“The man who graduates today and stops learning tomorrow has no education the next day.” -Newston D. Baker
The prospect of success is what drives many people to continue their education. Whether this success means expanding your persona, opening your mind to possibilities, sharpening your skill set, creating marketability, or a raise in salary, most consider higher education to be an invaluable asset. . The implications are many: you have spent a portion of your life studying a particular subject, and thus have acquired specialized knowledge and skills; most likely you have contracted some debt; And somehow, now you’re supposed to be ready to take over the world. But are today’s students prepared for life? Are they ready and equipped with what they need to succeed?
Everyone has an idea of what “success” means. And the general idea is probably pretty similar for most: someone doing well overall; emotionally, financially and spiritually. They probably have a good job, a good head on their shoulders, money in their pocket, and a good future ahead of them. They are moving forward in life and seem happy and fulfilled.
Although this dream may seem simple enough at first, figuring out the details, or the very path to achieving such success, is the real challenge. What decisions must be made so that one can have a successful life? Does education today prepare students to answer these difficult questions of life?
Education blogger Tom Whitby refers to the lack of focus in K-12 schools on critical and innovative thinking in this age of standardized testing. “We talk about personalized learning for each student… We recognize that all children are created differently. Even taking all of that into account, we standardize their assessment… We’re not matching the skills our children will need in the future that we little know about the education we provide today. Yet we still claim to be preparing children for life.”
“We cannot continue on the current path of education if we want to prepare our children for their future,” he declares. “Our children will not live in the world we grew up in. We need to prepare them to be flexible, critical thinkers and problem solvers. They need to be able to overcome the limitations of their teachers and parents.”
In Alain de Botton’s TED Talk “A Kinder, Gentlemer Philosophy of Success,” Botton points out that our ideas of success are often heavily influenced by society, advertisements, and our parents, and that we are highly susceptible to suggestions. We are also, Botton says, very concerned about what others think of us.
“When we think about failing in life, when we think about failing, one of the reasons we fear failure is not just a loss of income, a loss of status. What we fear is judgment and ridicule from others. And it exists,” Botton said.
Botton suggests that we make sure that our ambitions are our own, and that we recognize that “success” cannot exist without “failure.”
A paradox in our society, Botton continued, is the simultaneous existence of the belief that we are all equal, that anyone can achieve anything, and low self-esteem. Suicide rates, he explains, are higher in developed countries than anywhere else in the world. “[S]Part of the reason is that people take what happens to them extremely personally. They own their success. But they also own their failure,” he said. Our society, more and now more than ever, attributes success to one’s own work ethic, ability, and determination; we believe that people deserve the lives they have, because we are all supposed to be. You should be in the driver’s seat.
In other words, we are supposed to have everything we need to be successful. However, disparities, gaps, influences, and circumstances exist and perpetuate inequalities within our society, and the individual is not always in control. Nor are we all on an equal footing; Not all of us have the same opportunities. This is not an excuse, but something that deserves consideration and care. America will continue to work toward the dream of a meritocratic society, but this dream is impossible to fully realize.
“The idea that we’re going to make a society where literally everyone is rated, the good guys at the top and the bad guys at the bottom, and it’s done exactly the way it’s meant to be done, is impossible,” Botton said.
It has been said that education is the great equalizer. And I believe that education can change the world, and our future depends on young people and the quality of their education. Education can help people find their success because it can open their minds to the world and to their own potential so that they have the chance to choose their path. But what can we do from here?
Keep growing. Keep moving. Know that moving and growing is the only way. Do not look back. Be bold. Instruction may end in the classroom, as Frederick W. Robertson said, but “education ends only with life.” And John Dewey agrees: “Education is not a preparation for life; education is life itself,” he said. If these things are true, then success is not immediate, nor something that can immediately follow formal education, but can only be found in the result of the totality of our lives and the completion of our journeys. Education is a form of success in itself and leads to further success, but only if we choose to own our own person and life, and accept our “successes” and “failures.” “You can’t be successful at everything,” Botton said. “You can not have everything… [A]Any vision of success has to admit what it’s missing, where the element of loss is.”
The school cannot prepare someone for everything to come, nor give them direct answers about the decisions they must make. Formal education is just a start. We don’t always know where we are going, and we can never know everything that lies ahead, but we must keep moving forward and become the people we want to be. The paths will unfold as we face the challenges and remain open to what may come. And if we overcome all that, we will have managed to live.