What does it mean to be educated?

What does it mean to be educated?

Everybody has a different view of what it means to be educated. "The man or (woman) in the street has his/her view of what it means to be educated. Those who know that they are educated i.e. by virtue of them having degrees and other certification have their view of what it means to be educated.

But is this state, being educated, universally accepted as being based on the same criteria?  Does it mean that the educated person is able to read? If so, what level of reading constitutes being educated? Does it mean speaking the standard or formal language of our country? Does it mean having a knowledge of languages? Does it involve an ability to listen and understand what is heard? Does it mean being able to communicate clearly through writing? Does it mean the possession of skills? Does it mean the ability to clearly communicate ideas? Is to be educated linked to intelligence? Is it linked to our possession of knowledge/s? And if so, what knowledge/s? Are some "knowledges" more favoured than others?

Reading competence, writing competence, listening competence and speaking competence, I think, are requisite skills that we need to possess to be considered educated. But being educated also involves competence in numeracy as well. And all these competencies should manifest themselves in our ability to clearly communicate, to continue to learn and be able to apply our learning (the 'knowledges' to which we are exposed) to solve problems that we face in our day to day existence.

To be educated means not only that schooling has positively impacted us, it means also that our experiences outside of school have provided us with lessons that we have learnt. To be educated means that we can recognise prejudices but not be drawn into perpetuating them. To be educated means that we recognise when personal ideologies are being sold to us as universal wisdom, visions of society that we must accept. To be educated means that we have developed a sense of self based on values that, based on the paths we have chosen to take in life, provide guidance to us. To be educated means that we have our own convictions but we are willing to listen to the convictions of others, without being judgemental. To be educated means that we can read between the lines, we can critically analyse all the "knowledges" that are being tossed at us and still retain our sense of self. This is my vision of what it means to be educated. However, society (government and the intellectual elite) may be selling a view of the educated man (woman) that may be slightly different from my view, or a whole lot different.

Are you educated?

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