how to use what you already have, and it is another consequence of lack of practice, we are talking about. He calls a retired woman, who does change one child’s life into some sum of money and a television, immoral. (Singer, 2008) This woman was a teacher during a long period of time, but still, she did not have enough time to comprehend that lives of human beings are much more important and should be appreciated first of all. So, the description of this women’s analysis of the situation, her thoughts and doubts – all this serve as a good example to prove the fact that practice is really important in learning.
With the help of a couple of illustrative examples, we can clear up why studying and practicing turn out to be the best ways to learn. For example, studying at classrooms helps to clear up personal intentions as for education: students have certain objectives to achieve, teachers have a concrete plan to follow, and material that is presented is perfectly planned and chosen.
Environment should be also considered as a powerful means to learn: even the shape and the size of the room may influence the educational process. A person, and a child in particular, will hardly be able to learn and comprehend new material being in a noisy room, where the vast majority of people want to entertain. This is why those people, who want to achieve good results, should take into consideration such issues like environment, personal intention and desire to work and learn.
In conclusion, I want to admit once again that the best way to learn is, first of all, to study and comprehend the material, and, secondly, to do and use gathered material on practice. People face numerous difficulties during their whole lives. To my mind, well-educated person will always find enough time and powers to analyze the situation, weigh all cons and pros, and find out the best solution.
So, learning process may seem rather boring at first, and even unnecessary, however, with time, this education and the information got turn out to be vitally important for lots of people. Numerous philosophers and ordinary writers, who are eager to share captivating information concerning this life and its possible improvement, admit the fact that learning is nothing without practice. So, the ideas of Pink and Singer become more and more interesting and help to realize that our life should not be grounded on books only. And a smart person should find out the ways to use the information from different sources into practice and enjoy this life.
Reference List
Pink, D. (2005). School’s Out. The Blair Reader. Eds. Kirszner, L. G. & Mandell, S. R. Pearson Prentice Hall.
Singer, P. (2008). The Singer Solution to World Poverty. The Best American Essays. Ed. Atwan, R. Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company.