Transformative Possibilities of Education

Personal education is perhaps the greatest potential source of solutions — without it, we are unlikely to save the world. Unfortunately, the power of personal education is often hampered by:

• we don't care enough — mainly because we are unaware of what we are missing until we have gained it
• we don't have high enough expectations — we think of education as a linear process of gaining know-how, rather than a transformative process that changes how we feel, think, and act. As a result, we do not demand enough from our education or training.
• we lack the tools to learn efficiently — education is often content-oriented, whereas metacognitive skill development (such as information literacy, emotional intelligence, neurocognitive development, language and math abilities, and critical thinking) lead to the greatest jumps in our ability to perceive and understand

Good teachers, such as Marva Collins, were able to kindle the urge to learn in their students, as well as have high expectations and the ability to help those students meet those expectations quickly. Marva Collins was able to turn young illiterate mental-institution rejects into calm Shakespeare-critiquing kids in a matter of months, so there's plenty of unexplored elasticity in what education is capable of — and what we are capable of, as individuals with enormous potential for growth and change, if only we care enough to challenge ourselves.

In addition to personal development, good education also increases our own personal assets in life (better health, better mental health, better personal relationships, better career decisions, fewer financial worries) and this gives us more leverage to make ourselves useful to the future.

See also:

• Upgrade yourself