The value of universal education
“If your plan is for one year, plant rice. If your plan is for ten years, plant trees. If your plan is for one hundred years, educate children.”
(3 minute read)
To achieve this Chinese ideal from 管仲 Guan Zhong, the field of education must guide a society to discover the need for change.
With my travels, I believe I have an understanding on the value of education in a society. I’ve witnessed how gaps in education led to inequality and suffering. Charity and small impact projects may help in the short term, but it does not create long-lasting progress . Education is the space where communities must explore difficult issues that affect them. People then work together to reduce poverty, improve health and wellbeing, and encourage more active participation (World Bank, 2018).
I have seen the way education affects a nation’s perception of reality. Throughout my time in the U.S. Army, I experienced how militaries train and fight in war. One common theme - when the drums of war start to beat, everything becomes conflict. The opposing side appears less than human. We must ask ourselves: who is beating the drums of war? Is this what the people want? Are our leaders actively trying to pursue a path to peace?
In communities, students typically learn from a curriculum in schools. Along with cultural stories, students gain wisdom from life experience. Without universal education, history becomes a prism where only certain events receive light. People develop worldviews that may limit how they feel, think, and act in their communities. Closed worldviews result in misunderstanding, resulting in hate and division that we see in our neighborhoods and online. Do all students today have equal opportunity to learn and question their education?
I remember a moment of family pride while learning about cultures in elementary school (Derman-Sparks et al., 2015). My mother brought in Asian food during Lunar New Year celebrations and talked to the class about Filipino and Chinese culture. It made me proud of my heritage to see my friends enjoying the lesson. I remembered her example and wanted all children to have that kind of openness towards others and have pride in their own unique heritage.
Now as parents, my partner and I encourage our children to celebrate their identity and the strength of our community. We have enrolled our children in several schools. We know the difference between schooling and learning. Schooling is a formal process, led by educational institutions, to instruct and evaluate the proficiency of subjects by age and grade level (Robinson, 2022). However, there are places where we have experienced true learning. In these places, the community guides its children towards adulthood. There is a shared responsibility to cultivate the next generation. This gives me hope that more places can experience this kind of learning. I envision true learning as a society’s effort to impart relevant skills and heroic values that children will want to aspire to as they become adults.
Universal education has the power to open minds and hearts. Questions are met with curiosity and compassion. Censorship and fear do not silence people into inaction. Instead, true learners take action to solve problems with consensus, not compromise. Most importantly, universal education can instill dialogue across generations. In this kind of society, we would respect the wisdom of our elders and the dreams of our youth to contribute toward progress for all. Multiple generations would work together in harmony as we honor what binds us together: our shared humanity in balance with the natural world.
In summary, I believe 管仲 Guan Zhong’s maxim can apply today. It starts with communities guiding children “how to think,” not “what to think.” To do this, we must acknowledge and respect diverse worldviews and ways of life to promote peace through understanding.
References:
Derman-Sparks, L. and Keenan, D. & Nimmo, J. (2015). Leading Anti-Bias Early Childhood Programs: A Guide for Change. Washington DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
Robinson, S. K. (2022, March 2). What is education for? Edutopia. Retrieved November 1, 2023, from https://www.edutopia.org/article/what-education/
World Bank. 2018. World Development Report 2018: Learning to Realize Education’s Promise. Washington, DC: World Bank. doi:10.1596/978-1-4648-1096-1. License: Creative Commons Attribution CC BY 3.0 IGO
