Education Is the Most Powerful Weapon Which You Can Use to Change the World

“Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.”( Nelson Mandela).There are many definitions of education, for some people it`s the process of  development, for others it`s a weapon. I think education is one of the ways people nurture their knowledge and skills. It also develops all sides of the human personality, revealing one’s abilities through the system of social institutions such as family, school and mass media. Moreover, I believe that education is an important element of socialization, it is also a lifetime experience that helps a person to grow and learn.

 To my mind art and science belong to the heritage of the whole world and they can overcome difficulties, connected with different nationalities. So education unites people, helps them to communicate and understand each other better. For example, I remember I was asked to write an essay about differences between Russian and British cultures in my second year of BA in Penza State University and there was a teacher in my university, who inspired me to read such great English writers as Charles Dickens, Thomas Hardy and John Galsworthy in order to understand British culture better. I enjoyed reading and after it I felt myself much closer to the solution of the mystery of the British national character.

 For me, education has both intellectual and economic value. Education encourages imagination, intellectual curiosity and interest in knowledge. It helps encourage people to educate themselves and find out new information. So self-education plays an important part in individuals` lives and it is very important for the development of human’s talents. Only through self-education can a person be holistically developed .  From my point of view, it also gives people the ability to improve their socioeconomic position by giving them the tools and skills necessary for getting well-paid jobs, so they can make a successful career in the future. Education also offers an opportunity to lead a better lifestyle.

My understanding of education has been confirmed and modified during Module 1 as from the first session the distinction was made between ‘education’ and ‘schooling’. I have learnt how systems of formal and informal education have developed in different cultural contexts over time. The second session was dedicated to the exploration of different perspectives on the nature and role of education. In particular, I have been reading two articles; Towards a Theory of Moral Education (Hand,2014) and Should we Promote Patriotism in Schools?(Hand, 2011), in which Hand explores what roles education might play in society. The first article supported the idea that teachers had to see themselves as moral educators of the children and had to infuse basic moral standards as well as provide critical discussion and good reasons for them. I found this notion interesting and useful in my future career as a teacher, because I would be responsible for moral education of my pupils.

The second article about patriotism claimed that we should not promote it in schools but rather to teach it as a controversial problem. The emphasis seemed to be upon the question of whether we are able to offer pupils solid grounds for loving their countries. I was interested to read it, because Hand discussed this issue from a completely different point of view. He argued that promotion of patriotism is a form of emotional education and emotional education can lead to psychological manipulation of pupils` answers. But I completely disagreed with this point of view. I think that patriotism is not only love of the country, it`s much broader concept. For me, patriotism is a moral position, which is expressed in love of a country, in pride of its achievements, in respect to its historical past and cultural traditions. At the same time, patriotism implies respect for other peoples and their cultures, excluding sense of superiority over them.