essay on value of education in one's life

• Our Mission

What Is Education For?

Read an excerpt from a new book by Sir Ken Robinson and Kate Robinson, which calls for redesigning education for the future.

What is education for? As it happens, people differ sharply on this question. It is what is known as an “essentially contested concept.” Like “democracy” and “justice,” “education” means different things to different people. Various factors can contribute to a person’s understanding of the purpose of education, including their background and circumstances. It is also inflected by how they view related issues such as ethnicity, gender, and social class. Still, not having an agreed-upon definition of education doesn’t mean we can’t discuss it or do anything about it.

We just need to be clear on terms. There are a few terms that are often confused or used interchangeably—“learning,” “education,” “training,” and “school”—but there are important differences between them. Learning is the process of acquiring new skills and understanding. Education is an organized system of learning. Training is a type of education that is focused on learning specific skills. A school is a community of learners: a group that comes together to learn with and from each other. It is vital that we differentiate these terms: children love to learn, they do it naturally; many have a hard time with education, and some have big problems with school.

There are many assumptions of compulsory education. One is that young people need to know, understand, and be able to do certain things that they most likely would not if they were left to their own devices. What these things are and how best to ensure students learn them are complicated and often controversial issues. Another assumption is that compulsory education is a preparation for what will come afterward, like getting a good job or going on to higher education.

So, what does it mean to be educated now? Well, I believe that education should expand our consciousness, capabilities, sensitivities, and cultural understanding. It should enlarge our worldview. As we all live in two worlds—the world within you that exists only because you do, and the world around you—the core purpose of education is to enable students to understand both worlds. In today’s climate, there is also a new and urgent challenge: to provide forms of education that engage young people with the global-economic issues of environmental well-being.

This core purpose of education can be broken down into four basic purposes.

Education should enable young people to engage with the world within them as well as the world around them. In Western cultures, there is a firm distinction between the two worlds, between thinking and feeling, objectivity and subjectivity. This distinction is misguided. There is a deep correlation between our experience of the world around us and how we feel. As we explored in the previous chapters, all individuals have unique strengths and weaknesses, outlooks and personalities. Students do not come in standard physical shapes, nor do their abilities and personalities. They all have their own aptitudes and dispositions and different ways of understanding things. Education is therefore deeply personal. It is about cultivating the minds and hearts of living people. Engaging them as individuals is at the heart of raising achievement.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights emphasizes that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights,” and that “Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.” Many of the deepest problems in current systems of education result from losing sight of this basic principle.

Schools should enable students to understand their own cultures and to respect the diversity of others. There are various definitions of culture, but in this context the most appropriate is “the values and forms of behavior that characterize different social groups.” To put it more bluntly, it is “the way we do things around here.” Education is one of the ways that communities pass on their values from one generation to the next. For some, education is a way of preserving a culture against outside influences. For others, it is a way of promoting cultural tolerance. As the world becomes more crowded and connected, it is becoming more complex culturally. Living respectfully with diversity is not just an ethical choice, it is a practical imperative.

There should be three cultural priorities for schools: to help students understand their own cultures, to understand other cultures, and to promote a sense of cultural tolerance and coexistence. The lives of all communities can be hugely enriched by celebrating their own cultures and the practices and traditions of other cultures.

Education should enable students to become economically responsible and independent. This is one of the reasons governments take such a keen interest in education: they know that an educated workforce is essential to creating economic prosperity. Leaders of the Industrial Revolution knew that education was critical to creating the types of workforce they required, too. But the world of work has changed so profoundly since then, and continues to do so at an ever-quickening pace. We know that many of the jobs of previous decades are disappearing and being rapidly replaced by contemporary counterparts. It is almost impossible to predict the direction of advancing technologies, and where they will take us.

How can schools prepare students to navigate this ever-changing economic landscape? They must connect students with their unique talents and interests, dissolve the division between academic and vocational programs, and foster practical partnerships between schools and the world of work, so that young people can experience working environments as part of their education, not simply when it is time for them to enter the labor market.

Education should enable young people to become active and compassionate citizens. We live in densely woven social systems. The benefits we derive from them depend on our working together to sustain them. The empowerment of individuals has to be balanced by practicing the values and responsibilities of collective life, and of democracy in particular. Our freedoms in democratic societies are not automatic. They come from centuries of struggle against tyranny and autocracy and those who foment sectarianism, hatred, and fear. Those struggles are far from over. As John Dewey observed, “Democracy has to be born anew every generation, and education is its midwife.”

For a democratic society to function, it depends upon the majority of its people to be active within the democratic process. In many democracies, this is increasingly not the case. Schools should engage students in becoming active, and proactive, democratic participants. An academic civics course will scratch the surface, but to nurture a deeply rooted respect for democracy, it is essential to give young people real-life democratic experiences long before they come of age to vote.

Eight Core Competencies

The conventional curriculum is based on a collection of separate subjects. These are prioritized according to beliefs around the limited understanding of intelligence we discussed in the previous chapter, as well as what is deemed to be important later in life. The idea of “subjects” suggests that each subject, whether mathematics, science, art, or language, stands completely separate from all the other subjects. This is problematic. Mathematics, for example, is not defined only by propositional knowledge; it is a combination of types of knowledge, including concepts, processes, and methods as well as propositional knowledge. This is also true of science, art, and languages, and of all other subjects. It is therefore much more useful to focus on the concept of disciplines rather than subjects.

Disciplines are fluid; they constantly merge and collaborate. In focusing on disciplines rather than subjects we can also explore the concept of interdisciplinary learning. This is a much more holistic approach that mirrors real life more closely—it is rare that activities outside of school are as clearly segregated as conventional curriculums suggest. A journalist writing an article, for example, must be able to call upon skills of conversation, deductive reasoning, literacy, and social sciences. A surgeon must understand the academic concept of the patient’s condition, as well as the practical application of the appropriate procedure. At least, we would certainly hope this is the case should we find ourselves being wheeled into surgery.

The concept of disciplines brings us to a better starting point when planning the curriculum, which is to ask what students should know and be able to do as a result of their education. The four purposes above suggest eight core competencies that, if properly integrated into education, will equip students who leave school to engage in the economic, cultural, social, and personal challenges they will inevitably face in their lives. These competencies are curiosity, creativity, criticism, communication, collaboration, compassion, composure, and citizenship. Rather than be triggered by age, they should be interwoven from the beginning of a student’s educational journey and nurtured throughout.

From Imagine If: Creating a Future for Us All by Sir Ken Robinson, Ph.D and Kate Robinson, published by Penguin Books, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright © 2022 by the Estate of Sir Kenneth Robinson and Kate Robinson.

• Share full article

Advertisement

Supported by

Guest Essay

The Value of an Education That Never Ends

By Michael S. Roth

Dr. Roth is the president of Wesleyan University and the author of “The Student: A Short History.”

For more than 15 years I have presided over my university’s Arrival Day, the time when families drop off their sons and daughters about to start their college career. Every year some parents will take me aside to say they wish they were starting college, and that they’d get a lot more out of the experience now because they’ve become better learners.

One mother laughingly called herself a “perpetual student.” She meant she pursued learning for the sheer joy of inquiry. But the term is usually one of gentle derision: someone who keeps taking more courses as a way to avoid holding down a job. In other words, a slacker, or a loser. I think that’s wrong. We should begin to see this sort of lifelong learning as a way for individuals to gain not just knowledge, but liberation. In its ideal form, being a perpetual student is not an act of avoidance but rather a path to perpetual self-determination and freedom.

The ideas of “freedom” and “student” were not always linked together. In pre-modern Europe, schools were few and far between, but there was learning nonetheless — learning that aimed at economic independence and integration with a community. Universities were founded in the medieval period, and as literacy became more culturally and economically advantageous, especially after the Protestant Reformation, basic schooling became more common.

For the 18th-century philosopher Immanuel Kant, the student in pursuit of enlightenment was someone in the process of leaving behind “self-imposed immaturity” and learning to think for oneself. Some people, however, were said to exist outside the realm of learning altogether — at least the kind of learning meant to allow one to stand on one’s own feet. With intellectual contortions fueled by racism and economic self-interest, many supposedly enlightened Enlightenment thinkers and writers argued that enslaved people could not be students, that they did not have the potential to be free. States passed laws forbidding the education of enslaved people. Learning became an act of resistance.

Across the West in the 19th century, formal schooling became more widespread, and debates about education centered on preparing independent thinkers who could also be free citizens. But questions quickly arose: Are schools truly helping students think for themselves, or are they only indoctrinating them into the latest conventions? Will advanced learning lead to scientific gains that benefit society, or will it only create self-serving justifications for the inequalities produced by industrialization? By the mid 1800s Ralph Waldo Emerson would call on his fellow citizens to live more independently by being more open and creative. For him, the freedom of a student was not just an intellectual matter. It was bound up with opposing convention — and it shouldn’t end with school.

The connection between learning and freedom is presupposed in many criticisms of students today as censorious or relativist, illiberal or radical, coddled snowflake or warrior for social justice. As the 1990s boogeyman of political correctness has been transformed in the minds of its enemies into woke and cancel culture, one can see more clearly than ever that the idea of the student is a screen onto which folks (themselves long out of school) project their fears for the future and, perhaps, anxieties about themselves.

There are many ways to be a student. Some will strive to find balance and harmony by fitting into their educational context. Others build intellectual muscle by criticizing every move the teacher makes. In daring to be critical and competitive interlocutors with their instructors, they work harder and learn to think more deeply. Some students learn through imitation, eager to follow their classmates as well as their teacher. The core of all these approaches is developing the capacity to think for oneself by learning from others.

Ultimately, the true student learns freedom by developing curiosity, judgment and creativity in the service of one’s own good and the good of their communities. This flourishing is different from being trained by an instructor to do a task or earn a badge, and it is different from the satisfaction one gets through acquiring objects or experiences in the marketplace.

On campus, students do learn specific tasks and they do enjoy experiences, of course, but as students they are doing something more fundamental and more open-ended. They are learning freedom by learning who they are and what they can do (including how they might think). This almost always happens in concert with others. Students flourish in discovering and developing their capacities together.

That’s why it’s such a challenge to be a perpetual student — as our society becomes atomized and polarized, the informal educational spaces for adults to learn from people who have different points of view are fewer and farther between. And it gets harder to exercise the intellectual humility that being a student requires when one is supposed to have the authority, the certainty, of adulthood. Yet some people manage it at various points in their lives by finding fellow learners. This can happen in book clubs, online classes, Bible study or simply in stimulating interactions with co-workers.

There is a hunger for this. Roughly 200 people join my online Great Books humanities class each week on Coursera . During the pandemic, the number was more than 1,000, and millions around the world find other classes via Khan Academy and edX . The desire for learning is also a desire for connecting. It is not just the desire for a prize or a diploma.

For perpetual students, learning (as opposed to training) has no end. As they reach the end of one path of inquiry, they find themselves already on another. These paths develop their capacities and can’t be delimited in advance of the opportunity for exploring them. Every day is Arrival Day.

Perpetual students, like all of us, have the potential for freedom. They embrace this potential, exploring the world, absorbing its lessons and creatively responding to them.

To be a student is to be alive to the world and to oneself. Why would anyone want to graduate from that?

Michael S. Roth is president of Wesleyan University. This essay draws on his forthcoming book “ The Student: A Short History .”

The Times is committed to publishing a diversity of letters to the editor. We’d like to hear what you think about this or any of our articles. Here are some tips . And here’s our email: [email protected] .

Follow The New York Times Opinion section on Facebook , Twitter (@NYTopinion) and Instagram .

• CBSE Class 10th
• CBSE Class 12th
• UP Board 10th
• UP Board 12th
• Bihar Board 10th
• Bihar Board 12th
• Top Schools in India
• Top Schools in Delhi
• Top Schools in Mumbai
• Top Schools in Chennai
• Top Schools in Hyderabad
• Top Schools in Kolkata
• Top Schools in Pune
• Top Schools in Bangalore

Products & Resources

• JEE Main Knockout April
• Free Sample Papers
• Free Ebooks
• NCERT Notes
• NCERT Syllabus
• NCERT Books
• RD Sharma Solutions
• Navodaya Vidyalaya Admission 2024-25
• NCERT Solutions
• NCERT Solutions for Class 12
• NCERT Solutions for Class 11
• NCERT solutions for Class 10
• NCERT solutions for Class 9
• NCERT solutions for Class 8
• NCERT Solutions for Class 7
• JEE Main 2024
• MHT CET 2024
• JEE Advanced 2024
• BITSAT 2024
• View All Engineering Exams
• Colleges Accepting B.Tech Applications
• Top Engineering Colleges in India
• Engineering Colleges in India
• Engineering Colleges in Tamil Nadu
• Engineering Colleges Accepting JEE Main
• Top IITs in India
• Top NITs in India
• Top IIITs in India
• JEE Main College Predictor
• JEE Main Rank Predictor
• MHT CET College Predictor
• AP EAMCET College Predictor
• GATE College Predictor
• KCET College Predictor
• JEE Advanced College Predictor
• View All College Predictors
• JEE Main Question Paper
• JEE Main Cutoff
• JEE Main Answer Key
• SRMJEEE Result
• Download E-Books and Sample Papers
• Compare Colleges
• B.Tech College Applications
• JEE Advanced Registration
• MAH MBA CET Exam
• View All Management Exams

Colleges & Courses

• MBA College Admissions
• MBA Colleges in India
• Top IIMs Colleges in India
• Top Online MBA Colleges in India
• MBA Colleges Accepting XAT Score
• BBA Colleges in India
• XAT College Predictor 2024
• SNAP College Predictor
• NMAT College Predictor
• MAT College Predictor 2024
• CMAT College Predictor 2024
• CAT Percentile Predictor 2023
• CAT 2023 College Predictor
• CMAT 2024 Registration
• TS ICET 2024 Registration
• CMAT Exam Date 2024
• MAH MBA CET Cutoff 2024
• Download Helpful Ebooks
• List of Popular Branches
• QnA - Get answers to your doubts
• IIM Fees Structure
• AIIMS Nursing
• Top Medical Colleges in India
• Top Medical Colleges in India accepting NEET Score
• Medical Colleges accepting NEET
• List of Medical Colleges in India
• List of AIIMS Colleges In India
• Medical Colleges in Maharashtra
• Medical Colleges in India Accepting NEET PG
• NEET College Predictor
• NEET PG College Predictor
• NEET MDS College Predictor
• DNB CET College Predictor
• DNB PDCET College Predictor
• NEET Application Form 2024
• NEET PG Application Form 2024
• NEET Cut off
• NEET Online Preparation
• Download Helpful E-books
• LSAT India 2024
• Colleges Accepting Admissions
• Top Law Colleges in India
• Law College Accepting CLAT Score
• List of Law Colleges in India
• Top Law Colleges in Delhi
• Top Law Collages in Indore
• Top Law Colleges in Chandigarh
• Top Law Collages in Lucknow

Predictors & E-Books

• CLAT College Predictor
• MHCET Law ( 5 Year L.L.B) College Predictor
• AILET College Predictor
• Sample Papers
• Compare Law Collages
• Careers360 Youtube Channel
• CLAT Syllabus 2025
• CLAT Previous Year Question Paper
• AIBE 18 Result 2023
• NID DAT Exam
• Pearl Academy Exam

Animation Courses

• Animation Courses in India
• Animation Courses in Bangalore
• Animation Courses in Mumbai
• Animation Courses in Pune
• Animation Courses in Chennai
• Animation Courses in Hyderabad
• Design Colleges in India
• Fashion Design Colleges in Bangalore
• Fashion Design Colleges in Mumbai
• Fashion Design Colleges in Pune
• Fashion Design Colleges in Delhi
• Fashion Design Colleges in Hyderabad
• Fashion Design Colleges in India
• Top Design Colleges in India
• Free Design E-books
• List of Branches
• Careers360 Youtube channel
• NIFT College Predictor
• UCEED College Predictor
• NID DAT College Predictor
• IPU CET BJMC
• JMI Mass Communication Entrance Exam
• IIMC Entrance Exam
• Media & Journalism colleges in Delhi
• Media & Journalism colleges in Bangalore
• Media & Journalism colleges in Mumbai
• List of Media & Journalism Colleges in India
• CA Intermediate
• CA Foundation
• CS Executive
• CS Professional
• Difference between CA and CS
• Difference between CA and CMA
• CA Full form
• CMA Full form
• CS Full form
• CA Salary In India

Top Courses & Careers

• Bachelor of Commerce (B.Com)
• Master of Commerce (M.Com)
• Company Secretary
• Cost Accountant
• Charted Accountant
• Credit Manager
• Financial Advisor
• Top Commerce Colleges in India
• Top Government Commerce Colleges in India
• Top Private Commerce Colleges in India
• Top M.Com Colleges in Mumbai
• Top B.Com Colleges in India
• IT Colleges in Tamil Nadu
• IT Colleges in Uttar Pradesh
• MCA Colleges in India
• BCA Colleges in India

Quick Links

• Information Technology Courses
• Programming Courses
• Web Development Courses
• Data Analytics Courses
• Big Data Analytics Courses
• RUHS Pharmacy Admission Test
• Top Pharmacy Colleges in India
• Pharmacy Colleges in Pune
• Pharmacy Colleges in Mumbai
• Colleges Accepting GPAT Score
• Pharmacy Colleges in Lucknow
• List of Pharmacy Colleges in Nagpur
• GPAT Result
• GPAT 2024 Admit Card
• GPAT Question Papers
• NCHMCT JEE 2024
• Mah BHMCT CET
• Top Hotel Management Colleges in Delhi
• Top Hotel Management Colleges in Hyderabad
• Top Hotel Management Colleges in Mumbai
• Top Hotel Management Colleges in Tamil Nadu
• Top Hotel Management Colleges in Maharashtra
• B.Sc Hotel Management
• Hotel Management
• Diploma in Hotel Management and Catering Technology

Diploma Colleges

• Top Diploma Colleges in Maharashtra
• UPSC IAS 2024
• SSC CGL 2024
• IBPS RRB 2024
• Previous Year Sample Papers
• Free Competition E-books
• Sarkari Result
• QnA- Get your doubts answered
• UPSC Previous Year Sample Papers
• CTET Previous Year Sample Papers
• SBI Clerk Previous Year Sample Papers
• NDA Previous Year Sample Papers

Upcoming Events

• NDA Application Form 2024
• UPSC IAS Application Form 2024
• CDS Application Form 2024
• CTET Admit card 2024
• HP TET Result 2023
• SSC GD Constable Admit Card 2024
• UPTET Notification 2024
• SBI Clerk Result 2024

Other Exams

• SSC CHSL 2024
• UP PCS 2024
• UGC NET 2024
• RRB NTPC 2024
• IBPS PO 2024
• IBPS Clerk 2024
• IBPS SO 2024
• Top University in USA
• Top University in Canada
• Top University in Ireland
• Top Universities in UK
• Top Universities in Australia
• Best MBA Colleges in Abroad
• Business Management Studies Colleges

Top Countries

• Study in USA
• Study in UK
• Study in Canada
• Study in Australia
• Study in Ireland
• Study in Germany
• Study in China
• Study in Europe

Student Visas

• Student Visa Canada
• Student Visa UK
• Student Visa USA
• Student Visa Australia
• Student Visa Germany
• Student Visa New Zealand
• Student Visa Ireland
• CUET PG 2024
• IGNOU B.Ed Admission 2024
• DU Admission 2024
• UP B.Ed JEE 2024
• LPU NEST 2024
• IIT JAM 2024
• IGNOU Online Admission 2024
• Universities in India
• Top Universities in India 2024
• Top Colleges in India
• Top Universities in Uttar Pradesh 2024
• Top Universities in Bihar
• Top Universities in Madhya Pradesh 2024
• Top Universities in Tamil Nadu 2024
• Central Universities in India
• CUET Exam City Intimation Slip 2024
• IGNOU Date Sheet
• CUET Mock Test 2024
• CUET Admit card 2024
• CUET PG Syllabus 2024
• CUET Participating Universities 2024
• CUET Previous Year Question Paper
• CUET Syllabus 2024 for Science Students
• E-Books and Sample Papers
• CUET Exam Pattern 2024
• CUET Exam Date 2024
• CUET Syllabus 2024
• IGNOU Exam Form 2024
• IGNOU Result
• CUET Courses List 2024

Engineering Preparation

• Knockout JEE Main 2024
• Test Series JEE Main 2024
• JEE Main 2024 Rank Booster

Medical Preparation

• Knockout NEET 2024
• Test Series NEET 2024
• Rank Booster NEET 2024

Online Courses

• JEE Main One Month Course
• NEET One Month Course
• IBSAT Free Mock Tests
• IIT JEE Foundation Course
• Knockout BITSAT 2024
• Career Guidance Tool

Top Streams

• IT & Software Certification Courses
• Engineering and Architecture Certification Courses
• Programming And Development Certification Courses
• Business and Management Certification Courses
• Marketing Certification Courses
• Health and Fitness Certification Courses
• Design Certification Courses

Specializations

• Digital Marketing Certification Courses
• Cyber Security Certification Courses
• Artificial Intelligence Certification Courses
• Business Analytics Certification Courses
• Data Science Certification Courses
• Cloud Computing Certification Courses
• Machine Learning Certification Courses
• View All Certification Courses
• UG Degree Courses
• PG Degree Courses
• Short Term Courses
• Free Courses
• Online Degrees and Diplomas
• Compare Courses

Top Providers

• Coursera Courses
• Udemy Courses
• Edx Courses
• Swayam Courses
• upGrad Courses
• Simplilearn Courses
• Great Learning Courses

Access premium articles, webinars, resources to make the best decisions for career, course, exams, scholarships, study abroad and much more with

Plan, Prepare & Make the Best Career Choices

Importance Of Education Essay - 100, 200, 500 Words

Merriam - Webster defines “Education” as the knowledge and development resulting from the process of being educated. Education involves learning new skills and acquiring knowledge to have a better understanding of different disciplines. Here are a few sample essays on the importance of education.

• 100 Words Essay on The Importance of Education

Education is an important element in an individual's life to go ahead and find success . Parents, schools, and universities play a vital role in educating an individual. Education instils confidence, self-acceptance, and self-worth and makes a person more aware of their surroundings and issues faced by the world. In this competitive world, it is a must for an individual to be educated. Self-confidence is found more in an educated individual than in one who is uneducated. It helps people to improve their skills and work on better opportunities to make a living. Educated individuals are an asset to the nation and help a nation to grow.

200 Words Essay on The Importance of Education

500 words essay on the importance of education.

Education brings change and it helps an individual to understand their rights and responsibilities towards their family, society, nation, and world. It helps an individual to view the world and situation from a different perspective and fight against violence, injustice, corruption, and various other mishappenings. It makes a person more stable and wise. One can improve their chance of getting job opportunities with the aid of their expertise and degree. It opens several opportunities in various fields for an individual.

Education teaches a person to be self-sufficient. It brings equality to society. If everyone chooses to be educated, there will be equality among individuals and no one will look down on others with disrespect. Education makes a person productive and helps them to contribute to society efficiently. An educated person is an asset to society as well as the nation . It can be said that education is a staircase for a person's, society's, and nation's achievement and development. The future of a nation is dependent on the education of the present generation. It plays a significant influence in making and developing us, making us more optimistic about life and its objectives. An educated person tends to live a more meaningful and purposeful life than an uneducated individual.

Franz Grillparzer once said, “The uneducated person perceives only the individual phenomenon, the partly educated person the rule, and the educated person the exception". Education is necessary for individuals. It is one of the basic rights of an individual. It expedites quality learning and also inculcates belief, skills, knowledge, value, and moral habits. Education makes an individual’s life better and more peaceful. The first step of education is to teach an individual to write and read. Education makes people aware and literate. It opens the door to employment and certainly helps people to make a better living. It also improves and refines the communication skills of a person. It educates an individual to use the resources available to them pragmatically. One of the noteworthy aspects of education is its importance in spreading knowledge in society. The knowledge is passed from one generation to another when a person is educated. It is not one person who is educated but through one many are educated. It is a ray of light and hope for a better life.

Personality Development

Education makes a person socially, mentally, and intellectually strong as it increases knowledge level, and improves technical skills . It helps them to secure a better position in the corporate and educational sectors. It is a tool that benefits throughout life. Education plays an important role in the modern technological world. Education is not tough and costly like in earlier days when only rich people could afford to get their children educated and trained. There are many ways to enhance the education level in the present century. The whole criteria of getting educated have changed in this modernised era.

Education is now accessible to an individual of any age group. It is said that it is better late than never. Age limit can never be a barrier if the mind of a person is not limited. Schools have opened a curriculum in which a person can undergo homeschooling. Various distance learning programs are opened by Universities all over the world. We can study through the means of distance learning programs after high school while pursuing a job. The academic fee has also been made feasible to make the courses accessible for every individual.

Non-Governmental Organisations and Governmental organisations run various drives in which they come to an area and teach students . Parents and teachers play an important role in an individual’s life to help them to become well-educated people. It develops people's minds and removes a great barrier in society. It makes people noble and perfect. It enhances personal advancements, increases social health and progress, and economical progress.

Educated individuals are the asset of any nation . Through them, a nation advances as education removes the barrier of mindsets, provides knowledge and information, and makes a person a good listener and well-mannered. It provides an individual with a unique standard in life and prepares them to solve any family, social, national, and international level problems. Education helps in financial and mental stability and self–dependency. It instals confidence in a person which is one of the finest aspects of success and also boosts self–assurance.

Explore Career Options (By Industry)

• Construction
• Entertainment
• Manufacturing
• Information Technology

Data Administrator

Database professionals use software to store and organise data such as financial information, and customer shipping records. Individuals who opt for a career as data administrators ensure that data is available for users and secured from unauthorised sales. DB administrators may work in various types of industries. It may involve computer systems design, service firms, insurance companies, banks and hospitals.

Bio Medical Engineer

The field of biomedical engineering opens up a universe of expert chances. An Individual in the biomedical engineering career path work in the field of engineering as well as medicine, in order to find out solutions to common problems of the two fields. The biomedical engineering job opportunities are to collaborate with doctors and researchers to develop medical systems, equipment, or devices that can solve clinical problems. Here we will be discussing jobs after biomedical engineering, how to get a job in biomedical engineering, biomedical engineering scope, and salary. 

Ethical Hacker

A career as ethical hacker involves various challenges and provides lucrative opportunities in the digital era where every giant business and startup owns its cyberspace on the world wide web. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path try to find the vulnerabilities in the cyber system to get its authority. If he or she succeeds in it then he or she gets its illegal authority. Individuals in the ethical hacker career path then steal information or delete the file that could affect the business, functioning, or services of the organization.

GIS officer work on various GIS software to conduct a study and gather spatial and non-spatial information. GIS experts update the GIS data and maintain it. The databases include aerial or satellite imagery, latitudinal and longitudinal coordinates, and manually digitized images of maps. In a career as GIS expert, one is responsible for creating online and mobile maps.

Data Analyst

The invention of the database has given fresh breath to the people involved in the data analytics career path. Analysis refers to splitting up a whole into its individual components for individual analysis. Data analysis is a method through which raw data are processed and transformed into information that would be beneficial for user strategic thinking.

Data are collected and examined to respond to questions, evaluate hypotheses or contradict theories. It is a tool for analyzing, transforming, modeling, and arranging data with useful knowledge, to assist in decision-making and methods, encompassing various strategies, and is used in different fields of business, research, and social science.

Geothermal Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as geothermal engineers are the professionals involved in the processing of geothermal energy. The responsibilities of geothermal engineers may vary depending on the workplace location. Those who work in fields design facilities to process and distribute geothermal energy. They oversee the functioning of machinery used in the field.

Database Architect

If you are intrigued by the programming world and are interested in developing communications networks then a career as database architect may be a good option for you. Data architect roles and responsibilities include building design models for data communication networks. Wide Area Networks (WANs), local area networks (LANs), and intranets are included in the database networks. It is expected that database architects will have in-depth knowledge of a company's business to develop a network to fulfil the requirements of the organisation. Stay tuned as we look at the larger picture and give you more information on what is db architecture, why you should pursue database architecture, what to expect from such a degree and what your job opportunities will be after graduation. Here, we will be discussing how to become a data architect. Students can visit NIT Trichy , IIT Kharagpur , JMI New Delhi . 

Remote Sensing Technician

Individuals who opt for a career as a remote sensing technician possess unique personalities. Remote sensing analysts seem to be rational human beings, they are strong, independent, persistent, sincere, realistic and resourceful. Some of them are analytical as well, which means they are intelligent, introspective and inquisitive. 

Remote sensing scientists use remote sensing technology to support scientists in fields such as community planning, flight planning or the management of natural resources. Analysing data collected from aircraft, satellites or ground-based platforms using statistical analysis software, image analysis software or Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is a significant part of their work. Do you want to learn how to become remote sensing technician? There's no need to be concerned; we've devised a simple remote sensing technician career path for you. Scroll through the pages and read.

Budget Analyst

Budget analysis, in a nutshell, entails thoroughly analyzing the details of a financial budget. The budget analysis aims to better understand and manage revenue. Budget analysts assist in the achievement of financial targets, the preservation of profitability, and the pursuit of long-term growth for a business. Budget analysts generally have a bachelor's degree in accounting, finance, economics, or a closely related field. Knowledge of Financial Management is of prime importance in this career.

Underwriter

An underwriter is a person who assesses and evaluates the risk of insurance in his or her field like mortgage, loan, health policy, investment, and so on and so forth. The underwriter career path does involve risks as analysing the risks means finding out if there is a way for the insurance underwriter jobs to recover the money from its clients. If the risk turns out to be too much for the company then in the future it is an underwriter who will be held accountable for it. Therefore, one must carry out his or her job with a lot of attention and diligence.

Finance Executive

Product manager.

A Product Manager is a professional responsible for product planning and marketing. He or she manages the product throughout the Product Life Cycle, gathering and prioritising the product. A product manager job description includes defining the product vision and working closely with team members of other departments to deliver winning products.  

Operations Manager

Individuals in the operations manager jobs are responsible for ensuring the efficiency of each department to acquire its optimal goal. They plan the use of resources and distribution of materials. The operations manager's job description includes managing budgets, negotiating contracts, and performing administrative tasks.

Stock Analyst

Individuals who opt for a career as a stock analyst examine the company's investments makes decisions and keep track of financial securities. The nature of such investments will differ from one business to the next. Individuals in the stock analyst career use data mining to forecast a company's profits and revenues, advise clients on whether to buy or sell, participate in seminars, and discussing financial matters with executives and evaluate annual reports.

A Researcher is a professional who is responsible for collecting data and information by reviewing the literature and conducting experiments and surveys. He or she uses various methodological processes to provide accurate data and information that is utilised by academicians and other industry professionals. Here, we will discuss what is a researcher, the researcher's salary, types of researchers.

Welding Engineer

Welding Engineer Job Description: A Welding Engineer work involves managing welding projects and supervising welding teams. He or she is responsible for reviewing welding procedures, processes and documentation. A career as Welding Engineer involves conducting failure analyses and causes on welding issues. 

Transportation Planner

A career as Transportation Planner requires technical application of science and technology in engineering, particularly the concepts, equipment and technologies involved in the production of products and services. In fields like land use, infrastructure review, ecological standards and street design, he or she considers issues of health, environment and performance. A Transportation Planner assigns resources for implementing and designing programmes. He or she is responsible for assessing needs, preparing plans and forecasts and compliance with regulations.

Environmental Engineer

Individuals who opt for a career as an environmental engineer are construction professionals who utilise the skills and knowledge of biology, soil science, chemistry and the concept of engineering to design and develop projects that serve as solutions to various environmental problems. 

Safety Manager

A Safety Manager is a professional responsible for employee’s safety at work. He or she plans, implements and oversees the company’s employee safety. A Safety Manager ensures compliance and adherence to Occupational Health and Safety (OHS) guidelines.

Conservation Architect

A Conservation Architect is a professional responsible for conserving and restoring buildings or monuments having a historic value. He or she applies techniques to document and stabilise the object’s state without any further damage. A Conservation Architect restores the monuments and heritage buildings to bring them back to their original state.

Structural Engineer

A Structural Engineer designs buildings, bridges, and other related structures. He or she analyzes the structures and makes sure the structures are strong enough to be used by the people. A career as a Structural Engineer requires working in the construction process. It comes under the civil engineering discipline. A Structure Engineer creates structural models with the help of computer-aided design software. 

Highway Engineer

Highway Engineer Job Description:  A Highway Engineer is a civil engineer who specialises in planning and building thousands of miles of roads that support connectivity and allow transportation across the country. He or she ensures that traffic management schemes are effectively planned concerning economic sustainability and successful implementation.

Field Surveyor

Are you searching for a Field Surveyor Job Description? A Field Surveyor is a professional responsible for conducting field surveys for various places or geographical conditions. He or she collects the required data and information as per the instructions given by senior officials. 

Orthotist and Prosthetist

Orthotists and Prosthetists are professionals who provide aid to patients with disabilities. They fix them to artificial limbs (prosthetics) and help them to regain stability. There are times when people lose their limbs in an accident. In some other occasions, they are born without a limb or orthopaedic impairment. Orthotists and prosthetists play a crucial role in their lives with fixing them to assistive devices and provide mobility.

Pathologist

A career in pathology in India is filled with several responsibilities as it is a medical branch and affects human lives. The demand for pathologists has been increasing over the past few years as people are getting more aware of different diseases. Not only that, but an increase in population and lifestyle changes have also contributed to the increase in a pathologist’s demand. The pathology careers provide an extremely huge number of opportunities and if you want to be a part of the medical field you can consider being a pathologist. If you want to know more about a career in pathology in India then continue reading this article.

Veterinary Doctor

Speech therapist, gynaecologist.

Gynaecology can be defined as the study of the female body. The job outlook for gynaecology is excellent since there is evergreen demand for one because of their responsibility of dealing with not only women’s health but also fertility and pregnancy issues. Although most women prefer to have a women obstetrician gynaecologist as their doctor, men also explore a career as a gynaecologist and there are ample amounts of male doctors in the field who are gynaecologists and aid women during delivery and childbirth. 

Audiologist

The audiologist career involves audiology professionals who are responsible to treat hearing loss and proactively preventing the relevant damage. Individuals who opt for a career as an audiologist use various testing strategies with the aim to determine if someone has a normal sensitivity to sounds or not. After the identification of hearing loss, a hearing doctor is required to determine which sections of the hearing are affected, to what extent they are affected, and where the wound causing the hearing loss is found. As soon as the hearing loss is identified, the patients are provided with recommendations for interventions and rehabilitation such as hearing aids, cochlear implants, and appropriate medical referrals. While audiology is a branch of science that studies and researches hearing, balance, and related disorders.

An oncologist is a specialised doctor responsible for providing medical care to patients diagnosed with cancer. He or she uses several therapies to control the cancer and its effect on the human body such as chemotherapy, immunotherapy, radiation therapy and biopsy. An oncologist designs a treatment plan based on a pathology report after diagnosing the type of cancer and where it is spreading inside the body.

Are you searching for an ‘Anatomist job description’? An Anatomist is a research professional who applies the laws of biological science to determine the ability of bodies of various living organisms including animals and humans to regenerate the damaged or destroyed organs. If you want to know what does an anatomist do, then read the entire article, where we will answer all your questions.

For an individual who opts for a career as an actor, the primary responsibility is to completely speak to the character he or she is playing and to persuade the crowd that the character is genuine by connecting with them and bringing them into the story. This applies to significant roles and littler parts, as all roles join to make an effective creation. Here in this article, we will discuss how to become an actor in India, actor exams, actor salary in India, and actor jobs. 

Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats create and direct original routines for themselves, in addition to developing interpretations of existing routines. The work of circus acrobats can be seen in a variety of performance settings, including circus, reality shows, sports events like the Olympics, movies and commercials. Individuals who opt for a career as acrobats must be prepared to face rejections and intermittent periods of work. The creativity of acrobats may extend to other aspects of the performance. For example, acrobats in the circus may work with gym trainers, celebrities or collaborate with other professionals to enhance such performance elements as costume and or maybe at the teaching end of the career.

Video Game Designer

Career as a video game designer is filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. A video game designer is someone who is involved in the process of creating a game from day one. He or she is responsible for fulfilling duties like designing the character of the game, the several levels involved, plot, art and similar other elements. Individuals who opt for a career as a video game designer may also write the codes for the game using different programming languages.

Depending on the video game designer job description and experience they may also have to lead a team and do the early testing of the game in order to suggest changes and find loopholes.

Radio Jockey

Radio Jockey is an exciting, promising career and a great challenge for music lovers. If you are really interested in a career as radio jockey, then it is very important for an RJ to have an automatic, fun, and friendly personality. If you want to get a job done in this field, a strong command of the language and a good voice are always good things. Apart from this, in order to be a good radio jockey, you will also listen to good radio jockeys so that you can understand their style and later make your own by practicing.

A career as radio jockey has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. If you want to know more about a career as radio jockey, and how to become a radio jockey then continue reading the article.

Choreographer

The word “choreography" actually comes from Greek words that mean “dance writing." Individuals who opt for a career as a choreographer create and direct original dances, in addition to developing interpretations of existing dances. A Choreographer dances and utilises his or her creativity in other aspects of dance performance. For example, he or she may work with the music director to select music or collaborate with other famous choreographers to enhance such performance elements as lighting, costume and set design.

Social Media Manager

A career as social media manager involves implementing the company’s or brand’s marketing plan across all social media channels. Social media managers help in building or improving a brand’s or a company’s website traffic, build brand awareness, create and implement marketing and brand strategy. Social media managers are key to important social communication as well.

Photographer

Photography is considered both a science and an art, an artistic means of expression in which the camera replaces the pen. In a career as a photographer, an individual is hired to capture the moments of public and private events, such as press conferences or weddings, or may also work inside a studio, where people go to get their picture clicked. Photography is divided into many streams each generating numerous career opportunities in photography. With the boom in advertising, media, and the fashion industry, photography has emerged as a lucrative and thrilling career option for many Indian youths.

An individual who is pursuing a career as a producer is responsible for managing the business aspects of production. They are involved in each aspect of production from its inception to deception. Famous movie producers review the script, recommend changes and visualise the story. 

They are responsible for overseeing the finance involved in the project and distributing the film for broadcasting on various platforms. A career as a producer is quite fulfilling as well as exhaustive in terms of playing different roles in order for a production to be successful. Famous movie producers are responsible for hiring creative and technical personnel on contract basis.

Copy Writer

In a career as a copywriter, one has to consult with the client and understand the brief well. A career as a copywriter has a lot to offer to deserving candidates. Several new mediums of advertising are opening therefore making it a lucrative career choice. Students can pursue various copywriter courses such as Journalism , Advertising , Marketing Management . Here, we have discussed how to become a freelance copywriter, copywriter career path, how to become a copywriter in India, and copywriting career outlook. 

In a career as a vlogger, one generally works for himself or herself. However, once an individual has gained viewership there are several brands and companies that approach them for paid collaboration. It is one of those fields where an individual can earn well while following his or her passion. 

Ever since internet costs got reduced the viewership for these types of content has increased on a large scale. Therefore, a career as a vlogger has a lot to offer. If you want to know more about the Vlogger eligibility, roles and responsibilities then continue reading the article. 

For publishing books, newspapers, magazines and digital material, editorial and commercial strategies are set by publishers. Individuals in publishing career paths make choices about the markets their businesses will reach and the type of content that their audience will be served. Individuals in book publisher careers collaborate with editorial staff, designers, authors, and freelance contributors who develop and manage the creation of content.

Careers in journalism are filled with excitement as well as responsibilities. One cannot afford to miss out on the details. As it is the small details that provide insights into a story. Depending on those insights a journalist goes about writing a news article. A journalism career can be stressful at times but if you are someone who is passionate about it then it is the right choice for you. If you want to know more about the media field and journalist career then continue reading this article.

Individuals in the editor career path is an unsung hero of the news industry who polishes the language of the news stories provided by stringers, reporters, copywriters and content writers and also news agencies. Individuals who opt for a career as an editor make it more persuasive, concise and clear for readers. In this article, we will discuss the details of the editor's career path such as how to become an editor in India, editor salary in India and editor skills and qualities.

Individuals who opt for a career as a reporter may often be at work on national holidays and festivities. He or she pitches various story ideas and covers news stories in risky situations. Students can pursue a BMC (Bachelor of Mass Communication) , B.M.M. (Bachelor of Mass Media) , or  MAJMC (MA in Journalism and Mass Communication) to become a reporter. While we sit at home reporters travel to locations to collect information that carries a news value.  

Corporate Executive

Are you searching for a Corporate Executive job description? A Corporate Executive role comes with administrative duties. He or she provides support to the leadership of the organisation. A Corporate Executive fulfils the business purpose and ensures its financial stability. In this article, we are going to discuss how to become corporate executive.

Multimedia Specialist

A multimedia specialist is a media professional who creates, audio, videos, graphic image files, computer animations for multimedia applications. He or she is responsible for planning, producing, and maintaining websites and applications. 

Quality Controller

A quality controller plays a crucial role in an organisation. He or she is responsible for performing quality checks on manufactured products. He or she identifies the defects in a product and rejects the product. 

A quality controller records detailed information about products with defects and sends it to the supervisor or plant manager to take necessary actions to improve the production process.

Production Manager

A QA Lead is in charge of the QA Team. The role of QA Lead comes with the responsibility of assessing services and products in order to determine that he or she meets the quality standards. He or she develops, implements and manages test plans. 

Process Development Engineer

The Process Development Engineers design, implement, manufacture, mine, and other production systems using technical knowledge and expertise in the industry. They use computer modeling software to test technologies and machinery. An individual who is opting career as Process Development Engineer is responsible for developing cost-effective and efficient processes. They also monitor the production process and ensure it functions smoothly and efficiently.

AWS Solution Architect

An AWS Solution Architect is someone who specializes in developing and implementing cloud computing systems. He or she has a good understanding of the various aspects of cloud computing and can confidently deploy and manage their systems. He or she troubleshoots the issues and evaluates the risk from the third party. 

Azure Administrator

An Azure Administrator is a professional responsible for implementing, monitoring, and maintaining Azure Solutions. He or she manages cloud infrastructure service instances and various cloud servers as well as sets up public and private cloud systems. 

Computer Programmer

Careers in computer programming primarily refer to the systematic act of writing code and moreover include wider computer science areas. The word 'programmer' or 'coder' has entered into practice with the growing number of newly self-taught tech enthusiasts. Computer programming careers involve the use of designs created by software developers and engineers and transforming them into commands that can be implemented by computers. These commands result in regular usage of social media sites, word-processing applications and browsers.

Information Security Manager

Individuals in the information security manager career path involves in overseeing and controlling all aspects of computer security. The IT security manager job description includes planning and carrying out security measures to protect the business data and information from corruption, theft, unauthorised access, and deliberate attack 

ITSM Manager

Automation test engineer.

An Automation Test Engineer job involves executing automated test scripts. He or she identifies the project’s problems and troubleshoots them. The role involves documenting the defect using management tools. He or she works with the application team in order to resolve any issues arising during the testing process. 

Applications for Admissions are open.

JEE Main Important Physics formulas

As per latest 2024 syllabus. Physics formulas, equations, & laws of class 11 & 12th chapters

UPES School of Liberal Studies

Ranked #52 Among Universities in India by NIRF | Up to 30% Merit-based Scholarships | Lifetime placement assistance | Last Date to Apply - 30th April

Aakash iACST Scholarship Test 2024

Get up to 90% scholarship on NEET, JEE & Foundation courses

JEE Main Important Chemistry formulas

As per latest 2024 syllabus. Chemistry formulas, equations, & laws of class 11 & 12th chapters

PACE IIT & Medical, Financial District, Hyd

Enrol in PACE IIT & Medical, Financial District, Hyd for JEE/NEET preparation

ALLEN JEE Exam Prep

Start your JEE preparation with ALLEN

Everything about Education

Latest updates, Exclusive Content, Webinars and more.

Download Careers360 App's

Regular exam updates, QnA, Predictors, College Applications & E-books now on your Mobile

Cetifications

We Appeared in

What Is the Purpose of Education? Essay

Introduction, understanding the notion of education, the purpose of education, reasons to have education, features of an educated person, works cited.

Education has always been regarded as a significant part of the life of every individual. People had developed a particular understanding of education since the first civilizations appeared. Nowadays, primary education is mandatory for children in most of the countries. This necessity is predetermined by the fact that the individual should have the education to become a full value member of society. Also, education is vital for both personal and professional growth. The importance of education cannot be overestimated because it improves one’s potential and knowledge, promotes the development of society, and enhances the understanding of the surrounding world.

As it has been already mentioned, education became an important part of life since the beginning of humanity. Every epoch and civilization, starting from the Antiquity, shared the particular understanding of the notion of education and relationship between teachers and students. For example, the Ancient Greek understanding of the relationships between educators and learners may be described as follows: “The instructor is not noticeably older than the boys, but they appear to give him the respect and deference that would be due an honored teacher” (Austin 7). Such view of the learning process demonstrates the belief that the relationships between teachers and students should be based on the mutual respect. However, other ancient civilizations shared different views.

Hsun Tsu, a disciple of Confucius, saw education as a strict process of alternation. “He compared the process of educating a child to the process of straightening a piece of wood against a board or sharpening a piece of metal with a stone” (Austin 8). Such an approach is more teacher-centered in comparison to the other. Understanding of the notion of education is connected with its definition as well.

In Wikipedia, education is defined as “the process of facilitating learning, or the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, beliefs, and habits” (“Education” par. 1). Such understanding of education usually presupposes that the individual studies at school or any other educational establishment to receive particular knowledge. Austin writes about Okakok’s argument that the word “education” should not be used interchangeably with the word “schooling” (79). The author writes that people are tended to speak about an educated person when they mean somebody who has received an official education. “Since all of our traditional knowledge and expertise is of this latter type, the concept of an ‘educated person’ has worked against us as a people, creating conflicting attitudes, and weakening older and proven instructional methods and objects of knowledge” (Austin 79). However, the controversial nature of education is described not only in the meaning of the word.

An interesting view on the nature of education was expressed by Paulo Freire in 1970. According to Freire, education reflects the political situation in the country. In authoritative countries, teachers have the absolute authority over learners who have to follow their orders. Freire considers that the interaction between the teacher and learner has a narrative character. Thus, the teacher is a person who narrates while the student listens. “Education is suffering from narration sickness” (Austin 63). Freire believes that the teacher should let students express their opinions and participate in the process. Ideas of Freire vividly describe one of the purposes of education.

It is difficult to understand and appreciate the significance of education without knowing its purposes. Many students are reluctant to study because they see no point in studying formulas and learning poems by heart. The problem is that not only students but many people are confused when they try to define the purpose of education. Philip Guo writes that many individuals use clichés (e.g. education teaches us how to learn) to explain the purpose of education. “The main purpose of education is to strengthen your mind” (Guo par. 1). Guo considers that permanent learning makes one’s mind strong. Thus, education lets people be prepared to challenging situations in life. Guo provides analog from sport to demonstrate his point of view. He writes that a good player has to work on his or her body all the time. The same is with mental conditioning. Mary Wollstonecraft, one of the first advocates of the rights of women, realizes that all people need to develop the strength of mind. Wollstonecraft writes that people always react to something new or unusual “because they want the activity of mind, because they have not cherished the virtues of the heart” (Austin 37). By asserting the rights of women, Wollstonecraft recognizes the importance of education to become an active member of society.

Education comprises a significant part of the social life. The purpose of education was explained by Nick Gibb, the Minister of Education in the United Kingdom in 2015. Gibb dwelled on that education formed a cornerstone of the economy and social life (Gibb par. 10). This statement describes the second significant purpose of education. Proper education is necessary for being able to live in society. When people study at schools, universities, or other institutions, they happen to be involved in various social situations. Also, educators provide students with knowledge concerning the proper behavior in society often. Seneca wrote, “they [liberal arts] are raw materials out of which a virtuous life can be built — such as they are indispensable to the functioning of a free society” (Austin 16). Thus, education is what makes people prepared to the life with others. It makes everybody familiar with the concepts of justice, equity, and freedom. Such identification of the purpose of education is rather limited at the same time if take into account that education is a much broader concept.

Kim Jones writes that when it comes to finding the solution to the particular problem, education becomes inevitable aspect of the proper decision. Education is crucial for addressing poverty issues or environmental problems. For example, Douglas contemplates that education is directly connected with freedom. The author takes slavery as an example. He writes, “Education goes hand in hand with freedom, and the only way to keep people enslaved is to prevent them from learning and acquiring knowledge” (Austin 46). Jones considers that there is no universal purpose of education because it is a too diverse phenomenon (par. 8). The aim of education is connected with the reasons to have it.

The importance of education cannot be overestimated. It is necessary to evaluate the reasons to have education in various spheres of life. First, education is vital for individual development. When the individual receives knowledge, it alters his or her vision of the world. Also, education promotes the development of critical skills. Thus, educated people know how to analyze different situations (“Why is Education So Important” par. 3). In addition, education is useful for the improvement of character. Education teaches individuals how to become civilized citizens and behave properly. Hsun Tzu uses the word “gentleman” to describe an educated man. Confucius’ follower believes that a proper education is necessary for staying human and making right choices in life. “Therefore, a gentleman will take care in selecting the community he intends to live in, and will choose men of breeding for his companions. In this way he wards off evil and meanness, and draws close to fairness and right” (Austin 10). Education makes the individual aware of the way the world works. An educated person does not believe in illusions.

The second reason to have the education is connected with the professional development. College graduates are more likely to find an interesting job in comparison to those who neglect education. People with education have the possibility to build careers and improve their financial situation (“Importance of Education in Society” par. 4). One may argue that education brings purely material rewards. Still, the feeling of personal growth from career achievements should not be overlooked as well. As Tzu states, “If you make use of the erudition of others and the explanations of gentlemen, then you will become honored and may make your way anywhere in the world” (Austin 12).

The third reason to have education refers to its significance to societies and nations. Kurniawan dwells on the connection of the lack of education with large scale problems such as poverty (1). The writer provides insights from the macroeconomic theory arguing that government’s investment in education results in a better productivity of the labor force. Consequently, people can perform better activities and receive high wages. Also, education makes the whole society aware of the challenges and ways of their overcoming. Even more, education leads to the achievement of the higher level of awareness. “It epitomizes the special characteristics of consciousness: being conscious of , not only as intent on objects but as turned in upon itself in Jasperian “split” — consciousness as consciousness of consciousness” (Austin 65).

The importance of education may be understood after the evaluation of the features of an educated person. Many people consider that an educated person knows a lot of facts and can remember information easily. Knowing facts does not make somebody an educated person. For example, one may memorize numerous things but fail to use them in practice. An educated person should have imagination and the ability to think and use acquired knowledge. Otherwise, no efficient result will be achieved. Al-Ghazali thinks that “effort to acquire knowledge is the worship of mind” (Austin 25). Thus, an educated person enjoys the process of learning something new and knows rationales for all efforts. An educated individual comprehends that education is not about having a diploma or certificate (Burdick par. 5). It is about learning how to live and become a better person.

McKay provides an interesting description of three features of educated people. The author believes that educated people do not wait for someone to entertain them. They always know what to do. Second, any educated person may entertain his or her friend. As far as such individuals know a variety of information, they face no difficulty in amusing others (McKay par. 8). The last distinctive feature of an educated person is open-mindedness. Such an individual is open to new suggestions and ideas. Educated people are not prejudiced or biased against something. They always enjoy learning something new even from the extremely different perspective because it broadens their scope of knowledge.

The role of education has always been important for people. Philosophers and educators of ancient civilizations realized the significance of knowledge acquisition. Nowadays, education has become an integral part of modern life. Education is often defined as the process of acquisition of new knowledge, skills, and habits. However, some scholars argue that such a definition does not reveal the true nature of education because it is more than having certificates or diplomas. Numerous views exist about the purpose of education, but most of them recognize the fact that education aims to improve lives of people. Reasons to have education also predetermine its significance. Thus, educated people are aware of many things in the surrounding world. They cannot be easily tricked. Also, they know the true value of knowledge. Besides, educated people have better opportunities for the professional development in comparison to those who do not have the education. Finally, education brings benefits to the nations. An educated society is a substantial advantage of every country. It is also important to be aware of what makes educated people better and different. Educated people are not only those who know a lot of facts. An educated individual realizes that being able to use knowledge is as important as having knowledge. All these factors demonstrate the significance of education in the modern society.

Austin, Michael. Reading the World: Ideas That Matter. New York City, New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 2010. Print.

Burdick, Eamon. An Educated Person . 2014. Web.

Education n.d. Web.

Importance of Education in Society n.d. Web.

Gibb, Nick. The purpose of education . 2015. Web.

Guo, Philip. The Main Purpose of Education . 2010. Web.

Jones, Kim. What is the purpose of education . 2012. Web.

Kurniawan, Budi. The Important of Education for Economic Growth . n.d. PDF file. 2016.

McKay, Brett. The 3 Characteristics of an Educated Man . 2011. Web.

• Chicago (A-D)
• Chicago (N-B)

IvyPanda. (2020, May 14). What Is the Purpose of Education? https://ivypanda.com/essays/what-is-the-purpose-of-education/

"What Is the Purpose of Education?" IvyPanda , 14 May 2020, ivypanda.com/essays/what-is-the-purpose-of-education/.

IvyPanda . (2020) 'What Is the Purpose of Education'. 14 May.

IvyPanda . 2020. "What Is the Purpose of Education?" May 14, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/what-is-the-purpose-of-education/.

1. IvyPanda . "What Is the Purpose of Education?" May 14, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/what-is-the-purpose-of-education/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "What Is the Purpose of Education?" May 14, 2020. https://ivypanda.com/essays/what-is-the-purpose-of-education/.

• Re-evaluating Freire and Seneca
• Arguments on Pedagogy of the Oppressed by Paulo Freire
• Paulo Freire's Life, Philosophy and Teachings
• The “Pedagogy of the Oppressed” Book by Paulo Freire
• The Banking Concept of Education by Paulo Freire
• Literacy Poses in Paulo Freire’s Philosophy
• College Teaching Method: Paulo Freire's and James Loewen's Ideas
• The “Banking” Concept of Education: An Analysis
• Role of the Notion of Education
• Early Childhood Philosophy of Learning
• Reading and Signing Skills in Deaf Children
• Achieving Academic Excellence
• Ending Cultural and Cognitive Relativism in Special Education
• Technology Revolution in Learning
• Public Policy for Career Development

Home — Essay Samples — Education — Importance of Education — The Importance of Education for Personal and Social Development

The Importance of Education for Personal and Social Development

• Categories: Importance of Education Personal Growth and Development

About this sample

Words: 712 |

Published: Sep 7, 2023

Words: 712 | Pages: 2 | 4 min read

Table of contents

Introduction, the value of education in personal development, the impact of education on society, educational solutions to social issues.

Cite this Essay

Let us write you an essay from scratch

• 450+ experts on 30 subjects ready to help
• Custom essay delivered in as few as 3 hours

Get high-quality help

Dr Jacklynne

Verified writer

• Expert in: Education Life

+ 120 experts online

By clicking “Check Writers’ Offers”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy . We’ll occasionally send you promo and account related email

No need to pay just yet!

Related Essays

3 pages / 1140 words

1 pages / 551 words

2 pages / 748 words

2 pages / 994 words

Remember! This is just a sample.

You can get your custom paper by one of our expert writers.

121 writers online

Still can’t find what you need?

Browse our vast selection of original essay samples, each expertly formatted and styled

Related Essays on Importance of Education

I choose to respond to the article “Hidden Intellectualism”, located in Chapter 17 of “They Say, I Say”. The author of the article; Gerald Graff, is relating to the reader by using language to express similarities between what [...]

Civic education is integral to the development of responsible and engaged citizens in modern society. It is the process through which individuals learn about their rights, responsibilities, and duties towards their communities [...]

Education has long been hailed as the cornerstone of success, serving as a pathway to personal growth, professional achievement, and societal progress. Throughout history, individuals and nations have recognized the [...]

Liberal arts education has been a cornerstone of higher education for centuries, providing students with a well-rounded and comprehensive knowledge base that prepares them for a variety of careers and lifelong learning. While [...]

Education as a gateway to the future The value of education Importance of discussing education in life Contribution to societal development Utilization of technology in education Technology's impact on [...]

Education is a cornerstone of society, providing individuals with the tools and knowledge necessary to succeed in life. For me, education is not just a means to an end, but a lifelong journey of growth and discovery. There are [...]

Related Topics

By clicking “Send”, you agree to our Terms of service and Privacy statement . We will occasionally send you account related emails.

Where do you want us to send this sample?

By clicking “Continue”, you agree to our terms of service and privacy policy.

Be careful. This essay is not unique

This essay was donated by a student and is likely to have been used and submitted before

Download this Sample

Free samples may contain mistakes and not unique parts

Sorry, we could not paraphrase this essay. Our professional writers can rewrite it and get you a unique paper.

Please check your inbox.

We can write you a custom essay that will follow your exact instructions and meet the deadlines. Let's fix your grades together!

Get Your Personalized Essay in 3 Hours or Less!

We use cookies to personalyze your web-site experience. By continuing we’ll assume you board with our cookie policy .

• Instructions Followed To The Letter
• Deadlines Met At Every Stage
• Unique And Plagiarism Free

What Is Education? Insights from the World's Greatest Minds

Forty thought-provoking quotes about education..

Posted May 12, 2014 | Reviewed by Ekua Hagan

As we seek to refine and reform today’s system of education , we would do well to ask, “What is education?” Our answers may provide insights that get to the heart of what matters for 21st century children and adults alike.

It is important to step back from divisive debates on grades, standardized testing, and teacher evaluation—and really look at the meaning of education. So I decided to do just that—to research the answer to this straightforward, yet complex question.

Looking for wisdom from some of the greatest philosophers, poets, educators, historians, theologians, politicians, and world leaders, I found answers that should not only exist in our history books, but also remain at the core of current education dialogue.

In my work as a developmental psychologist, I constantly struggle to balance the goals of formal education with the goals of raising healthy, happy children who grow to become contributing members of families and society. Along with academic skills, the educational journey from kindergarten through college is a time when young people develop many interconnected abilities.

As you read through the following quotes, you’ll discover common threads that unite the intellectual, social, emotional, and physical aspects of education. For me, good education facilitates the development of an internal compass that guides us through life.

Which quotes resonate most with you? What images of education come to your mind? How can we best integrate the wisdom of the ages to address today’s most pressing education challenges?

If you are a middle or high school teacher, I invite you to have your students write an essay entitled, “What is Education?” After reviewing the famous quotes below and the images they evoke, ask students to develop their very own quote that answers this question. With their unique quote highlighted at the top of their essay, ask them to write about what helps or hinders them from getting the kind of education they seek. I’d love to publish some student quotes, essays, and images in future articles, so please contact me if students are willing to share!

What Is Education? Answers from 5th Century BC to the 21 st Century

• The principle goal of education in the schools should be creating men and women who are capable of doing new things, not simply repeating what other generations have done. — Jean Piaget, 1896-1980, Swiss developmental psychologist, philosopher
• An education isn't how much you have committed to memory , or even how much you know. It's being able to differentiate between what you know and what you don't. — Anatole France, 1844-1924, French poet, novelist
• Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world. — Nelson Mandela, 1918-2013, South African President, philanthropist
• The object of education is to teach us to love beauty. — Plato, 424-348 BC, philosopher mathematician
• The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education — Martin Luther King, Jr., 1929-1968, pastor, activist, humanitarian
• Education is what remains after one has forgotten what one has learned in school. Albert Einstein, 1879-1955, physicist
• It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it. — Aristotle, 384-322 BC, Greek philosopher, scientist
• Education is the power to think clearly, the power to act well in the world’s work, and the power to appreciate life. — Brigham Young, 1801-1877, religious leader
• Real education should educate us out of self into something far finer – into a selflessness which links us with all humanity. — Nancy Astor, 1879-1964, American-born English politician and socialite
• Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. — William Butler Yeats, 1865-1939, Irish poet
• Education is freedom . — Paulo Freire, 1921-1997, Brazilian educator, philosopher
• Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself. — John Dewey, 1859-1952, philosopher, psychologist, education reformer
• Education is the key to unlock the golden door of freedom. — George Washington Carver, 1864-1943, scientist, botanist, educator
• Education is an admirable thing, but it is well to remember from time to time that nothing that is worth knowing can be taught. — Oscar Wilde, 1854-1900, Irish writer, poet
• The whole purpose of education is to turn mirrors into windows. — Sydney J. Harris, 1917-1986, journalist
• Education's purpose is to replace an empty mind with an open one. — Malcolm Forbes, 1919-1990, publisher, politician
• No one has yet realized the wealth of sympathy, the kindness and generosity hidden in the soul of a child. The effort of every true education should be to unlock that treasure. — Emma Goldman, 1869 – 1940, political activist, writer
• Much education today is monumentally ineffective. All too often we are giving young people cut flowers when we should be teaching them to grow their own plants. — John W. Gardner, 1912-2002, Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare under President Lyndon Johnson
• Education is simply the soul of a society as it passes from one generation to another. — Gilbert K. Chesterton, 1874-1936, English writer, theologian, poet, philosopher
• Education is the movement from darkness to light. — Allan Bloom, 1930-1992, philosopher, classicist, and academician
• Education is learning what you didn't even know you didn't know. -- Daniel J. Boorstin, 1914-2004, historian, professor, attorney
• The aim of education is the knowledge, not of facts, but of values. — William S. Burroughs, 1914-1997, novelist, essayist, painter
• The object of education is to prepare the young to educate themselves throughout their lives. -- Robert M. Hutchins, 1899-1977, educational philosopher
• Education is all a matter of building bridges. — Ralph Ellison, 1914-1994, novelist, literary critic, scholar
• What sculpture is to a block of marble, education is to the soul. — Joseph Addison, 1672-1719, English essayist, poet, playwright, politician
• Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today. — Malcolm X, 1925-1965, minister and human rights activist
• Education is the key to success in life, and teachers make a lasting impact in the lives of their students. — Solomon Ortiz, 1937-, former U.S. Representative-TX
• The very spring and root of honesty and virtue lie in good education. — Plutarch, 46-120AD, Greek historian, biographer, essayist
• Education is a shared commitment between dedicated teachers, motivated students and enthusiastic parents with high expectations. — Bob Beauprez, 1948-, former member of U.S. House of Representatives-CO
• The most influential of all educational factors is the conversation in a child’s home. — William Temple, 1881-1944, English bishop, teacher
• Education is the leading of human souls to what is best, and making what is best out of them. — John Ruskin, 1819-1900, English writer, art critic, philanthropist
• Education levels the playing field, allowing everyone to compete. — Joyce Meyer, 1943-, Christian author and speaker
• Education is what survives when what has been learned has been forgotten. — B.F. Skinner , 1904-1990, psychologist, behaviorist, social philosopher
• The great end of education is to discipline rather than to furnish the mind; to train it to the use of its own powers rather than to fill it with the accumulation of others. — Tyron Edwards, 1809-1894, theologian
• Let us think of education as the means of developing our greatest abilities, because in each of us there is a private hope and dream which, fulfilled, can be translated into benefit for everyone and greater strength of the nation. — John F. Kennedy, 1917-1963, 35 th President of the United States
• Education is like a lantern which lights your way in a dark alley. — Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, 1918-2004, President of the United Arab Emirates for 33 years
• When educating the minds of our youth, we must not forget to educate their hearts. — Dalai Lama, spiritual head of Tibetan Buddhism
• Education is the ability to listen to almost anything without losing your temper or self-confidence . — Robert Frost, 1874-1963, poet
• The secret in education lies in respecting the student. — Ralph Waldo Emerson, 1803-1882, essayist, lecturer, and poet
• My mother said I must always be intolerant of ignorance, but understanding of illiteracy. That some people, unable to go to school, were more educated and more intelligent than college professors. — Maya Angelou, 1928-, author, poet

©2014 Marilyn Price-Mitchell. All rights reserved. Please contact for permission to reprint.

Marilyn Price-Mitchell, Ph.D., is an Institute for Social Innovation Fellow at Fielding Graduate University and author of Tomorrow’s Change Makers.

• Find a Therapist
• Find a Treatment Center
• Find a Psychiatrist
• Find a Support Group
• Find Online Therapy
• United States
• Brooklyn, NY
• Chicago, IL
• Houston, TX
• Los Angeles, CA
• New York, NY
• Portland, OR
• San Diego, CA
• San Francisco, CA
• Seattle, WA
• Washington, DC
• Asperger's
• Bipolar Disorder
• Chronic Pain
• Eating Disorders
• Passive Aggression
• Personality
• Goal Setting
• Positive Psychology
• Stopping Smoking
• Low Sexual Desire
• Relationships
• Child Development
• Therapy Center NEW
• Diagnosis Dictionary
• Types of Therapy

Understanding what emotional intelligence looks like and the steps needed to improve it could light a path to a more emotionally adept world.

• Emotional Intelligence
• Gaslighting
• Affective Forecasting
• Neuroscience

25,000+ students realised their study abroad dream with us. Take the first step today

Meet top uk universities from the comfort of your home, here’s your new year gift, one app for all your, study abroad needs, start your journey, track your progress, grow with the community and so much more.

Verification Code

An OTP has been sent to your registered mobile no. Please verify

Thanks for your comment !

Our team will review it before it's shown to our readers.

• School Education /

Essay on Importance of Education

• Updated on  
• Aug 17, 2023

Education is very important for success in life. A well-educated person not only succeeds in life but also takes his society and country to new heights. Education develops essential skills like decision-making, problem-solving, and mental agility. Education helps a person to be self-aware and to solve problems in personal and professional life. In this article, we have provided an essay on the importance of education and points to note before writing the same. Moreover, you would find short essays and long essays that can be used to present in school.

Check out our 200+ Essay Topics for School Students in English .

Table of Contents

• 1 Points to Note While Writing an Essay on the Importance of Education
• 2 10 Lines on the Importance of Education
• 3 Importance of Education Sample Essay (100 words)
• 4 Importance of Education Sample Essaneighbouringy (250 words)
• 5 Importance of Education Sample Essay (400 words)
• 6 10 Popular Quotes on Education
• 7 What Will Your Child Learn From This Essay on the Importance of Education?

Points to Note While Writing an Essay on the Importance of Education

Certain points must be included while writing an essay. It makes the essay more detailed and helps the reader to understand the topic in a better way. An essay on the importance of education must include the following.

• While writing a short essay make sure that it is to the point 
• A longer essay must contain an introduction, body, and conclusion.
• Facts about education and the personal perspective of the writer must be included
• Think about the importance of educated individuals in society and write about them
• You can also write about the job market and the role education plays in it.

Also Read: Essay on Democracy

10 Lines on the Importance of Education

Education is important for several reasons. Here are 10 lines on the importance of education that can be added to the essay. Students can also describe these points to make the essay more descriptive and coherent.

• Education is a basic need for every individual to live in the modern world
• Education helps us to understand technological systems and services
• An educated person can easily take up a job based on interest 
• Without an education, a person will lose the opportunity to be successful in life
• Moreover, education protects an individual from being cheated and exploited by others
• Educated citizens are a valuable asset to the company
• It also helps society to adapt to change and discard old and unproductive ways of conduct and thinking 
• Thus, it enables all sections of society to prosper 
• Particularly, it enables poor sections of society to prosper and develop
• Education helps an individual to uplift the society and community
• Education is extremely important for the development of individuals. Hence, children from all sections of society must be educated.

Also, Read; Essay on My Aim in Life

Importance of Education Sample Essay (100 words)

Education is crucial for the importance of the nation and its citizens. Education is about gathering knowledge and training the mind to think. Moreover, it helps a person to apply the knowledge gained to solve problems.  Education is important in the modern world, as it helps a person to learn about the world and new technologies. It can also empower people and help them to gain employment opportunities . Educated individuals can impart their knowledge to the next generation and thus contribute to society.  They also contribute to the development of the nation and society in general. Thus, the importance of education can’t be denied.

Importance of Education Sample Essaneighbouringy (250 words)

Men and women have to be educated as it helps in the development of a healthy society.  Educated individuals help in the progress of society. It is the highly educated individuals who lay the basic foundation of a developed country. Moreover, education helps in the personal development and empowerment of individuals. It develops in a person the knowledge, and critical thinking skills required to be successful in life. These skills increase self-awareness and help individuals to make informed decisions. Thus, people gain a deeper understanding of the world around them and help them to follow their interests, passions, and talents.

Education helps in growth and innovation. A well-educated workforce is more skilled and productive. Thus, they are more competitive in the global marketplace. Research , technological advancements, and entrepreneurship skills can all be credited to educated individuals. It is the sword that can be used against misinformation and ignorance. A well-educated person is more likely to make a good decision and resist manipulation. Moreover, education promotes healthy lifestyles among individuals.  Educated people are more likely to follow a healthy lifestyle and preventive healthcare measures. 

In conclusion, we can say that education helps in societal advancement and economic, and personal development. It helps individuals to make informed decisions and pushes society for innovation and growth. Education helps to uproot illiteracy and inequality in society. It encourages individuals to take better care of themselves and the environment they live in. Moreover, it encourages people to understand their duties, rights , and responsibilities toward their country.

Importance of Education Sample Essay (400 words)

Education is important for the development of the individual, nation, and society. It empowers individuals to take better decisions for themselves and for the environment they live in. Education provides an individual with the knowledge and skills that are necessary to navigate the complexities of life. It is crucial for personal growth, societal development, and global progress.

Education empowers an individual to think critically and develop analytical skills. It ignites curiosity in humans and encourages them to explore, learn and adapt to changes. Moreover, it helps individuals to identify their strengths and weaknesses, and set meaningful goals. Thus, it helps in the holistic development of an individual. Thus, a well-educated individual can contribute to the progress of the society. It develops empathy, and tolerance, and contributes to a stable and prosperous community. It also helps in the reduction of social inequalities and discrimination and encourages people to actively participate in the democratic functioning of the government. When individuals have access to education it means that they can get employment opportunities as well. Thus, education can help in eradicating poverty and increase economic growth. Moreover, it helps in increasing the living standards of families.

Globally, education helps to drive innovation, develop international cooperation, and deal with global issues. Scientific breakthroughs, advancement of technology, and innovations are all a result of education. Moreover, it helps in cross-cultural understanding and exchange of values and ideas. Global challenges such as climate change, and medical issues can be easily dealt with due to education. Society becomes better equipped to provide sustainable solutions for the betterment of all.

 Education can break down gender inequalities. Therefore, it can empower women and marginalized sections of the community. When societies recognize the importance of education, it helps in promoting equitable access to opportunities. Educating the girl child can result in a reduction in child mortality rates. Thus, it helps in social progress.

The importance of education can’t be denied. It results in personal development, international collaboration, and the development of society. Education provides knowledge and skills that are necessary for navigating through the challenges of life. Moreover, it helps in progress of the society and dealing with global challenges like environmental crises. Thus, education helps in creating a prosperous, and just world.  Education can help an individual achieve his dreams and aspirations. Most of the successful people in the world are educated. In the future educated individual will be a person who knows and can apply it to solve problems.

10 Popular Quotes on Education

Here are 10 popular quotes on education. Feel free to add them to your essay on importance of education or similar academic topics.

‘Education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think.’ – Albert Einstein

‘Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.’ – Dr APJ Abdul Kalam

‘Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.’ – Malcolm X

‘The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.’ – Martin Luther King Jr.

‘The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be ignited.”‘- Plutarch

‘Education is not preparation for life; education is life itself.’ – John Dewey

‘Education is the key to unlocking the world, a passport to freedom.’ – Oprah Winfrey

‘The only person who is educated is the one who has learned how to learn…and change.’ – Carl Rogers

Education breeds confidence. Confidence breeds hope. Hope breeds peace.’ – Confucius

An investment in knowledge pays the best interest.’ – Benjamin Franklin

What Will Your Child Learn From This Essay on the Importance of Education?

An essay on the importance of education will help a student to learn to express ideas and knowledge simply. It will also help them to express their ideas in a lengthy format. 

An essay on the importance of education will help a student understand the significance of education in the modern world. Moreover, it will make them realize the privilege of a good education later in life.

Also Read: Essay on My Brother in 200 Words

Ans. Education helps a person develop critical thinking and decision-making skills. It helps empower a person to deal with the personal and professional challenges of life. An educated person can make rational and informed decisions while dealing with challenges.

Ans. Education helps in the development of the mind, and the growth of society and the nation. An educated society is an empowered society. Individuals of such a society can make informed decisions and can work towards the social, economic, and political development of the nation.

Ans. The main aim of education is to acquire knowledge and skills. It helps a person adjust to the environment and achieve goals.

Check out our Popular Essay Topics for Students

This was all about essay on the importance of education. We hope the samples listed above will help students with their essay writing practice. For more information on such interesting topics, visit our essay writing page and follow Leverage Edu.

Blessy George

Blessy George works as a Content Marketing Associate at Leverage Edu. She has completed her M.A. in Political Science and has experience working as an Intern with CashKaro. She has written extensively on studying abroad, English Test preparation, visas, and online courses. During her free time, she likes to read and write poetry, and songs.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Contact no. *

Connect With Us

25,000+ students realised their study abroad dream with us. Take the first step today.

Resend OTP in

Need help with?

Study abroad.

UK, Canada, US & More

IELTS, GRE, GMAT & More

Scholarship, Loans & Forex

Country Preference

New Zealand

Which English test are you planning to take?

Which academic test are you planning to take.

Not Sure yet

When are you planning to take the exam?

Already booked my exam slot

Within 2 Months

Want to learn about the test

Which Degree do you wish to pursue?

When do you want to start studying abroad.

January 2024

September 2024

What is your budget to study abroad?

How would you describe this article ?

Please rate this article

We would like to hear more.

Have something on your mind?

Make your study abroad dream a reality in January 2022 with

India's Biggest Virtual University Fair

Essex Direct Admission Day

Why attend .

Don't Miss Out

• Essay on Importance of Education

Importance of Education Essay

Education is one of the key components for an individual’s success. It has the ability to shape one’s life in the right direction. Education is a process of imparting or acquiring knowledge, and developing the powers of reasoning and judgement. It prepares growing children intellectually for a life with more mature understanding and sensitivity to issues surrounding them. It improves not only the personal life of the people but also their community. Thus, one cannot neglect the significance of Education in life and society. Here, we have provided an essay on the Importance of Education. Students can use this essay to prepare for their English exam or as a speech to participate in the school competition.

Importance of Education

The importance of education in life is immense. It facilitates quality learning for people throughout their life. It inculcates knowledge, belief, skill, values and moral habits. It improves the way of living and raises the social and economic status of individuals. Education makes life better and more peaceful. It transforms the personality of individuals and makes them feel confident.

Well said by Nelson Mandela, “Education is the most powerful weapon to change the world”. To elaborate, it is the foundation of the society which brings economic wealth, social prosperity and political stability. It gives power to people to put their views and showcase their real potential. It strengthens democracy by providing citizens with the tools to participate in the governance process. It acts as an integrative force to foster social cohesion and national identity.

In India, education is a constitutional right of every citizen. So, people of any age group, religion, caste, creed and region are free to receive education. An educated person is respected everywhere and well-treated in society. As a kid, every child dreams of being a doctor, lawyer, engineer, actor, sportsperson, etc. These dreams can come true through education. So, investment in education gives the best return. Well-educated people have more opportunities to get a better job which makes them feel satisfied.

In schools, education is divided into different levels, i.e., preschool, primary, secondary and senior secondary. School education comprises traditional learning which provides students with theoretical knowledge. However, now various efforts are being made to establish inbuilt application-based learning by adding numerous experiments, practicals and extracurricular activities to the school curriculum. Students learn to read, write and represent their viewpoints in front of others. Also, in this era of digital Education, anyone can easily access information online at their fingertips. They can learn new skills and enhance their knowledge.

Steps Taken By Government To Promote Education

Education is evidently an important aspect that no government can ignore in order to ensure the equitable development of a nation. Unfortunately, some children still do not have access to education. The Government has thereby taken initiatives to improve education quality and made it accessible to everyone, especially the poor people.

The Government passed the Right to Education Act 2009 (RTE Act 2009) on 4 August 2009. This Act came into effect on 1 April 2010, following which education has become the fundamental right of every child in India. It provides free and compulsory elementary education to children of the age group of 6-14 years in a neighbourhood school within 1 km, up to Class 8 in India. On similar lines, there are other schemes launched by the government, such as Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan , Mid-Day Meal , Adult Education and Skill Development Scheme, National Means cum Merit Scholarship Scheme, National Program for Education of Girls at Elementary Education, Kasturba Gandhi Balika Vidyalaya, Scheme for Infrastructure Development in Minority Institutions, Beti Bachao , Beti Padhao, etc.

For our country’s growth, we require a well-educated population equipped with the relevant knowledge, attitude and skills. This can be achieved by spreading awareness about the importance of Education in rural areas. There is a famous saying that “If we feed one person, we will eliminate his hunger for only one time. But, if we educate a person, we will change his entire life”. Henceforth he will become capable of earning a livelihood by himself.

This essay on the Importance of Education must have helped students to improve their writing section for the English exam. They can also practice essays on other topics by visiting the CBSE Essay page. Keep learning and stay tuned with BYJU’S for the latest updates on CBSE/ICSE/State Board/Competitive Exams. Also, download the BYJU’S App for interactive study videos.

Frequently Asked Questions on Education Essay

How can the literacy rate in india be increased.

People in rural areas must be informed about the importance of providing education to their children. Also, with the COVID-19 situation, the government should take steps by providing laptops/phones for children to follow online classes.

Are girl children still denied their right to get educated?

Although awareness has now improved, there are still many villages in India where girl children are not provided with proper education or allowed to enrol themselves in schools. This mentality has to change for the betterment of the society.

Teaching subjects/academics alone is enough, or should students be introduced to other forms of educational activities too?

Extracurricular activities, moral value education, etc., are also as important as regular academic teachings.

Leave a Comment Cancel reply

Your Mobile number and Email id will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Request OTP on Voice Call

Post My Comment

• Share Share

Register with BYJU'S & Download Free PDFs

Register with byju's & watch live videos.

Counselling

Essay on Importance of Education for Students

500 words essay on importance of education.

To say Education is important is an understatement. Education is a weapon to improve one’s life. It is probably the most important tool to change one’s life. Education for a child begins at home. It is a lifelong process that ends with death. Education certainly determines the quality of an individual’s life. Education improves one’s knowledge, skills and develops the personality and attitude. Most noteworthy, Education affects the chances of employment for people. A highly educated individual is probably very likely to get a good job. In this essay on importance of education, we will tell you about the value of education in life and society.

Importance of Education in Life

First of all, Education teaches the ability to read and write. Reading and writing is the first step in Education. Most information is done by writing. Hence, the lack of writing skill means missing out on a lot of information. Consequently, Education makes people literate.

Above all, Education is extremely important for employment. It certainly is a great opportunity to make a decent living. This is due to the skills of a high paying job that Education provides. Uneducated people are probably at a huge disadvantage when it comes to jobs. It seems like many poor people improve their lives with the help of Education.

Better Communication is yet another role in Education. Education improves and refines the speech of a person. Furthermore, individuals also improve other means of communication with Education.

Education makes an individual a better user of technology. Education certainly provides the technical skills necessary for using technology . Hence, without Education, it would probably be difficult to handle modern machines.

People become more mature with the help of Education. Sophistication enters the life of educated people. Above all, Education teaches the value of discipline to individuals. Educated people also realize the value of time much more. To educated people, time is equal to money.

Finally, Educations enables individuals to express their views efficiently. Educated individuals can explain their opinions in a clear manner. Hence, educated people are quite likely to convince people to their point of view.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Importance of Education in Society

First of all, Education helps in spreading knowledge in society. This is perhaps the most noteworthy aspect of Education. There is a quick propagation of knowledge in an educated society. Furthermore, there is a transfer of knowledge from generation to another by Education.

Education helps in the development and innovation of technology. Most noteworthy, the more the education, the more technology will spread. Important developments in war equipment, medicine , computers, take place due to Education.

Education is a ray of light in the darkness. It certainly is a hope for a good life. Education is a basic right of every Human on this Planet. To deny this right is evil. Uneducated youth is the worst thing for Humanity. Above all, the governments of all countries must ensure to spread Education.

FAQs on Essay on Importance of Education

Q.1 How Education helps in Employment?

A.1 Education helps in Employment by providing necessary skills. These skills are important for doing a high paying job.

Q.2 Mention one way in Education helps a society?

A.2 Education helps society by spreading knowledge. This certainly is one excellent contribution to Education.

Customize your course in 30 seconds

Which class are you in.

• Travelling Essay
• Picnic Essay
• Our Country Essay
• My Parents Essay
• Essay on Favourite Personality
• Essay on Memorable Day of My Life
• Essay on Knowledge is Power
• Essay on Gurpurab
• Essay on My Favourite Season
• Essay on Types of Sports

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Download the App

27 Facts on the Importance of Education (Essay or Speech)

Are you in need of ideas for an importance of education essay?

Here is a list of 27 ideas that will get you started!

These ideas come from a variety of online sources and links have been provided in case you need to provide references in your essay .

This article lists ideas on the importance of education to a person’s life (Points 1 – 16) and to society (Points 17 – 27).

Importance of Education to a Person’s Life

1. education helps people out of poverty.

Poverty is linked to low education . Families that are poor are usually less educated than families that are rich. Plus, if you are born into a low educated poor family, chances are high that you too will end up low educated and poor.

One way poverty affects education is through the direct costs. Even when school is free, the costs of uniforms, travel, and so on can be very difficult for families to cover.

To escape the poverty trap cycle , people need to gain a higher education than their parents and find upwardly mobile employment (this means: jobs that help you get from the working class into the middle class).

Here’s some facts to back up this point.

A recent report found that people with a college education are statistically less likely to be in poverty. Of people over the age of 25, only 2% of college graduates were in poverty. That compares to 13% of high school graduates over 25.

Related Article: How Can Health Influence Learning?

2. Education helps People make More Money

Jobs that require a higher education are usually more highly paid than unskilled jobs. This is because the jobs are more difficult and require a more specialized skillset. If you get an education in a skill area where there is a shortage of available workers, your wages will increase.

To underscore this point, Brookings presented findings that show:

“An individual with a college degree is nearly nine times more likely to make over $100,000 than someone with only a high school diploma and 13 times more likely to make more than $200,000 per year.”

Today, jobs that are in demand, require a high education and pay quite well include:

• Software developer (USD $101,000)
• Health care administrator (USD $98,000)
• Medical Technologist (USD $51,000)

Source: CNBC .

3. Highly Educated People have a Better chance of Getting a Job

Jobs are not that easy to come by these days – even for people with degrees. But there’s statistically a higher chance of you getting a job if you have a higher education.

The 2017 report Education Pays: The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society found that people with higher education have lower rates of unemployment.

In 2015, younger people (ages 25 – 34) with bachelor’s degrees had an unemployment rate of 2.6%. High school graduates of the same age range had an unemployment rate of 8.1 percent.

That’s a huge difference that underscores the correlation between education and employability.

>>>You Might Also Like: 21+ Ways to Make an Essay Longer

4. Highly Educated People are Statistically Healthier

Statistically, the higher your education, the healthier you are. This could potentially be due to a few factors including:

• Stable jobs with regular hours allow you to plan exercise;
• Cultural differences between working-class and middle-class people;
• More money to participate in recreational activities.

Whatever the reason, the facts stand for themselves. One of the major facts is this:

In 2014, 26% of high school graduates smoked cigarettes. In the same year, only 8% of college graduates smoked cigarettes.

Source: Education Pays: The Benefits of Higher Education for Individuals and Society

5. Highly Educated People Volunteer More

Educated people tend to do better when it comes to volunteering. The reasons for this may be very similar to the reasons for being more fit. Reasons could include:

• Stable jobs with regular hours allow time to plan regular volunteering hours;
• Highly educated people are less likely to work two jobs;
• People who are well educated have more money to travel to and from their volunteering locations.

Again, it’s a good idea to back this claim up with some facts.

In 2015, 39% of college graduates reported that they volunteered that year. Among high school graduates, it was just 16% who reported that they volunteered.

6. Education helps People make Better Decisions

We have already established that people with a higher education have more job security and more money.

The flow-on effect of this is that they can make better decisions.

When you are more certain that you have money coming in every week, you’ll be able to plan our your budget more. You’ll also have the money to make decisions about living in safer neighborhoods with more public services.

Furthermore, higher education usually teaches critical thinking skills . This means people who’ve been trained in critical thinking may have an advantage when making tough decisions. They will have the education to know how to handle complex decision-making processes.

7. Education helps People make Long-Term Decisions

Not only will highly educated people have the skillset to make tough decisions, they will also have the money to make long-term decisions.

If you have a stable job with a high income each month, you’re more likely to get a loan for a home. You also have the freedom to start investing into your retirement funds.

As you can see, the correlation between high education and high incomes has huge flow-on effects for quality of life.

8. Education can increase Social Status

An education from a respected educational institution can open lots of doors for you.

Many students from around the world flock to nations like the United Kingdom, United States and Australia to get degrees from top-ranking education nations.

Similarly, if you make it to a higher-ranking school or university such as Harvard, Yale, Cambridge, Oxford or Princeton you’ll get a lot of social status just for having attended the university.

Even at compulsory school age there are elite institutions. For example, the private school named Eton College in the UK is known for producing no less than 19 British Prime Minsters .

When you get social status from going to a good school or university, we say you have institutional or cultural capital .

This degree from a well-respected university may get you that job interview you were looking for. But, it could also get you social status amongst family, friends and – yes – potential future partners!

9. Education makes People better Conversationalists

Have you ever had a conversation with a person and they were just really interesting? They seemed to know a lot of things and be able to talk to you about anything.

Well, that person is likely very well educated.

In fact, we have some words to describe people who are well-educated in a broad range of topics. You could call them:

• A renaissance man
• A renaissance woman

There is also a type of education designed to help you become a polymath. It’s called a Liberal Education and you get it by doing a Liberal Arts Degree from a university.

10. Education helps People get Access to Important Information

In the dark ages in Europe very few people had the ability to read.

This meant that knowledge held in books was only available to very few people.

When people don’t have access to knowledge, they’re in a very vulnerable situation. They can’t educate themselves on important information and have a harder time making decisions.

Nowadays, most people in the developed world can read. This huge advance in education levels has enabled any of us to go out there and access information.

In fact, you’re doing that right now! Aren’t you glad you can read?

Educated people also have the knowledge about how to access important information. We’re taught at school about encyclopaedias and libraries. At university we’re taught about scholarly sources and how to access them .

Combine the ability to read with the skills to access information and anyone can help educate themselves on anything. You just need a basic level of education to get started!

11. Education enables People to Critically Analyze ideas

At school, you’re not just being taught facts.

You’re also being taught how to think.

This ability to think involves some pretty advanced strategies like:

• Skepticism: The reluctance to believe something until you see the facts;
• Critical Thinking : the ability to look at something from multiple perspectives;
• Analytical Thinking : the ability to investigate something deeply to find answers.

With these fantastic skills, you can go a long way! You’re less likely to be tricked into believing something that’s not true. You’ll also be able to think things through and come to reasonable, rational conclusions.

12. Education can Help People (especially Women) become Independent and Powerful

Women’s education is a major focus of the United Nations.

This is because many women who are not educated are dependent on their families or husbands to make money.

When women become educated, they can become independent . They can work in better paid jobs, move into more powerful positions in workplaces, and earn an income that’s independent of their husbands.

In the long run, this will mean that women have an equal say in the development of our world.

Furthermore, women with jobs can contribute financially to their families which can help move the whole family out of poverty and give them a better standard of living.

Read Also: Why is School Important?

13. Education reduces Unplanned Pregnancies and Sexual Diseases

Basic education on sex and relationships can dramatically reduce sexual diseases and unplanned pregnancies.

Here’s some facts:

The Borgen Project cites that completion of primary school will reduce a person’s chances of getting HIV. In fact, it reduces girls’ chances of contracting the illness 3-fold.

Educated people also have smaller families and they have them later in life. In Mali , women with a high school education have an average of 3 children. Women without a high school education have an average of 7 children.

14. Education helps us Realize our own Potential

Through education, we learn about what we like and don’t like. We learn all about things from science, math, languages and history.

After contemplating all of these different topics, we’ll be more capable of living our best life.

If you don’t get educated, you won’t open up your horizons and learn about the world. You may end up being stuck in an insular life without having experienced all the great things life has to offer.

You don’t need to go to school for this. Maybe being educated for you is just about reading books on a lot of different topics.

Either way, by educating yourself, you can realize your potential and live a more meaningful life.

15. Education can bring Enjoyment to People’s Lives

Unfortunately, it’s often overlooked that education can be pleasurable for its own sake.

I’ve talked all about how education can help people out of poverty, get them jobs, make them more powerful and less sick.

But it’s also important to remember that education can simply be enjoyable and therefore be important for helping you be happy.

Have you ever learned something really cool and just been glad you know that information now?

That’s what I mean by education being a fun activity on its own.

When people are learning just because they love learning, we say they are intrinsically motivated . This is the opposite to extrinsic motivation where people learn things so they can get a reward like a better job.

16. Education makes you more Tolerant

There is some evidence that highly educated people may be more tolerant than lowly educated people.

To take just one example, people from Latin America with a high school education are 45% more tolerant toward people with HIV than Latin Americans with only an elementary school education.

Similarly, Lorelle Espinosa argues that colleges are ideal locations for teaching tolerance. She argues:

The foundations of tolerance run deep in the college classroom, where students learn and confront new ideas, issues and experiences at times vastly different than their own.

This is, of course, if you have a good teacher who’ll teach you different people’s perspectives!

>>>You Might Also Like: How to Write a Top University Essay

Importance of Education to Society

17. education prevents diseases in society.

Health education in classrooms can make an entire society healthier and live longer.

Health care education helps people avoid risky activities and behaviors, conduct basic first aid when someone is injured, and learn when they need to see a doctor.

The Population Reference Bureau argues that education of women on matters of health is especially important because they often set the standards for household behaviors like regularly washing your hands.

Educating children on health is also very important for the future health of a society.

That’s why Save the Children spends a lot of money on health education in developing countries. Here’s what they say the benefit of education is for children’s health:

Most importantly, through education, students learn how to adapt their daily habits to improve their health, nutrition, hygiene and prevent HIV and AIDS, gaining these important skills and behaviors for life.

18. Education helps a Country’s Economy Grow

When the population of a country is more educated, the whole country gets wealthier. This surely highlights the importance of education!

Here’s some facts that might be useful for you:

Hanushek and Wobmann (2010) looked at the evidence on the links between economic growth and education. They found that good quality education systems have a strong connection to long-term economic growth in a society.

Here’s their conclusion:

Economic growth is strongly affected by the skills of workers. What people know matters.

Hassan and Rafaz (2017) looked at economic growth in Pakastan between 1990 and 2016. They argue that:

[A] 1% increase in female education, female labour force participation, education expenditure and fertility rate causes 96% increase in GDP of Pakistan

Woah! Education of women appears to be a powerful way of increasing the wealth of entire societies.

19. Education can attract High Paying Jobs of the 21 st Century

You might have heard that manufacturing and factory jobs are becoming pretty rare in developed nations.

Because the high paying jobs of the future won’t be in unskilled labor. Those jobs are disappearing and going to poorer nations.

Instead, all the good jobs of the future will require a very high education level.

Often teachers like me talk about skills for the 21 st Century . These are skills like:

• Creative thinking ;
• Critical thinking;
• Communication;
• Collaboration;
• Digital literacy

If children today aren’t educated on these important skills, they’ll have trouble finding the best jobs. And if a whole society falls behind in education, those good jobs will move overseas to where the most highly educated workers can be found.

20. Education can Prevent Wars and Conflicts

History lessons can be very powerful for helping is prevent the mistakes of the past.

If you want to avoid the mistakes of history, you have to learn about how they were made. By educating people about the events leading up to World War 1 and 2, we might be able to teach people how to avoid the same mistakes again.

Similarly, if a society is well educated on the dangers and heartbreak of wars, those wars might be prevented.

This happened during the Vietnam War when students on college campuses began protesting the war . These students worked hard to teach people all over the United States about what was really happening in Vietnam.

War journalists were also instrumental in educating the public on the terrible effects of the war. Video footage, photos and news reports sent back to the United States helped educate the population and helped boost the anti-war efforts.

21. Education is good for Democracy

Most first world nations ensure children are taught democratic citizenship .

Teaching the values of democratic societies – like the fact that we should elect our leaders – helps to keep democracy going.

If we don’t teach about how good democracy is for our freedom and prosperity, we may sleepwalk into an evil dictatorship!

Democracy is about more than voting. It’s about learning the importance of treating each other respectfully, volunteering in our community, and respecting each other’s liberty.

I think Senator Michael Bennet sums this one up well when he says in his blog post :

With education, the common man would be able to select leaders wisely and fight back against the tyrannical instincts of those in power.

22. Education leads to Medical and Technological Breakthroughs

Before we became obsessed with the link between education and money, societies still invested heavily in public universities.

Because strong higher education systems can lead to technological and medical breakthroughs.

Here’s a few things that people invented while learning and researching at universities:

• The Seat Belt: Invented at Cornell University
• Gatorade: Unvented at the University of Florida
• Ultrasound: Developed at the University of Vienna
• CAT Scans: Developed at Georgetown University
• GPS: Developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• Polio Vaccine: Developed at the University of Pittsburgh

23. Education can lead to Entrepreneurship

The online website Talk Business argues that entrepreneurs are always in need of more education. They argue:

…at their core [Entrepreneurs] are problem solvers and spend their time investigating potential solutions.

In order to solve problems, entrepreneurs enroll themselves in courses, read books, listen to podcasts and pay for mentors. In other words, they’re huge self-educators.

The article goes on to explain that entrepreneurs often don’t seek out a formal education from a school or university. Instead, they seek out answers to their questions from people who have already solved the problems.

So, education is good for business – but don’t narrow your definition of education. Education can come in all shapes and sizes.

24. Education may be the Solution to Global Problems like Climate Change

There’s two ways education can help us get out of the problem of climate change.

Firstly, educating people about sustainability can help us to reduce our ecological footprint on this world. If we recycle more, consume less goods, and ensure we’re cleaning up after ourselves, we can do a lot to help the environment.

Secondly, educating future environmental scientists is vital for finding the solutions to our current environmental problems.

Scientists of the future might find ways to dramatically reduce carbon emissions, reduce the temperature of the globe, or come up with better ways to produce energy.

In the race against time to solve the climate crisis, education may just be the thing that saves us from ourselves.

25. Education is important for Creating a Cohesive Society

Education helps us learn how to behave appropriately.

Emile Durkheim is a major theorist who came up with this concept.

According to Durkheim, schooling is all about ‘socialization’.

By this, he means we go to school to learn about more than maths and science. School has a hidden curriculum . The hidden curriculum is all the things we learn above and beyond our textbooks.

The hidden curriculum includes:

• Learning manners;
• Learning to get along with each other;
• Learning to respect other people’s privacy;
• Learning to follow the rules for the good of society;
• and many more things besides!

So, without schools teaching us how to get along, there may be many more conflicts in our communities.

26. Education passes on Cultural Values, Heritage and Information from one Generation to the Next

How did you learn about Christmas? How about the 4 th of July? How did you learn about Native Americans?

We learn a lot of these things from school.

So, education also teaches us about our culture and who we are.

This usually takes place in history classes where we learn about the history of our nations and our world.

But we also learn cultural values from the hidden curriculum (If you haven’t read point 25, I talk about the hidden curriculum there).

For example, in western culture it’s polite to look people in the eyes and shake their hands. We also respect our elders. These are cultural values that are taught to us in everyday conversations at school.

27. Education can lead to Gender Equality

There is a lot of evidence that says education is the key to creating a more equal world.

For example, UNESCO states that women tend to be less educated than men in developing countries. However, women overall show more concern for the environment.

Why is this a problem?

Because at the moment women aren’t empowered enough (through education) to create change. More educated women means more power for women to effect change.

Here’s an example:

“Women constitute almost two-thirds of the 758 million adults who are unable to read or write a sentence – a vast pool of people we are not empowering to help us fight environmental shifts” ( UNESCO )

There is also the problem of gender stereotypes, which can be challenged through education . If we educate more people about justice and equality, gender stereotypes will diminish which will be good for gender equality.

Final Thoughts

Any importance of education speech or essay needs facts and figures backing it up. Use these 27 key points on the importance of education for your next essay!

You could also get facts from the following two sources:

• 23 Major Barriers to Education
• 11 Lifelong Effects of Lack of Education

Chris Drew (PhD)

Dr. Chris Drew is the founder of the Helpful Professor. He holds a PhD in education and has published over 20 articles in scholarly journals. He is the former editor of the Journal of Learning Development in Higher Education. [Image Descriptor: Photo of Chris]

• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 5 Top Tips for Succeeding at University
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 50 Durable Goods Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 100 Consumer Goods Examples
• Chris Drew (PhD) https://helpfulprofessor.com/author/chris-drew-phd/ 30 Globalization Pros and Cons

1 thought on “27 Facts on the Importance of Education (Essay or Speech)”

helped me with my college work I recommend.

Leave a Comment Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

• Current Students
• Faculty / Staff
• Paying for College
• Alumni Services
• Partnerships
• Program Finder
• Affordable, Flexible, Accessible
• Distance Education
• All Online Courses & Degrees
• Baccalaureate Online
• Graduate Online
• Start Dates
• Admissions, Costs & Aid
• Faculty and Contacts
• Academic and Career Support
• Student Testimonials
• Distance Education Advantage
• About Hybrid Learning
• Hybrid Learning Degrees
• Admissions Requirements
• Top Destination Courses
• Student Life
• Academic Support
• Academic Calendar
• Faculty & Contacts
• Technical Institute for Environmental Professions
• Term Calendar
• Sustainable Ventures
• Careers & Outcomes
• About Unity
• Office of the President
• Announcing Our Evolution
• Sustainable Achievements & Initiatives
• Reinventing College
• Extended Reality (XR)
• Commencement
• Give to Unity Environmental University
• Institutional Communications
• Unity Environmental University News

Home  /  News  /  Why Is Education Important? The Power Of An Educated Society

Why Is Education Important? The Power Of An Educated Society

Looking for an answer to the question of why is education important? We address this query with a focus on how education can transform society through the way we interact with our environment. 

Whether you are a student, a parent, or someone who values educational attainment, you may be wondering how education can provide quality life to a society beyond the obvious answer of acquiring knowledge and economic growth. Continue reading as we discuss the importance of education not just for individuals but for society as a whole. 

Harness the power of education to build a more sustainable modern society with a degree from  Unity Environmental University .

How Education Is Power: The Importance Of Education In Society

Why is education so important? Nelson Mandela famously said, “Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.” An educated society is better equipped to tackle the challenges that face modern America, including:

• Climate change
• Social justice
• Economic inequality

Education is not just about learning to read and do math operations. Of course, gaining knowledge and practical skills is part of it, but education is also about values and critical thinking. It’s about finding our place in society in a meaningful way. 

Environmental Stewardship

A  study from 2022 found that people who belong to an environmental stewardship organization, such as the Leave No Trace Center for Outdoor Ethics, are likely to have a higher education level than those who do not. This suggests that quality education can foster a sense of responsibility towards the environment.

With the effects of climate change becoming increasingly alarming, this particular importance of education is vital to the health, safety, and longevity of our society. Higher learning institutions can further encourage environmental stewardship by adopting a  framework of sustainability science .

The Economic Benefits Of Education

Higher education can lead to better job opportunities and higher income. On average, a  person with a bachelor’s degree will make $765,000 more  in their lifetime than someone with no degree. Even with the rising costs of tuition, investment in higher education pays off in the long run. In 2020, the return on investment (ROI) for a college degree was estimated to be  13.5% to 35.9% . 

Green jobs  like environmental science technicians and solar panel installers  have high demand projections for the next decade. Therefore, degrees that will prepare you for one of these careers will likely yield a high ROI. And, many of these jobs only require an  associate’s degree or certificate , which means lower overall education costs. 

Unity  helps students maximize their ROI with real-world experience in the field as an integral part of every degree program. 

10 Reasons Why School Is Important

Education is not just an individual pursuit but also a societal one.  In compiling these reasons, we focused on the question, “How does education benefit society?” Overall, higher education has the power to transform:

• Individuals’ sense of self
• Interpersonal relationships
• Social communities
• Professional communities

Cognitive Development

Neuroscience research  has proven that the brain is a muscle that can retain its neuroplasticity throughout life. However, like other muscles, it must receive continual exercise to remain strong. Higher education allows people of any age to improve their higher-level cognitive abilities like problem-solving and decision-making. This can make many parts of life feel more manageable and help society run smoothly. 

Emotional Intelligence

Emotional intelligence is key to workplace success.  Studies  show that people with emotional intelligence exhibit more:

• Self-awareness
• Willingness to try new things
• Innovative thinking
• Active listening
• Collaboration skills
• Problem-solving abilities

By attending higher education institutions that value these soft skills, students can improve their emotional intelligence as part of their career development in college.

Technological Literacy

Many careers in today’s job market use advanced technology. To prepare for these jobs, young people likely won’t have access to these technologies to practice on their own. That’s part of why so many STEM career paths require degrees. It’s essential to gain technical knowledge and skills through a certified program to safely use certain technologies. And, educated scientists are  more likely to make new technological discoveries .

Cultural Awareness

Education exposes individuals to different cultures and perspectives. Being around people who are different has the powerful ability to foster acceptance. Acceptance benefits society as a whole. It increases innovation and empathy. 

College also gives students an opportunity to practice feeling comfortable in situations where there are people of different races, genders, sexualities, and abilities. Students can gain an understanding of how to act respectfully among different types of people, which is an important skill for the workplace. This will only become more vital as our world continues to become more globalized.

Ethical and Moral Development

Another reason why school is important is that it promotes ethical and moral development. Many schools require students to take an ethics course in their general education curriculum. However, schools can also encourage character development throughout their programs by using effective pedagogical strategies including:

• Class debates and discussions
• Historical case studies
• Group projects

Unity’s distance learning programs  include an ethical decision-making class in our core curriculum. 

Ready To Learn More About Unity Environmental University?

Communication Skills

Effective written and verbal communication skills are key for personal and professional success. Higher education programs usually include at least one communication course in their general education requirements. Often the focus in these classes is on writing skills, but students can also use college as an opportunity to hone their presentation and public speaking skills. Courses such as  Multimedia Communication for Environmental Professionals  provide many opportunities for this. 

Civic Engagement

According to a  Gallup survey , people with higher education degrees are:

• More likely to participate in civic activities such as voting and volunteering
• Less likely to commit crimes
• More likely to get involved in their local communities

All these individual acts add up to make a big difference in society. An educated electorate is less likely to be swayed by unethical politicians and, instead, make choices that benefit themselves and their community. Because they are more involved, they are also more likely to hold elected officials accountable.

Financial Stability

The right degree can significantly expand your career opportunities and improve your long-term earning potential. Not all degrees provide the same level of financial stability, so it’s important to research expected salary offers after graduation and job demand outlook predictions for your desired field. Consider the return on investment for a degree from an affordable private school such as  Unity Environmental University .

Environmental Awareness

We have already discussed why education is important for environmental stewardship. Education can also lead to better environmental practices in the business world. By building empathy through character education and ethics courses, institutions can train future business leaders to emphasize human rights and sustainability over profits. All types and sizes of businesses can incorporate sustainable practices, but awareness of the issues and solutions is the first step.

Lifelong Learning

The reasons why education is important discussed so far focus on institutional education. However, education can happen anywhere. Attending a university that values all kinds of learning will set students up with the foundation to become lifelong learners.  Research  demonstrates that lifelong learners tend to be healthier and more fulfilled throughout their lives. When societies emphasize the importance of education, they can boost their overall prosperity.

The Role Of Unity Environmental University In Society

Environmentally conscious education is extremely valuable and should be accessible to all.   Unity Environmental University  offers tuition prices that are comparable to public universities, and financial aid is available to those who qualify. Courses last five weeks so that students can focus on only one class at a time. This ensures all learners are set up for academic success. 

Unity believes in supporting students holistically to maximize the power of education. This includes mental health services,  experiential learning opportunities , and  job placement assistance . Students in our  hybrid programs  can take classes at several field stations throughout Maine and enjoy the beautiful nature surrounding the campus for outdoor recreation.

Sustainable Initiatives

Some highlights from Unity Environmental University’s many sustainable initiatives:

• All programs include at least one sustainability learning outcome
• All research courses are focused on sustainability research
• Reduced building energy use by 25% across campus
• 100% of food waste is recycled into energy 
• Campus features a  net-zero LEED Platinum-certified classroom/office building

While many schools value sustainability, Unity stands out because  everything  we do is about sustainability. We also recognize our responsibility to model how a sustainable business can operate in a manner that’s fiscally viable and socially responsible.

Make An Impact At Unity Environmental University

While the phrase ‘education is power’ may sound cliche, it is also resoundingly true. Higher education has the power to transform individuals and societies. Unity Environmental University understands its power to make a positive impact on the world. That’s why we were the first university to divest from fossil fuels. 

This year, we celebrated our  largest incoming class ever , showing that students want an education system that aligns with their values. In addition to our commitment to sustainability, we offer flexibility to students with start dates all year round for our  online degree programs .

Start Your Journey

Looking for Answers

Get More Info

© Unity Environmental University 2024. “America’s Environmental University.™”

Privacy Overview

An official website of the United States government

The .gov means it’s official. Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

The site is secure. The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

• Publications
• Account settings

Preview improvements coming to the PMC website in October 2024. Learn More or Try it out now .

• Advanced Search
• Journal List
• HHS Author Manuscripts

What’s the good of education on our overall quality of life? A simultaneous equation model of education and life satisfaction for Australia

Nattavudh powdthavee.

a Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics, London WC2A 2AE, United Kingdom

c Melbourne Institute of Applied Economic and Social, Research, University of Melbourne, Australia

Warn N. Lekfuangfu

b University College London, London, United Kingdom, and Chulalongkorn University, Bangkok, Thailand

Mark Wooden

Many economists and educators favour public support for education on the premise that education improves the overall quality of life of citizens. However, little is known about the different pathways through which education shapes people’s satisfaction with life overall. One reason for this is because previous studies have traditionally analysed the effect of education on life satisfaction using single-equation models that ignore interrelationships between different theoretical explanatory variables. In order to advance our understanding of how education may be related to overall quality of life, the current study estimates a structural equation model using nationally representative data for Australia to obtain the direct and indirect associations between education and life satisfaction through five different adult outcomes: income, employment, marriage, children, and health. Although we find the estimated direct (or net) effect of education on life satisfaction to be negative and statistically significant in Australia, the total indirect effect is positive, sizeable and statistically significant for both men and women. This implies that misleading conclusions regarding the influence of education on life satisfaction might be obtained if only single-equation models were used in the analysis.

1. Introduction

Many educators favour public support for education on the premise that education improves the overall quality of life of citizens. However, relatively little is known about the mechanisms – and the relative impacts of these different mechanisms – through which more education actually contributes to people’s overall life satisfaction. Much of the research in this area typically reports only the estimated contemporaneous relationship between education and life satisfaction once income and other socio-economic variables are controlled for ( Frey and Stutzer, 2000 ; Blanchflower and Oswald, 2004 ; Headey, Muffels, and Wooden, 2008 ; Powdthavee, 2008 ). Unfortunately, since income and other indicators of socio-economic status (e.g., employment and marital status) are themselves a function of education, simply running a single-equation model in which both education and other adult outcomes are entered on the right-hand side tells us little about the relative importance of the different pathways through which education can enhance (or even in some cases, reduce) overall life satisfaction.

While income is naturally viewed as the main mediating factor of education on a person’s well-being ( Diener et al., 1993 ; Clark, Frijters, and Shields, 2008a , Powdthavee, 2010a ), many scholars have argued that education plays a much more important role in influencing individual’s life satisfaction through non-monetary channels than through its impact on one’s financial status ( Brighouse, 2006 ; Michalos, 2008 ). In a comprehensive review of the non-pecuniary benefits of education, Oreopoulos and Salvanes (2011) concluded that education was one of the most important predictors of one’s health status, employability, and probability of being married, all well-known predictors of life satisfaction ( Oswald, 1997 ; Layard, 2005 ; Layard et al., 2013 ). 1 In a more direct test of the indirect effects of education on happiness, Chen (2012) used data from four East Asian countries to show that the statistical association between education and happiness is mediated more by non-pecuniary factors, such as the strength of social networks and cosmopolitan experiences, than income. Empirical evidence in this area, however, remains scarce, and the extent of any indirect effects of education on life satisfaction remains imperfectly understood.

We aim to fill this research gap by testing whether findings on the overall effect of education on life satisfaction are sensitive to the choice of estimation strategy, and in particular the use of a structural equation model rather than the more conventional single-equation approach. We propose that, in order to better understand the different pathways through which education predicts people’s overall quality of life, an empirical test has to have a number of special features. First, we must be able to estimate the amount of variation in the potential mediating factors (which, in our case, are contemporaneous adult outcomes measured at the same time as life satisfaction) explained by education. Second, we must also be able to simultaneously determine how these variations in the potential mediating factors explain life satisfaction.

Using longitudinal data from the Household, Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey, and covering the period 2001–2010, we estimate a structural equation model that allows us to simultaneously compare the relative indirect associations between education and life satisfaction through five different adult outcomes: income, employment, marriage, children, and health. In addition to this, we also want to be able to shed some lights on the following two questions:

• Are the pathways through which education influences life satisfaction the same for men and women?
• How stable are these estimated indirect effects over time?

By answering these questions we provide powerful, new and more comprehensive insights into how education can be associated with having a more satisfying life and what matters most in that process.

There is also another important reason for choosing the HILDA Survey for our analysis. Previous studies that have used this popular data set have often found education to be correlated negatively and statistically significantly with life satisfaction in regression equations where income, health, and other socio-economic variables are controlled for in a single-equation model (e.g., Shields, Wheatley-Price, and Wooden, 2009 ; Green, 2011 ; Ambrey and Fleming, 2014 ), which could potentially lead to a loose and largely incorrect interpretation of education being welfare reducing in Australia. Hence, one of our objectives is to test the hypothesis that the combined indirect effect of education on life satisfaction is positive, sizeable and statistically significant even though the direct (or net) effect is not. 2

The paper is structured as followed. Section 2 summarises previous relevant literature. Section 3 briefly discusses the data and the empirical strategy. Results are reported in Section 4. Section 5 discusses and concludes.

2. Background

2.1. previous research on the relationship between education and life satisfaction.

Previous studies have used single-equation models to establish the link between education and measures of life satisfaction and have produced mixed results. Using highest education qualification dummies as control variables in cross-section regression equations, many scholars have found a positive and statistically significant association between education and self-rated life satisfaction across different international data sets and time periods (e.g., Blanchflower and Oswald, 2004 ; Easterlin, 2001 ; Ferrer-i-Carbonell, 2005 ; Graham and Pettinato, 2002 ). Yet there have also been other studies that have documented either a negative or a statistically insignificant effect of education on the way people report their satisfaction with life overall (e.g., Melin, Fugl-Meyer, and Fugl-Meyer, 2003 ; Flouri, 2004 ; Powdthavee, 2008 ; Shields, Wheatley-Price, and Wooden, 2009 ).

One explanation for these mixed findings is that both direction and magnitude of the coefficient on education in a life satisfaction regression equation are often sensitive to the inclusion of other variables in the model ( Dolan, Peasgood, and White, 2008 ). For example, controlling for potential outcomes of education, such as income and health, in a life satisfaction regression equation will tend to produce a coefficient that underestimates the full contribution which education is making to life satisfaction.

While most researchers know this to be the case, little attempt has been made to decompose the overall effect of education on life satisfaction into direct and indirect effects and study them individually. Consequently, previous research tends to refrain from over-interpreting the coefficient on education in a life satisfaction regression equation, citing it only as a control variable that needs to be interpreted with caution given the presence of other endogenous variables in the model.

2.2. Accounting for the links between education and different adult outcomes

Previous research, especially by economists, has highlighted financial returns as one of the main benefits that people receive from investing in additional human capital (e.g., Angrist and Krueger, 1991 ; Harmon and Walker, 1995 ; Leigh and Ryan, 2008 ). Using data sets across countries and time periods, researchers have often reported the rate of financial return to education to be economically sizeable, statistically significant, and to have causal interpretations; for example, education allows individuals to become (or at least, be “perceived” as) more efficient and productive in the labor market, leading them to earn more than their less educated counterparts (for a comprehensive review of this literature, see Psacharopoulos and Patrinos, 2004 ).

However, many educational philosophers and researchers (e.g., Brighouse, 2006 ; Michalos, 2008 ) have argued that monetary gains are not the main benefit from education. Rather, it is the non-pecuniary gains, such as better health and stability in family life, where the real value of investment in human capital lies. These sentiments are reflected in recent empirical work in economics. According to a review by Oreopoulos and Salvanes (2011 , p. 159):

“In the traditional investment model, [education] itself is treated as a black box: individuals enter, something happens, and productivity (usually defined in terms of one-dimensional skill) increases. A look inside the box, however, reveals that [education] generates many experiences and affect multiple dimensions of skill that, in turn, may affect central aspects of individual’s lives both in and outside the labor market.”

What researchers in this area have found is that education affects not only individual income, but also enables individuals to make better decisions about health, marriage and family life. For example, studies have found individuals with more schooling to have, on average, better mental and physical health outcomes ( Lleras-Muney, 2005 ; Siles, 2009 ; Powdthavee, 2010b ). More educated individuals are also significantly less likely to be unemployed and when unemployed, do not remain unemployed for very long ( Mincer, 1991 ; Kettunen, 1997 ).

Some researchers have also found that education not only makes individuals more attractive in the labor market, but also more attractive in other settings. Men and women with more earnings potential or with higher prestige jobs are typically seen as relatively more appealing in a competitive marriage market ( Chiappori, Iyigun, and Weiss, 2009 ; LaFortune, 2013 ). There is also evidence of substantially lower divorce rates among those with more completed years of schooling of similar age and family background, thus suggesting that the critical thinking and social skills acquired from more education may also translate to more stable marriages ( Oreopoulos and Salvanes, 2011 ).

With respect to the effect of education on people’s decision to start a family, the existing empirical evidence mostly seems to suggest that education has a negative effect on women’s fertility rate ( Sander, 1992 ; Martin, 1995 ; Isen and Stevenson, 2010 ). One of the reasons for this could be that education increases the value of time in the labor market, thereby significantly raising the opportunity cost of child rearing for women ( Becker, 1991 ) or simply reducing women’s preferences for children ( Easterlin, 1987 ).

There are certainly many other non-pecuniary effects of education on life that could also be potentially welfare enhancing, including its effects on the extent of social networks, attitudes towards work and job satisfaction, and even the ability to trust other people (e.g., Oreopoulos and Salvanes, 2011 ), as well as potentially welfare reducing, including its effects on income aspirations, the tendency to migrate, and the average commuting time to and from work (e.g., McLafferty, 1997 ; Stutzer, 2004 ). Education can also be welfare reducing for the individuals in countries where, holding other things constant, there is widespread skill mismatch and/or over-education ( Allen and van der Velden, 2001 ; Chevalier, 2003 ). However, the current study will focus only on adult outcomes that are both objectively measured and have been found to have some influence on adult life satisfaction in previous research. These are: income, employment, marriage, the number of children, and health.

2.3. Accounting for the links between adult outcomes and life satisfaction

Recent research in economics has distinguished an individual’s ‘decision’ utility, inferred from observed choices, from her ‘experienced’ utility, which more closely matches the notion of satisfaction and happiness (e.g. Kahneman, Wakker, and Sarin, 1997 ; Carter and McBride, 2013 ). According to Daniel Kahneman and colleagues, experienced utility, which has a hedonic quality, can be measured in real time (e.g. moment-to-moment emotions) or in retrospective (e.g. life satisfaction). We follow the tradition in economic research and use life satisfaction as a proxy for an individual’s experienced utility ( Oswald, 1997 ; Kahneman and Krueger, 2006 ).

In a typical life satisfaction regression equation a standard set of control variables will include, among other things, income, employment status, marital status, the number of children, and the health status of the respondent ( Layard, 2005 ; Powdthavee, 2010c ).

Based on previous studies, income has generally been found to have a positive and statistically significant relationship with life satisfaction ( Diener et al., 1993 ; Oswald, 1997 ; Clark, Frijters, and Shields, 2008a , Powdthavee, 2010a ). The association, however, is often depicted as small when compared with the effects of other potential mediating factors of education. For example, Blanchflower and Oswald (2004) showed that it would take, on average, US$100,000 extra income per annum to compensate for a marital separation, and US$60,000 extra income per annum to compensate for unemployment. These estimated compensation variations for marital separation and unemployment are also typically larger for men than for women, consistent with previous evidence that men usually have more to gain than women from marriage (perhaps through better lifestyle changes; Gardner and Oswald, 2004 ) and more to lose from joblessness (especially in terms of loss of self-esteem; Goldsmith, Veum, and Darity, 1997 ). This broad pattern of comparatively large non-pecuniary effects of marriage and unemployment on life satisfaction holds across different data sets and analytical methods (e.g., Winkelmann and Winkelmann, 1998 ; Helliwell, 2003 ; Powdthavee, 2008 ).

Much of the evidence on the relationship between having children and life satisfaction suggests that parents are either less satisfied with life or report the same level of life satisfaction as non-parents ( Di Tella, MacCulloch, and Oswald, 2003 ; Smith, 2003 ; Shields and Wooden, 2003 ; Clark et al., 2008b , Powdthavee, 2008 ). One likely explanation for this is the negative impact of children on financial satisfaction, which is a common finding across many different countries around the world ( Stanca, 2012 ). There are, however, a few exceptions to this finding. For example, using data from the 1995–1997 round of the World Values Survey, Haller and Hadler (2006) report a positive and statistically significant effect on life satisfaction after controlling for income and financial satisfaction. Haller and Hadler’s explanation is that children put demands on day-to-day positive emotions but nonetheless people still regard them as a positive contribution when providing a cognitive evaluation of well-being. 3 Other studies suggest that the relationship between children and life satisfaction may depend significantly upon broader cultural and social factors. For instance, it has been found that the presence of children has a stronger negative effect on subjective well-being in the UK and the US compared to Europe and Russia ( Di Tella, MacCulloch, and Oswald, 2003 ; Smith, 2003 ). The relationship may also depend on how the children variable is coded in the life satisfaction equation. A study by Shields and Wooden (2003) , for example, finds that the negative relationship between children and life satisfaction is driven more by the children living at home and less by the children who are living elsewhere.

Finally, health, both psychological and physical, has been found to represent one of the largest and most significant contributing factors to higher levels of life satisfaction in many data sets. While different specific health conditions, such as heart attacks and strokes, can have differential negative effects on evaluations of overall quality of life ( Shields and Wheatley-Price, 2005 ; Powdthavee and van den Berg, 2011 ), having a long-term incapacitating health problem or disability is generally found to be associated with relatively low levels of life satisfaction. Further, adaptation over time to the onset of such serious conditions has been found to be far from complete ( Oswald and Powdthavee, 2008 ).

Based on the review above, different rates of return can be expected in the relationships between education and different adult outcomes, and between different adult outcomes and life satisfaction. The indirectly channelled educational benefits through each of the five adult outcomes may even vary significantly across genders and time periods. The overall direction and the magnitude for each of the indirect effects are, however, unclear on a priori grounds. For example, it is entirely possible that the marginal effect of education on the probability of being employed is higher for women than for men. Yet it is also possible that the marginal effect of employment on life satisfaction is higher for men than for women, thus making it difficult to predict whether the indirect effect of education on life satisfaction via employment will be larger for men or for women. Hence, it seems important to analyse these channels simultaneously and estimate the relative importance of each of these pathways in order to make sense of how education really affects people’s satisfaction with life overall.

3. Data and empirical strategy

As already noted, the data used in this analysis come from the HILDA Survey, a longitudinal survey that has been tracking members of a nationally representative sample of Australian households since 2001. A total of 7682 households participated in wave 1, providing an initial sample of 19,914 persons (aged 0–93). Of those, 13,969 persons were eligible for the interview ( Wooden, Freidin, and Watson, 2002 ). The members of these participating households form the basis of the panel pursued in subsequent annual survey waves. Interviews are conducted with all adults (defined as persons aged 15 years or older) who are members of the original sample, as well as any other adults who, in later waves, are residing with an original sample member. Annual re-interview rates (the proportion of respondents from one wave who are successfully interviewed the next) are reasonably high, rising from 87% in wave 2 to over 96% by wave 9 (see Watson and Wooden, 2012 ).

Our main dependent variable comes from responses to a question about overall life satisfaction. The question reads: “All things considered, how satisfied are you with your life? Again, pick a number between 0 and 10 to indicate how satisfied you are.” A visual aid is used in the administration of these questions, which involves a pictorial representation of the scale with the extreme points labelled “totally dissatisfied” and “totally satisfied”.

The measure of education is a continuous variable representing the number of years spent in education, which is commonly used as a proxy of education in the field of labor economics (e.g., Oreopoulos and Salvanes, 2011 ). This “Years of education” variable is derived from respondents’ highest educational attainment. Thus a respondent reporting having completed secondary school (Year 12) is assumed to have completed 12 years of education, a person completing an ordinary university degree is assumed to have completed 15 years of education, and so on. As is conventional, we are not measuring actual years spent in education (which would vary with the time with which qualifications are completed, the number of qualifications obtained, and time spent studying that did not lead to a qualification) but instead the time typically taken to obtain the highest qualification reported.

Turning to the other adult outcomes that are also potentially mediating factors of education on life satisfaction, we have income being represented by the log of real equivalised household income. 4 Employment is a binary variable representing whether the person was employed or not during the week preceding interview (0 = not employed; 1 = employed). Marriage is also a binary variable representing whether or not the person is currently married, where marriage is defined to include both registered and de facto unions (0 = not married; 1 = married). Number of children is the total number of children the respondent has, including children that no longer live at home. And health status is a binary variable identifying whether the respondent has no long-term health condition, disability or impairment (0 = has long-term health problems; 1 = has no long-term health problems).

Our control variables in all regression equations include gender, birth year, and regional (or state) dummies. 5 This permits comparisons of effects to be made within the same gender, same cohort, and same Australian state.

Pooling data across ten survey waves, there were 135,964 observations of people who were eligible for the interview. However, our analysis of indirect effects of education is restricted to individuals aged 16–64 who participated in any of the first ten survey waves, and responded to the questions from which the life satisfaction and the five adult outcome variables (income, employment, marriage, children, and health) were constructed. This reduces our sample to 76,622 observations; 36,208 males and 40,414 females. Table 1 presents the mean unadjusted scores on life satisfaction and other adult outcomes. However, to aid the interpretation of our results we standardize all variables in the regression equation to have a mean of zero and a standard deviation of one.

Descriptive statistics, HILDA 2001 and 2010.

Note : Standard deviations are in parentheses. All figures are unadjusted (i.e., not standardized).

3.2. Empirical strategy

We adopt the multiple mediation analysis method ( Baron and Kenny, 1986 ; Hayes, 2009 ) to study the indirect effects of education on life satisfaction through the five different channels of income, employment, marriage, children, and health (see Fig. 1 ). A standard structural equations model (SEM) is estimated, thereby allowing a non-zero correlation between the residuals of the equations for each dependent variable. Note that failure to allow for the interdependence across equations could be benign or it could confound the correlation of residuals with the effects of the independent variables ( Greene, 2002 ).

A multiple mediation model of education on life satisfaction

The model is:

where LS it denotes standardized life satisfaction, with a mean of zero and a standard deviation of 1, of individual i at time t; X sit represents the standardized adult outcome s , where 1 = log of real equivalised household income, 2 = in employment, 3 = married, 4 = number of children, and 5 = no long-term health problems; EDUC it is standardized years of education; Z it represents a vector of control variables; μ si represents the unobserved individual-specific effect; and u ist denotes the error term in each equation. The SEM equation was estimated with robust standard errors, which also allowed for clustering at the individual level. Assuming that the adult variables and the education variable are not correlated with μ si and u ist , unbiased estimates of β and γ can be obtained from running the SEM model on the pooled sample.

Based on the equations above, the indirect effect of EDUC it on LS it through X sit for each s is given by β s × γ s . As recommended by Hayes (2009) , bootstrapping (with 200 replications) is used to estimate the standard errors for all of the estimated indirect effects. The model is estimated using the SEM command in STATA 13.

One objection to the naïve estimation of ( 1 ) is that both education and other adult outcomes are likely to be correlated with the unobserved individual-specific component, μ si . This includes, for example, personality traits and/or ability. It is well known that if researchers fail to appropriately controlling for these important heterogeneous factors, then ordinary least squares (OLS) can produce biased estimates ( Ferrer-i-Carbonell and Frijters, 2004 ).

A typical approach to correct for the unobserved heterogeneity bias is to exploit panel data and estimate a fixed effects (FE) model on the pooled sample. The FE model works by focusing solely on the within-person variation in the data set and thus eliminating any variables that do not have any within-person information from the estimation process. Consequently, it is not possible to obtain any reliable estimates on characteristics that have zero or little within-person variation, such as gender or education, using the typical FE estimator ( Plumper and Troeger, 2007 ).

Hence, the second part of our empirical analysis applies the empirical strategy outlined in Boyce (2010) and estimates Plumper and Troeger’s (2007) fixed effects vector decomposition (FEVD) model with personality traits as additional determinants of individual fixed effects in an SEM setting. More formally, the FEVD method allows researchers to estimate a FE model without the loss of information on variables that have zero or little within-person variation via the three following steps. The first step involves estimating a conventional FE model of LS it with no other covariates and obtaining the estimate of the FE residual ( μ ̂ 0 i ) from the model. In principal, this FE residual includes all observable and unobservable between-person information. From Eq. (1) , we can represent μ ̂ 0 i as

where L S ¯ i is a within-person average of LS it , X ̄ i is a within-person average of X ist , EDU ¯ i is a within-person average of EDU it and Z i is a within-person average of Z it , from each wave, t .

The second step of the FEVD involves decomposing the fixed residual into a part that is observable and a part that is not. The inclusion of personality variables, P i , at this stage then helps to reduce the size of the unobservable component of the FE residual, which will effectively reduce the correlation between any covariates with potentially low within-person variation and the true unobservable component, thus allowing many slow moving variables to be favourably estimated using the FEVD model ( Boyce, 2010 ). The decomposition can then take place using observable characteristics and a set of personality traits in a pooled OLS setting to predict the FE residual obtained from ( 2 ).

where the vector of personality variables, P i , are taken from measures of Big-5 personality traits from wave 5 in the survey. This model therefore leaves the true unobservable component of μ ̂ 0 i captured in the predicted error term of ( 3 ) and denoted here as η ̂ 0 i .

The third and last stage involves using η ̂ 0 i as an explanatory variable in a pooled OLS regression:

Although education may be correlated with μ 0 i , it is not correlated with η ̂ 0 i . Therefore, by including η ̂ 0 i we can obtain reliable estimates on both zero within-person variation variables, such as gender, and very slow moving variables, such as education (as well as other time-varying variables, such as income and employment).

We repeat the same steps for other subsidiary equations in the SEM model. Hence, the FEVD version of ( 1 ) is

Again, the model can be estimated using the SEM command in STATA 13.

4.1. Direct and indirect associations between education and life satisfaction

Table 2 first reports single-equation model of life satisfaction with education and other variables appearing on the right-hand side. Here, we include as control variables gender, age, age-squared, state of residence dummies, and wave dummies.

Single-equation model of the relationship between education and life satisfaction, HILDA Survey 2001–2010.

Robust standard errors are in parentheses. All regressions controlled for gender, age and age-squared, state of residence dummies, and wave dummies. All regressions also allowed for clustering at individual level. All variables are standardized with a mean of zero and a standard deviation of one.

Looking at the estimates taken from the full sample – i.e., combining males and females samples together – (column 1), we can see that years of education is negatively and statistically significantly correlated with life satisfaction. The coefficients on the other variables of interest are all positive, with the largest coefficient coming from being married; a one standard deviation increase in the marriage variable is associated with a 0.18 standard deviation increase in life satisfaction. This is followed, in order of size of association, by health (the absence of long-term health problems), household income, employment, and the total number of children (the coefficient for which is insignificant and close to zero in magnitude). Note that the negative and statistically significant coefficient on years of education is consistent with previous studies employing HILDA Survey data (e.g., Shields, Wheatley-Price, and Wooden, 2009 ).

Splitting the sample into male and female sub-samples, we can see that, consistent with previous studies, men generally derive more satisfaction from being employed and from being married than women. Women, on the other hand, report a slightly higher level of life satisfaction from the same increase in log of real equivalised household income than men. In addition, having no long-term health problems is associated with more satisfaction for women than for men. Further, the total number of children is positively associated with life satisfaction for women but negatively associated with life satisfaction for men, although both correlations are not statistically significantly different from zero. More importantly, years of education enter both gender-specific life satisfaction equations in a negative and statistically significant manner.

Table 3 moves on to present the estimates obtained from running the SEM model specified in the previous section. We begin by observing that the first panel of Table 3 (i.e., Equation 1 ) is an exact replication of Table 2 ’s single-equation estimates. With respect to Equations 2 –6 (or equations in which variations in different adult outcomes are explained by education), an increase in years of education is associated positively and statistically significantly with income, the likelihood of being employed, and the likelihood of having no long-term health problems in the combined samples. By contrast, there is strong evidence to suggest that more educated Australian adults tend to have fewer children on average. Moreover, there is evidence that more years of education is associated with a higher probability of being married in the combined sample. The largest positive contribution from an increase of one standard deviation in the years spent in education is in the income domain, then employment, health, and the probability of being married.

Structural equation modelling of the indirect effects of years of education on life satisfaction, HILDA Survey 2001–2010.

Note : See Table 2 .

When splitting the sample by gender, we can see that a one standard deviation increase in education is associated with a greater increase in the likelihood of being employed for women than for men. In contrast, education is found to be a good predictor of the probability of being married for men but not women. Men also typically enjoy a slightly higher rate of return to education when it comes to health. On the other hand, there is very little gender difference in the effect of education on the log of real equivalised household income. Finally, the previously observed negative association between standardized years of education and standardized total number of children is negative and statistically significant for both men and women, although the estimated coefficient size is larger for women than for men.

By combining all of the above estimates together we are able to estimate and report each of the indirect effect of years of education on life satisfaction. These indirect effects are reported in Table 4 .

Implied indirect associations between years of education and life satisfaction, HILDA Survey 2001–2010.

Bootstrap standard errors (200 replications) are in parentheses. The t -statistics are based on the test that the two coefficients between males and females within the same year are equal. All variables are standardized with a mean of zero and a standard deviation of one.

Looking across columns, we can see that all but one of the estimated indirect effects are positive and statistically significant. Only the indirect associations between education and life satisfaction via income (0.021), employment (0.006), marriage (0.013), and health (0.014) are statistically well determined at conventional statistical levels in the combined sample.

Interesting results emerge when we compare these indirect relationships between men and women. For men, the largest indirect association between education and life satisfaction is through income (0.018). For women, the largest indirect association between education and life satisfaction is also through income (0.022). Further, while men seem to have enjoyed the indirect benefit of education through its positive effect on the probability of being employed, the same cannot be said for women. Indeed, the indirect effect of education through being employed is insignificantly different from zero for women.

A closer look at the estimates in Table 4 also suggests a noticeable gap in the size of the total indirect effects between men and women (total indirect relationship for men = 0.057; total indirect relationship for women = 0.037).

As explained earlier, to deal with potential heterogeneity bias, we adopt Boyce’s (2010) FEVD model and use it in the SEM setting. On the assumption that personality is mostly stable across ten waves, we used the personality traits variables collected in wave 5 of the HILDA Survey (measuring the Big Five personality traits of extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, emotional stability, and openness to experience) to assist us in the second step of the FEVD estimation. 6 The estimates obtained from this second stage are reported in Table A1 . Consistent with Boyce (2010) , we find that personality explains a great deal of the individual heterogeneity in life satisfaction (as well as in other outcomes). Interestingly, it is worth noting that, other things held constant, the years of education variable is not strongly correlated with the FE residual obtained from the life satisfaction equation. This implies that, given a specification that includes other individual characteristics and personality variables, education is unlikely to have suffered from unobserved heterogeneity bias in a pooled OLS estimation.

Predicting the fixed effect residuals using various objective characteristics and personality variables.

Robust standard errors are in parentheses. All regressions controlled for state of residence dummies and wave dummies, and allowed for clustering at individual level. All variables are standardized with a mean of zero and a standard deviation of one. Personality traits come from wave 5 in the HILDA Survey and assumed to be mostly stable across all ten waves.

We report the third stage FEVD estimates in the SEM setting in Table 5 and the implied indirect effects in Table 6 . Inclusion of the estimated η i in each SEM equation has very little impact on the size of the estimated coefficients and the relative trade-offs between coefficients in the same equation. For example, in Table 5 ’s Equation 1 , the coefficient on education is only slightly more negative than the coefficient reported in Table 3 ; −0.034 compared to −0.028. Although part of these differences in the SEM estimates is attributed to the smaller sample used in the FEVD estimation (not everyone who appeared in waves 1–10 was surveyed in wave 5), it is reassuring to see in Table 6 that qualitatively similar indirect effects can still be obtained with or without the use of FEVD method. For instance, the total indirect effects of education on life satisfaction in the combined sample with and without the use of FEVD are 0.049 and 0.048, respectively. The only clear difference is that the total indirect effects with the use of FEVD are statistically the same for men (0.050) as for women (0.048).

Structural equation modelling with the application of the fixed effects vector decomposition method, HILDA Survey 2001–2010.

Implied indirect associations between years of education and life satisfaction obtained from Table 5 ’s FEVD estimates, HILDA Survey 2001–2010.

Note : See Table 4 .

Finally, as a robustness check, we tested whether our results were sensitive to the specification of the education variable, replacing years of education with a dummy variable representing whether the individual had completed at least a university degree. The estimated indirect effects on life satisfaction from this alternative specification are reported in Table 7 . 7 As can be seen, it makes virtually no difference to our results whether one uses years of education or a “Graduates versus non-graduates” dummy as a proxy of education. For example, a large part of the positive indirect effect of education on life satisfaction still comes from the higher levels of incomes being earned among the graduates compared to the non-graduates.

Implied indirect associations between completing at least a university degree and life satisfaction, HILDA Survey 2001–2010.

4.2. Time-profiles of the indirect effects by gender

To obtain a complete picture of the direct and indirect associations between education and life satisfaction, we next explore the time-profiles of these estimated coefficients, using data for each year over the period 2001–2010. This involves re-estimation of the SEM equations with FEVD presented in Tables 5 and ​ and6 6 for each of the ten survey waves used here. A graphical summary of the results is presented in Fig. 2A–G .

(A–G) Time profiles of the estimated implied indirect effects of a one standard deviation increase in the standardized years of education on standardized life satisfaction.

What we learn from looking at these figures can be summarised as follows:

• Not all positive indirect associations are positive in all years, and vice versa for the negative indirect associations.
• Controlling for other adult outcomes, the negative direct association between education and life satisfaction has been declining over time ( Fig. 2G ). We are not certain why this is, given that we cannot directly explain the direct effect. It could have simply been caused by the time effect, cohort effect, or changes in the unobserved relationship between education and life satisfaction.
• The indirect association between education and life satisfaction through employment is U-shaped for women.
• There is an increasing trend in the indirect effect of education through marriage for both men and women over time.
• There appears to be relatively little difference in the estimated indirect effects between men and women, and this mostly does not change over time.

5. Discussions and conclusions

According to the traditional human capital model, people invest in education in hopes of greater lifetime wealth and consumption. While evidence of a significant financial return to schooling is well documented in the education literature, we still know very little about how this effect might contribute to individual evaluations of overall quality of life.

In this paper, we empirically demonstrate that, for adults living in Australia between 2001 and 2010, education is likely to be positively related to overall life satisfaction through many different channels even when ceteris paribus education itself has a negative and statistically significant relationship with overall life satisfaction. For both men and women, the largest estimated indirect effect of education on life satisfaction is through income. This is followed by its positive effect on long-term health. On average, men tend to benefit slightly more than women from education, in part because education is more strongly associated with a greater likelihood of employment for men. There is no statistically important indirect benefit (or cost) from what education does to either men’s or women’s decision over the number of children to have on life satisfaction.

Why are these results important? First, if an aim of educational policy is to maximize well-being, the pre-requisite is a model that captures in a quantitative way the relative impact of all the main influences of education on subsequent well-being. Separate studies of the effect of education on life satisfaction with different choices of control variables are of little use in helping us understand how education operates in a well-being function. These indirect effects need to be estimated together and then compared. Second, our results provide important information for people who have been thinking about whether or not to invest in more education if their ultimate goal is not in a particular area but to have a satisfied life as a whole.

The analyses presented here are, of course, not without limitations. Ideally what we would like to present is a fully causal model of education on life satisfaction. The ability to overcome the issue of unobserved heterogeneity is simply not enough. It requires running controlled experiments on a grand scale – not only on education, but also on every other aspect of a person’s life – which is both expensive and requires long time horizons. Future research will have to return to address the issues of causality related to these estimated direct and indirect effects.

Another potential shortcoming is in the model’s assumption of how different mechanisms work. Here, we assume that there are only two distinct channels through which education can separately influence life satisfaction: (i) the financial channel, and (ii) the non-financial channel. Yet in reality the two channels are likely to be interwoven. For example, there is a large literature in economics showing income to be a strong predictor of health and mortality, holding education constant (e.g., Gardner and Oswald, 2004 ). Given the complex relationships between financial and non-financial pathways of education, a multilevel mediation analysis – which is beyond the scope of this paper – might be more suitable for analysing the direct and indirect effects of education on life satisfaction. Finally, it might also be worthwhile for future researchers to test whether these direct and indirect effects of education on life satisfaction can be found in data from countries other than Australia.

Tables A1 and ​ andA2 A2

Structural equation modelling with the application of the fixed effects vector decomposition method and completing at least a university as a proxy for education, HILDA Survey 2001–2010.

1 They also acknowledged that more education might also bring along with it added stress and constraints on time, thus leading to the possibility that education could also have a negative impact on overall life satisfaction.

2 The negative correlation between education and life satisfaction has also often been found in studies that used the British Household Panel Survey (BHPS). For example, see Powdthavee (2008 , 2010a) .

3 For a discussion of the potential effects of children on day-to-day positive experiences, see Dolan and White (2009) .

4 Equivalised real annual household income is calculated using the following formula: real annual household income/(1 + 0.5 * (number of adult household members − 1) + 0.3 * (number of children aged less than 15 in the household)).

5 Note that the broad results are unaffected without controlling for these variables.

6 Qualitatively the same results can be obtained using the personality data collected in wave 9 (or the averages from both waves) in the second stage of FEVD.

7 See Table A2 for the corresponding SEM model with FEVD.

• Allen J, van der Velden R. Education mismatches versus skill mismatches: Effects on wages, job satisfaction, and on-the-job search. Oxford Economic Papers. 2001; 53 (3):434–452. [ Google Scholar ]
• Ambrey CL, Fleming CM. Life satisfaction in Australia: Evidence from ten years of the HILDA Survey. Social Indicators Research. 2014; 115 (2):691–714. [ Google Scholar ]
• Angrist JD, Krueger AB. Does compulsory school attendance affect schooling and earnings? Quarterly Journal of Economics. 1991; 106 (4):979–1014. [ Google Scholar ]
• Baron RM, Kenny DA. The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1986; 51 (6):1173–1182. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Becker GS. A Treatise on the Family. Harvard University Press; Cambridge, MA: 1991. [ Google Scholar ]
• Blanchflower D, Oswald AJ. Well-being over time in Britain and the USA. Journal of Public Economics. 2004; 88 (7):1359–1386. [ Google Scholar ]
• Boyce CJ. Understanding fixed effects in human well-being. Journal of Economic Psychology. 2010; 31 (1):1–16. [ Google Scholar ]
• Brighouse H. On Education. Routledge; New York: 2006. [ Google Scholar ]
• Carter S, McBride M. Experienced utility versus decision utility: Putting the ‘S’ in satisfaction. Journal of Socio-Economics. 2013; 42 :13–23. [ Google Scholar ]
• Chen W. How education enhances happiness: Comparison of mediating factors in four East Asian countries. Social Indicators Research. 2012; 106 (1):117–131. [ Google Scholar ]
• Chevalier A. Measuring over-education. Economica. 2003; 70 (279):509–531. [ Google Scholar ]
• Chiappori P, Iyigun M, Weiss Y. Investment in schooling and the marriage market. American Economic Review. 2009; 95 (5):1689–1713. [ Google Scholar ]
• Clark AE, Frijters P, Shields MA. Relative income, happiness, and utility: An explanation for the Easterlin paradox and other puzzles. Journal of Economic Literature. 2008a; 46 (1):95–144. [ Google Scholar ]
• Clark AE, Diener E, Georgellis YE, Lucas RE. Lags and leads in life satisfaction: A test of the baseline hypothesis. Economic Journal. 2008a; 118 (529):F222–F243. [ Google Scholar ]
• Diener E, Sandvik E, Seidlitz L, Diener M. The relationship between income and subjective well-being: Relative or absolute. Social Indicators Research. 1993; 28 (3):195–223. [ Google Scholar ]
• Di Tella R, MacCulloch R, Oswald AJ. The macroeconomics of happiness. Review of Economics and Statistics. 2003; 85 (4):809–827. [ Google Scholar ]
• Dolan P, Peasgood T, White M. Do we really know what makes us happy? A review of the economic literature on the factors associated with subjective well-being. Journal of Economic Psychology. 2008; 29 (1):94–122. [ Google Scholar ]
• Dolan P, White MP. Accounting for the richness of daily activities. Psychological Science. 2009; 20 (8):1000–1008. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Easterlin RA. Fertility. In: Eatwell J, Milgate M, Newman P, editors. The New Palgrave, A Dictionary of Economics. The Stockton Press; New York: 1987. pp. 302–308. [ Google Scholar ]
• Easterlin RA. Income and happiness: Towards a unified theory. Economic Journal. 2001; 111 (473):465–484. [ Google Scholar ]
• Ferrer-i-Carbonell A. Income and well-being: An empirical analysis of the comparison income effect. Journal of Public Economics. 2005; 89 (5–6):997–1019. [ Google Scholar ]
• Ferrer-i-Carbonell A, Frijters P. How important is methodology for the estimates of the determinants of happiness. Economic Journal. 2004; 114 (497):641–659. [ Google Scholar ]
• Flouri E. Subjective well-being in midlife: The role of involvement of and closeness to parents in childhood. Journal of Happiness Studies. 2004; 5 (4):335–358. [ Google Scholar ]
• Frey BS, Stutzer A. Happiness, economy and institutions. Economic Journal. 2000; 110 (466):918–938. [ Google Scholar ]
• Gardner J, Oswald AJ. How is mortality affected by money, marriage and stress. Journal of Health Economics. 2004; 23 (6):1181–1207. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Goldsmith AH, Veum JR, Darity W., Jr Unemployment, joblessness, psychological well-being and self-esteem: Theory and evidence. Journal of SocioEconomics. 1997; 26 (2):133–158. [ Google Scholar ]
• Graham C, Pettinato S. Happiness and Hardship: Opportunity and Insecurity in New Market Economies. Brookings Institution Press; Washington DC: 2002. [ Google Scholar ]
• Green F. Unpacking the misery multiplier: How employability modifies impacts of unemployment and job insecurity on life satisfaction and mental health. Journal of Health Economics. 2011; 30 (2):265–276. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Greene WH. Econometric Analysis. Prentice Hall; Upper Saddle River, NJ: 2002. [ Google Scholar ]
• Haller M, Hadler M. How social relations and structures can produce happiness and unhappiness: An international comparative analysis. Social Indicators Research. 2006; 75 (2):169–216. [ Google Scholar ]
• Harmon C, Walker I. Estimates of the return to schooling for the United Kingdom. American Economic Review. 1995; 85 (5):1278–1286. [ Google Scholar ]
• Hayes AF. Beyond Baron and Kenny: Statistical mediation analysis in the new millennium. Communication Monographs. 2009; 76 (4):408–420. [ Google Scholar ]
• Headey B, Muffels R, Wooden M. Money does not buy happiness: Or does it? A reassessment based on the combined effects of wealth, income and consumption. Social Indicators Research. 2008; 87 (1):65–82. [ Google Scholar ]
• Helliwell JF. How’s life? Combining individual and national variables to explain subjective well-being. Economic Modelling. 2003; 20 (2):331–360. [ Google Scholar ]
• Isen A, Stevenson B. NBER Working Paper Series No. 15725. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research; 2010. Women’s education and family behavior: trends in marriage, divorce, and fertility. [ Google Scholar ]
• Kahneman D, Krueger AB. Development in the measurement of subjective well-being. Journal of Economic Perspectives. 2006; 20 (1):3–24. [ Google Scholar ]
• Kahneman D, Wakker PP, Sarin R. Back to Bentham? Explorations of experienced utility. Quarterly Journal of Economics. 1997; 112 (2):375–405. [ Google Scholar ]
• Kettunen J. Education and unemployment duration. Economics of Education Review. 1997; 16 (2):163–170. [ Google Scholar ]
• LaFortune J. Making yourself attractive: Pre-marital investments and the returns to education in the marriage market. American Economic Journal: Applied Economics. 2013; 5 (2):151–178. [ Google Scholar ]
• Layard R. Happiness: Lessons from a New Science. Penguin Press; London and New York: 2005. [ Google Scholar ]
• Layard R, Clark AE, Cornaglia F, Powdthavee N, Vernoit J. IZA Discussion Paper No. 7682. University of Bonn; 2013. What predicts a successful life? [ Google Scholar ]
• Leigh A, Ryan C. Estimating returns to education using different natural experiment techniques. Economics of Education Review. 2008; 27 (2):149–160. [ Google Scholar ]
• Lleras-Muney A. The relationship between education and adult mortality in the United States. Review of Economics Studies. 2005; 72 (1):189–221. [ Google Scholar ]
• Martin TC. Women’s education and fertility: Results from 26 demographic and health surveys. Studies in Family Planning. 1995; 26 (4):187–202. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• McLafferty S. Gender, race, and the determinants of commuting: New York in 1990. Urban Geography. 1997; 18 (3):192–212. [ Google Scholar ]
• Melin R, Fugl-Meyer KS, Fugl-Meyer AR. Life satisfaction in 18- to 64-year-old Swedes: In relation to education, employment situation, health and physical activity. Journal of Rehabilitation Medicine. 2003; 35 (2):84–90. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Michalos AC. Education, happiness and well-being. Social Indicators Research. 2008; 87 (3):347–366. [ Google Scholar ]
• Mincer J. NBER Working Paper Series No. 3838. Cambridge, MA: National Bureau of Economic Research; 1991. Education and unemployment. [ Google Scholar ]
• Oreopoulos P, Salvanes K. Priceless: The nonpecuniary benefits of schooling. Journal of Economic Perspectives. 2011; 25 (1):159–184. [ Google Scholar ]
• Oswald AJ. Happiness and economic performance. Economic Journal. 1997; 107 (445):1815–1831. [ Google Scholar ]
• Oswald AJ, Powdthavee N. Does happiness adapt? A longitudinal study of disability with implications for economists and judges. Journal of Public Economics. 2008; 92 (5–6):1061–1077. [ Google Scholar ]
• Plumper T, V, Troeger E. Efficient estimation of time-invariant and rarely changing variables in finite sample panel analyses with unit fixed effects. Political Analysis. 2007; 15 (2):124–139. [ Google Scholar ]
• Powdthavee N. Putting a price tag on friends, relatives, and neighbors: Using surveys of life-satisfaction to value social relationships. Journal of SocioEconomics. 2008; 37 (4):1459–1480. [ Google Scholar ]
• Powdthavee N. How much does money really matter? Estimating the causal effects of income on happiness. Empirical Economics. 2010a; 39 (1):77–92. [ Google Scholar ]
• Powdthavee N. Does education reduce the risk of hypertension? Estimating the biomarker effect of compulsory schooling in England. Journal of Human Capital. 2010b; 4 (2):173–202. [ Google Scholar ]
• Powdthavee N. The Happiness Equation: The Surprising Economics of our Most Valuable Asset. Icon Books; London: 2010c. [ Google Scholar ]
• Powdthavee N, van den Berg B. Putting different price tags on the same health condition: Re-evaluating the well-being valuation approach. Journal of Health Economics. 2011; 30 (5):1032–1043. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Psacharopoulos G, Patrinos HA. Returns to investment in education: A further update. Education Economics. 2004; 12 (2):111–134. [ Google Scholar ]
• Sander W. The effect of women’s schooling on fertility. Economics Letters. 1992; 40 (2):229–233. [ PubMed ] [ Google Scholar ]
• Shields MA, Wheatley-Price S. Exploring the economic and social determinants of psychological well-being and perceived social support in England. Journal of the Royal Statistical Society Series A. 2005; 168 (3):513–537. [ Google Scholar ]
• Shields MA, Wheatley-Price S, Wooden M. Life satisfaction and the economic and social characteristics of neighborhoods. Journal of Population Economics. 2009; 22 (2):421–443. [ Google Scholar ]
• Shields MA, Wooden M. Marriage, children and subjective well-being. Paper presented at the Eighth Australian Institute of Family Studies Conference; 12–14 February; Melbourne Exhibition Centre; 2003. (URL: http://www.melbourneinstitute.com/downloads/hilda/Bibliography/Conference_Papers/Shields_etal_Marriage,_Children_and_Subjective_Well-being.pdf ) [ Google Scholar ]
• Siles MA. The causal effect of education on health: Evidence from the United Kingdom. Economics of Education Review. 2009; 28 (1):122–128. [ Google Scholar ]
• Smith K. Individual welfare in the Soviet Union. Social Indicators Research. 2003; 64 (1):75–105. [ Google Scholar ]
• Stanca L. Suffer the little children: Measuring the effects of parenthood on well-being worldwide. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. 2012; 81 (3):742–750. [ Google Scholar ]
• Stutzer A. The role of income aspirations on individual happiness. Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization. 2004; 54 (1):89–109. [ Google Scholar ]
• Watson N, Wooden M. The HILDA Survey: A case study in the design and development of a successful household panel study. Longitudinal and Life Course Studies. 2012; 3 (3):369–381. [ Google Scholar ]
• Winkelmann L, Winkelmann R. Why are the unemployed so unhappy? Evidence from panel data. Economica. 1998; 65 (257):1–15. [ Google Scholar ]
• Wooden M, Freidin S, Watson N. The household, income and labor dynamics in Australia (HILDA) Survey: Wave 1. The Australian Economic Review. 2002; 35 (3):339–348. [ Google Scholar ]

• Search Menu
• Browse content in Arts and Humanities
• Browse content in Archaeology
• Anglo-Saxon and Medieval Archaeology
• Archaeological Methodology and Techniques
• Archaeology by Region
• Archaeology of Religion
• Archaeology of Trade and Exchange
• Biblical Archaeology
• Contemporary and Public Archaeology
• Environmental Archaeology
• Historical Archaeology
• History and Theory of Archaeology
• Industrial Archaeology
• Landscape Archaeology
• Mortuary Archaeology
• Prehistoric Archaeology
• Underwater Archaeology
• Urban Archaeology
• Zooarchaeology
• Browse content in Architecture
• Architectural Structure and Design
• History of Architecture
• Residential and Domestic Buildings
• Theory of Architecture
• Browse content in Art
• Art Subjects and Themes
• History of Art
• Industrial and Commercial Art
• Theory of Art
• Biographical Studies
• Byzantine Studies
• Browse content in Classical Studies
• Classical Literature
• Classical Reception
• Classical History
• Classical Philosophy
• Classical Mythology
• Classical Art and Architecture
• Classical Oratory and Rhetoric
• Greek and Roman Papyrology
• Greek and Roman Archaeology
• Greek and Roman Epigraphy
• Greek and Roman Law
• Late Antiquity
• Religion in the Ancient World
• Digital Humanities
• Browse content in History
• Colonialism and Imperialism
• Diplomatic History
• Environmental History
• Genealogy, Heraldry, Names, and Honours
• Genocide and Ethnic Cleansing
• Historical Geography
• History by Period
• History of Emotions
• History of Agriculture
• History of Education
• History of Gender and Sexuality
• Industrial History
• Intellectual History
• International History
• Labour History
• Legal and Constitutional History
• Local and Family History
• Maritime History
• Military History
• National Liberation and Post-Colonialism
• Oral History
• Political History
• Public History
• Regional and National History
• Revolutions and Rebellions
• Slavery and Abolition of Slavery
• Social and Cultural History
• Theory, Methods, and Historiography
• Urban History
• World History
• Browse content in Language Teaching and Learning
• Language Learning (Specific Skills)
• Language Teaching Theory and Methods
• Browse content in Linguistics
• Applied Linguistics
• Cognitive Linguistics
• Computational Linguistics
• Forensic Linguistics
• Grammar, Syntax and Morphology
• Historical and Diachronic Linguistics
• History of English
• Language Evolution
• Language Reference
• Language Variation
• Language Families
• Language Acquisition
• Lexicography
• Linguistic Anthropology
• Linguistic Theories
• Linguistic Typology
• Phonetics and Phonology
• Psycholinguistics
• Sociolinguistics
• Translation and Interpretation
• Writing Systems
• Browse content in Literature
• Bibliography
• Children's Literature Studies
• Literary Studies (Romanticism)
• Literary Studies (American)
• Literary Studies (Modernism)
• Literary Studies (Asian)
• Literary Studies (European)
• Literary Studies (Eco-criticism)
• Literary Studies - World
• Literary Studies (1500 to 1800)
• Literary Studies (19th Century)
• Literary Studies (20th Century onwards)
• Literary Studies (African American Literature)
• Literary Studies (British and Irish)
• Literary Studies (Early and Medieval)
• Literary Studies (Fiction, Novelists, and Prose Writers)
• Literary Studies (Gender Studies)
• Literary Studies (Graphic Novels)
• Literary Studies (History of the Book)
• Literary Studies (Plays and Playwrights)
• Literary Studies (Poetry and Poets)
• Literary Studies (Postcolonial Literature)
• Literary Studies (Queer Studies)
• Literary Studies (Science Fiction)
• Literary Studies (Travel Literature)
• Literary Studies (War Literature)
• Literary Studies (Women's Writing)
• Literary Theory and Cultural Studies
• Mythology and Folklore
• Shakespeare Studies and Criticism
• Browse content in Media Studies
• Browse content in Music
• Applied Music
• Dance and Music
• Ethics in Music
• Ethnomusicology
• Gender and Sexuality in Music
• Medicine and Music
• Music Cultures
• Music and Media
• Music and Culture
• Music and Religion
• Music Education and Pedagogy
• Music Theory and Analysis
• Musical Scores, Lyrics, and Libretti
• Musical Structures, Styles, and Techniques
• Musicology and Music History
• Performance Practice and Studies
• Race and Ethnicity in Music
• Sound Studies
• Browse content in Performing Arts
• Browse content in Philosophy
• Aesthetics and Philosophy of Art
• Epistemology
• Feminist Philosophy
• History of Western Philosophy
• Metaphysics
• Moral Philosophy
• Non-Western Philosophy
• Philosophy of Language
• Philosophy of Mind
• Philosophy of Perception
• Philosophy of Action
• Philosophy of Law
• Philosophy of Religion
• Philosophy of Science
• Philosophy of Mathematics and Logic
• Practical Ethics
• Social and Political Philosophy
• Browse content in Religion
• Biblical Studies
• Christianity
• East Asian Religions
• History of Religion
• Judaism and Jewish Studies
• Qumran Studies
• Religion and Education
• Religion and Health
• Religion and Politics
• Religion and Science
• Religion and Law
• Religion and Art, Literature, and Music
• Religious Studies
• Browse content in Society and Culture
• Cookery, Food, and Drink
• Cultural Studies
• Customs and Traditions
• Ethical Issues and Debates
• Hobbies, Games, Arts and Crafts
• Lifestyle, Home, and Garden
• Natural world, Country Life, and Pets
• Popular Beliefs and Controversial Knowledge
• Sports and Outdoor Recreation
• Technology and Society
• Travel and Holiday
• Visual Culture
• Browse content in Law
• Arbitration
• Browse content in Company and Commercial Law
• Commercial Law
• Company Law
• Browse content in Comparative Law
• Systems of Law
• Competition Law
• Browse content in Constitutional and Administrative Law
• Government Powers
• Judicial Review
• Local Government Law
• Military and Defence Law
• Parliamentary and Legislative Practice
• Construction Law
• Contract Law
• Browse content in Criminal Law
• Criminal Procedure
• Criminal Evidence Law
• Sentencing and Punishment
• Employment and Labour Law
• Environment and Energy Law
• Browse content in Financial Law
• Banking Law
• Insolvency Law
• History of Law
• Human Rights and Immigration
• Intellectual Property Law
• Browse content in International Law
• Private International Law and Conflict of Laws
• Public International Law
• IT and Communications Law
• Jurisprudence and Philosophy of Law
• Law and Society
• Law and Politics
• Browse content in Legal System and Practice
• Courts and Procedure
• Legal Skills and Practice
• Primary Sources of Law
• Regulation of Legal Profession
• Medical and Healthcare Law
• Browse content in Policing
• Criminal Investigation and Detection
• Police and Security Services
• Police Procedure and Law
• Police Regional Planning
• Browse content in Property Law
• Personal Property Law
• Study and Revision
• Terrorism and National Security Law
• Browse content in Trusts Law
• Wills and Probate or Succession
• Browse content in Medicine and Health
• Browse content in Allied Health Professions
• Arts Therapies
• Clinical Science
• Dietetics and Nutrition
• Occupational Therapy
• Operating Department Practice
• Physiotherapy
• Radiography
• Speech and Language Therapy
• Browse content in Anaesthetics
• General Anaesthesia
• Neuroanaesthesia
• Clinical Neuroscience
• Browse content in Clinical Medicine
• Acute Medicine
• Cardiovascular Medicine
• Clinical Genetics
• Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics
• Dermatology
• Endocrinology and Diabetes
• Gastroenterology
• Genito-urinary Medicine
• Geriatric Medicine
• Infectious Diseases
• Medical Toxicology
• Medical Oncology
• Pain Medicine
• Palliative Medicine
• Rehabilitation Medicine
• Respiratory Medicine and Pulmonology
• Rheumatology
• Sleep Medicine
• Sports and Exercise Medicine
• Community Medical Services
• Critical Care
• Emergency Medicine
• Forensic Medicine
• Haematology
• History of Medicine
• Browse content in Medical Skills
• Clinical Skills
• Communication Skills
• Nursing Skills
• Surgical Skills
• Medical Ethics
• Browse content in Medical Dentistry
• Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery
• Paediatric Dentistry
• Restorative Dentistry and Orthodontics
• Surgical Dentistry
• Medical Statistics and Methodology
• Browse content in Neurology
• Clinical Neurophysiology
• Neuropathology
• Nursing Studies
• Browse content in Obstetrics and Gynaecology
• Gynaecology
• Occupational Medicine
• Ophthalmology
• Otolaryngology (ENT)
• Browse content in Paediatrics
• Neonatology
• Browse content in Pathology
• Chemical Pathology
• Clinical Cytogenetics and Molecular Genetics
• Histopathology
• Medical Microbiology and Virology
• Patient Education and Information
• Browse content in Pharmacology
• Psychopharmacology
• Browse content in Popular Health
• Caring for Others
• Complementary and Alternative Medicine
• Self-help and Personal Development
• Browse content in Preclinical Medicine
• Cell Biology
• Molecular Biology and Genetics
• Reproduction, Growth and Development
• Primary Care
• Professional Development in Medicine
• Browse content in Psychiatry
• Addiction Medicine
• Child and Adolescent Psychiatry
• Forensic Psychiatry
• Learning Disabilities
• Old Age Psychiatry
• Psychotherapy
• Browse content in Public Health and Epidemiology
• Epidemiology
• Public Health
• Browse content in Radiology
• Clinical Radiology
• Interventional Radiology
• Nuclear Medicine
• Radiation Oncology
• Reproductive Medicine
• Browse content in Surgery
• Cardiothoracic Surgery
• Gastro-intestinal and Colorectal Surgery
• General Surgery
• Neurosurgery
• Paediatric Surgery
• Peri-operative Care
• Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
• Surgical Oncology
• Transplant Surgery
• Trauma and Orthopaedic Surgery
• Vascular Surgery
• Browse content in Science and Mathematics
• Browse content in Biological Sciences
• Aquatic Biology
• Biochemistry
• Bioinformatics and Computational Biology
• Developmental Biology
• Ecology and Conservation
• Evolutionary Biology
• Genetics and Genomics
• Microbiology
• Molecular and Cell Biology
• Natural History
• Plant Sciences and Forestry
• Research Methods in Life Sciences
• Structural Biology
• Systems Biology
• Zoology and Animal Sciences
• Browse content in Chemistry
• Analytical Chemistry
• Computational Chemistry
• Crystallography
• Environmental Chemistry
• Industrial Chemistry
• Inorganic Chemistry
• Materials Chemistry
• Medicinal Chemistry
• Mineralogy and Gems
• Organic Chemistry
• Physical Chemistry
• Polymer Chemistry
• Study and Communication Skills in Chemistry
• Theoretical Chemistry
• Browse content in Computer Science
• Artificial Intelligence
• Computer Architecture and Logic Design
• Game Studies
• Human-Computer Interaction
• Mathematical Theory of Computation
• Programming Languages
• Software Engineering
• Systems Analysis and Design
• Virtual Reality
• Browse content in Computing
• Business Applications
• Computer Games
• Computer Security
• Computer Networking and Communications
• Digital Lifestyle
• Graphical and Digital Media Applications
• Operating Systems
• Browse content in Earth Sciences and Geography
• Atmospheric Sciences
• Environmental Geography
• Geology and the Lithosphere
• Maps and Map-making
• Meteorology and Climatology
• Oceanography and Hydrology
• Palaeontology
• Physical Geography and Topography
• Regional Geography
• Soil Science
• Urban Geography
• Browse content in Engineering and Technology
• Agriculture and Farming
• Biological Engineering
• Civil Engineering, Surveying, and Building
• Electronics and Communications Engineering
• Energy Technology
• Engineering (General)
• Environmental Science, Engineering, and Technology
• History of Engineering and Technology
• Mechanical Engineering and Materials
• Technology of Industrial Chemistry
• Transport Technology and Trades
• Browse content in Environmental Science
• Applied Ecology (Environmental Science)
• Conservation of the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Environmental Sustainability
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Environmental Science)
• Management of Land and Natural Resources (Environmental Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environmental Science)
• Nuclear Issues (Environmental Science)
• Pollution and Threats to the Environment (Environmental Science)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Environmental Science)
• History of Science and Technology
• Browse content in Materials Science
• Ceramics and Glasses
• Composite Materials
• Metals, Alloying, and Corrosion
• Nanotechnology
• Browse content in Mathematics
• Applied Mathematics
• Biomathematics and Statistics
• History of Mathematics
• Mathematical Education
• Mathematical Finance
• Mathematical Analysis
• Numerical and Computational Mathematics
• Probability and Statistics
• Pure Mathematics
• Browse content in Neuroscience
• Cognition and Behavioural Neuroscience
• Development of the Nervous System
• Disorders of the Nervous System
• History of Neuroscience
• Invertebrate Neurobiology
• Molecular and Cellular Systems
• Neuroendocrinology and Autonomic Nervous System
• Neuroscientific Techniques
• Sensory and Motor Systems
• Browse content in Physics
• Astronomy and Astrophysics
• Atomic, Molecular, and Optical Physics
• Biological and Medical Physics
• Classical Mechanics
• Computational Physics
• Condensed Matter Physics
• Electromagnetism, Optics, and Acoustics
• History of Physics
• Mathematical and Statistical Physics
• Measurement Science
• Nuclear Physics
• Particles and Fields
• Plasma Physics
• Quantum Physics
• Relativity and Gravitation
• Semiconductor and Mesoscopic Physics
• Browse content in Psychology
• Affective Sciences
• Clinical Psychology
• Cognitive Psychology
• Cognitive Neuroscience
• Criminal and Forensic Psychology
• Developmental Psychology
• Educational Psychology
• Evolutionary Psychology
• Health Psychology
• History and Systems in Psychology
• Music Psychology
• Neuropsychology
• Organizational Psychology
• Psychological Assessment and Testing
• Psychology of Human-Technology Interaction
• Psychology Professional Development and Training
• Research Methods in Psychology
• Social Psychology
• Browse content in Social Sciences
• Browse content in Anthropology
• Anthropology of Religion
• Human Evolution
• Medical Anthropology
• Physical Anthropology
• Regional Anthropology
• Social and Cultural Anthropology
• Theory and Practice of Anthropology
• Browse content in Business and Management
• Business Ethics
• Business History
• Business Strategy
• Business and Technology
• Business and Government
• Business and the Environment
• Comparative Management
• Corporate Governance
• Corporate Social Responsibility
• Entrepreneurship
• Health Management
• Human Resource Management
• Industrial and Employment Relations
• Industry Studies
• Information and Communication Technologies
• International Business
• Knowledge Management
• Management and Management Techniques
• Operations Management
• Organizational Theory and Behaviour
• Pensions and Pension Management
• Public and Nonprofit Management
• Strategic Management
• Supply Chain Management
• Browse content in Criminology and Criminal Justice
• Criminal Justice
• Criminology
• Forms of Crime
• International and Comparative Criminology
• Youth Violence and Juvenile Justice
• Development Studies
• Browse content in Economics
• Agricultural, Environmental, and Natural Resource Economics
• Asian Economics
• Behavioural Finance
• Behavioural Economics and Neuroeconomics
• Econometrics and Mathematical Economics
• Economic History
• Economic Methodology
• Economic Systems
• Economic Development and Growth
• Financial Markets
• Financial Institutions and Services
• General Economics and Teaching
• Health, Education, and Welfare
• History of Economic Thought
• International Economics
• Labour and Demographic Economics
• Law and Economics
• Macroeconomics and Monetary Economics
• Microeconomics
• Public Economics
• Urban, Rural, and Regional Economics
• Welfare Economics
• Browse content in Education
• Adult Education and Continuous Learning
• Care and Counselling of Students
• Early Childhood and Elementary Education
• Educational Equipment and Technology
• Educational Strategies and Policy
• Higher and Further Education
• Organization and Management of Education
• Philosophy and Theory of Education
• Schools Studies
• Secondary Education
• Teaching of a Specific Subject
• Teaching of Specific Groups and Special Educational Needs
• Teaching Skills and Techniques
• Browse content in Environment
• Applied Ecology (Social Science)
• Climate Change
• Conservation of the Environment (Social Science)
• Environmentalist Thought and Ideology (Social Science)
• Natural Disasters (Environment)
• Social Impact of Environmental Issues (Social Science)
• Browse content in Human Geography
• Cultural Geography
• Economic Geography
• Political Geography
• Browse content in Interdisciplinary Studies
• Communication Studies
• Museums, Libraries, and Information Sciences
• Browse content in Politics
• African Politics
• Asian Politics
• Chinese Politics
• Comparative Politics
• Conflict Politics
• Elections and Electoral Studies
• Environmental Politics
• European Union
• Foreign Policy
• Gender and Politics
• Human Rights and Politics
• Indian Politics
• International Relations
• International Organization (Politics)
• International Political Economy
• Irish Politics
• Latin American Politics
• Middle Eastern Politics
• Political Behaviour
• Political Economy
• Political Institutions
• Political Theory
• Political Methodology
• Political Communication
• Political Philosophy
• Political Sociology
• Politics and Law
• Public Policy
• Public Administration
• Quantitative Political Methodology
• Regional Political Studies
• Russian Politics
• Security Studies
• State and Local Government
• UK Politics
• US Politics
• Browse content in Regional and Area Studies
• African Studies
• Asian Studies
• East Asian Studies
• Japanese Studies
• Latin American Studies
• Middle Eastern Studies
• Native American Studies
• Scottish Studies
• Browse content in Research and Information
• Research Methods
• Browse content in Social Work
• Addictions and Substance Misuse
• Adoption and Fostering
• Care of the Elderly
• Child and Adolescent Social Work
• Couple and Family Social Work
• Developmental and Physical Disabilities Social Work
• Direct Practice and Clinical Social Work
• Emergency Services
• Human Behaviour and the Social Environment
• International and Global Issues in Social Work
• Mental and Behavioural Health
• Social Justice and Human Rights
• Social Policy and Advocacy
• Social Work and Crime and Justice
• Social Work Macro Practice
• Social Work Practice Settings
• Social Work Research and Evidence-based Practice
• Welfare and Benefit Systems
• Browse content in Sociology
• Childhood Studies
• Community Development
• Comparative and Historical Sociology
• Economic Sociology
• Gender and Sexuality
• Gerontology and Ageing
• Health, Illness, and Medicine
• Marriage and the Family
• Migration Studies
• Occupations, Professions, and Work
• Organizations
• Population and Demography
• Race and Ethnicity
• Social Theory
• Social Movements and Social Change
• Social Research and Statistics
• Social Stratification, Inequality, and Mobility
• Sociology of Religion
• Sociology of Education
• Sport and Leisure
• Urban and Rural Studies
• Browse content in Warfare and Defence
• Defence Strategy, Planning, and Research
• Land Forces and Warfare
• Military Administration
• Military Life and Institutions
• Naval Forces and Warfare
• Other Warfare and Defence Issues
• Peace Studies and Conflict Resolution
• Weapons and Equipment

• < Previous chapter
• Next chapter >

15 Values Education

Graham Oddie, Professor of Philosophy, University of Colorado, Boulder

• Published: 02 January 2010
• Cite Icon Cite
• Permissions Icon Permissions

This article offers a metaphysical account of value as part of a general approach to values education. Value endorsements and their transmission are unavoidable in educational settings, as they are everywhere. The question, then, is not whether to teach values but which values to teach, in what contexts and how to teach them effectively. This article discusses the contestedness of value endorsements, the place for noncognitive value endorsements in education and the role of inculcating beliefs in education. The article also describes the rationalist and empiricist response problem of intrinsic motivation.

Moral education has received a great deal of attention in the philosophy of education. But morality is just one aspect of the evaluative, which embraces not just the deontic concepts—right, wrong, permissible, obligatory, supererogatory, and so on—but also the full range of concepts with evaluative content. This includes the so‐called thin evaluative concepts (e.g., good, bad, better, worst ); the thick evaluative concepts (e.g., courageous, compassionate, callous, elegant, cruel, charming, clumsy, humble, tendentious, witty, craven, generous, salacious, sexy, sarcastic, vindictive ); and the concepts that lie somewhere between the extremes of thick and thin (e.g., just, virtuous, sublime, vicious, beautiful ). Value, broadly construed to embrace the entire range of evaluative concepts, presents an educationist with some problems. Should values be part of the curriculum at all? If so, which values is it legitimate for educators to teach and how should they be taught?

1. The Contestedness of Value Endorsements

Philosophers disagree wildly about the metaphysics of value, its epistemological status, and the standing of various putative values. Given the heavily contested nature of value, as well as of the identity and weight of particular putative values, what business do we have teaching values? Perhaps we don't know enough about values to teach them (perhaps we don't know anything at all 1 ).

It might be objected to this argument against the teaching of values, from value's contestedness, that value theory is no different from, say, physics, biology, or even mathematics. There is much about these disciplines that is contested, but no one argues that that's a good reason to purge them from the curriculum. This comparison, however, is not totally convincing. True, philosophers of physics disagree over the correct interpretation of quantum mechanics, but there is little disagreement over its applications, its significance, or the necessity for students to master it. Similarly, even if there is disagreement over the foundations of mathematics or biology, few deny that we should give children a solid grounding in arithmetic or evolution.

The contestedness of value has been used to argue for a “fact/value” distinction that, when applied to educational contexts, leads to the injunction that teachers should stick to the “facts,” eschewing the promulgation of “value judgments.” Given the contestedness of values, an educator should pare her value endorsements down to their purely natural (nonevaluative) contents, indicating at most that, as a matter of personal preference, she takes a certain evaluative stance.

2. The Value Endorsements Informing the Educational Enterprise

Attempts to purge education of value endorsements are, of course, doomed. Value endorsements are not just pervasive, they are inevitable. The educational enterprise is about the transmission of knowledge and the skills necessary to acquire, extend, and improve knowledge. But what is knowledge—along with truth, understanding, depth, empirical adequacy, simplicity, coherence, completeness, and so on—if not a cognitive good or value? 2 And what is an improvement in knowledge if not an increase in cognitive value? Sometimes cognitive values are clearly instrumental—acquiring knowledge might help you become a physicist, a doctor, or an artist, say. But instrumental value is parasitic upon the intrinsic value of something else—here, knowledge of the world, relieving suffering, or creating things of beauty.

The enterprise of creating and transmitting knowledge is freighted with cognitive value, but episodes within the enterprise also express particular value endorsements. A curriculum, for example, is an endorsement of the value of attending to the items on the menu. It says, “ These are worth studying.” The practice of a discipline is laden with norms and values. To practice the discipline you have to learn how to do it well : to learn norms and values governing, inter alia, citing and acknowledging others who deserve it; honestly recording and relaying results; not forging, distorting, or suppressing data; humbly acknowledging known shortcomings; courageously, but not recklessly, taking cognitive risks; eschewing exaggeration of the virtues of a favored theory; having the integrity to pursue unwelcome consequences of discoveries. In mastering a discipline, one is inducted into a rich network of value endorsements.

The thesis of the separability of fact and value, and the associated bracketing of value endorsements, is not just tendentious (it precludes the possibility of facts about value) but also is so clearly unimplementable that it is perhaps puzzling that it has ever been taken entirely seriously. The educational enterprise is laden with value endorsements distinctive of the enterprise of knowledge and the transmission of those very endorsements to the next generation. Without the transmission of those values, our educational institutions would disappear. So, even if the value endorsements at the core of education are contested, the enterprise itself requires their endorsement and transmission.

3. The Place for Noncognitive Value Endorsements in Education

To what extent does the transmission of cognitive values commit us to the teaching of other values? It would be fallacious to infer that, in any educational setting, all and any values are on the table—that it is always permissible, or always obligatory, for a teacher to impart his value endorsements when those are irrelevant to the central aims of the discipline at hand. For certain value issues, a teacher may have no business promulgating his endorsements. For example, the values that inform physics don't render it desirable for a physicist to impart his views on abortion during a lab. Physicists typically have no expertise on that issue.

But it would be equally fallacious to infer that cognitive values are tightly sealed off from noncognitive values. Certain cognitive values, however integral to the enterprise of knowledge, are identical to values with wider application. Some I have already adverted to: honesty, courage, humility, integrity, and the like. These have different applications in different contexts, but it would be odd if values bearing the same names within and without the academy were distinct. So, in transmitting cognitive values, one is ipso facto involved in transmitting values that have wider application. 3 This doesn't imply that an honest researcher will be an honest spouse—she might lie about an affair. And an unscrupulous teacher might steal an idea from one of his students without being tempted to embezzle. People are inconsistent about the values on which they act, but these are the same values honored in the one context and dishonored in the other.

I have argued that there are cognitive values informing the educational enterprise that need to be endorsed and transmitted, and that these are identical to cognate values that have broader application. However, this doesn't exhaust the values that require attention in educational settings. There are disciplines—ethics, for example—in which the subject matter itself involves substantive value issues. In a course on the morality of abortion, for example, it would be impossible to avoid talking about the value of certain beings and the disvalue of ending their existence. Here, explicit attention must be paid to noncognitive values. There are other disciplines—the arts, for example—in which the point of education is to teach students to discern aesthetically valuable features, to develop evaluative frameworks to facilitate future investigations, and to produce valuable works. Within such disciplines it would be incredibly silly to avoid explicit evaluation.

4. The Role of Inculcating Beliefs in Education

Grant that there are noncognitive values, as well as cognitive values, at the core of certain disciplines. Still, given that there are radically conflicting views about these—the value of a human embryo, or the value of Duchamp's Fountain—shouldn't teachers steer clear of explicitly transmitting value endorsements? Here, at least, isn't it the teacher's responsibility to distance himself from his value endorsements and teach the subject in some “value‐neutral” way?

In contentious areas, teachers should obviously be honest and thorough in their treatment of the full range of conflicting arguments. Someone who thinks abortion is impermissible should give both Thomson's and Tooley's famous arguments for permissibility a full hearing. Someone who thinks abortion permissible should do the same for Marquis's. 4 However, even if some fact about value were known , there are still good reasons for teachers not to indoctrinate, precisely because inducing value knowledge is the aim of the course.

Value knowledge, like all knowledge, is not just a matter of having true beliefs. Knowledge is believing what is true for good reasons. To impart knowledge, one must cultivate the ability to embrace truths for good reasons. Students are overly impressed by the fact that their teachers have certain beliefs, and they are motivated to embrace such beliefs for that reason alone. So, it's easy for a teacher to impart favored beliefs, regardless of where the truth lies. A teacher will do a better job of imparting reasonable belief—and the critical skills that her students will need to pursue and possess knowledge—if she does not reveal overbearingly her beliefs. That's a common teaching strategy whatever the subject matter, not just value. 5

The appropriate educational strategy may appear to be derived from a separation of the evaluative from the non‐evaluative, but its motivation is quite different. It is because the aim of values education is value knowledge (which involves reasonable value beliefs) rather than mere value belief, that instructors should eschew indoctrination.

5. The Natural/Value Distinction Examined

In ethics and the arts, noncognitive values constitute the subject matter. But that isn't the norm. In many subject areas, values aren't the explicit subject matter. Despite this, in most disciplines it isn't clear where the subject itself ends and questions of value begin. Even granted a rigorous nonvalue/value distinction, for logical reasons there are, inevitably, claims that straddle the divide. It would be undesirable, perhaps impossible, to excise such claims from the educational environment.

Consider a concrete example. An evolutionary biologist is teaching a class on the evolutionary explanation of altruism. He argues that altruistic behavior is explicable as “selfishness” at the level of genes. His claim, although naturalistic, has implications for the value of altruistic acts. Suppose animals are genetically disposed to make greater sacrifices for those more closely genetically related to them than for those only distantly related, because such sacrifices help spread their genes. Suppose that the value of an altruistic sacrifice is partly a function of overcoming excessive self‐regard. It would follow that the value of some altruistic acts—those on behalf of close relatives—would be diminished. And that is a consequence properly classified as evaluative. Of course, this inference appeals to a proposition connecting value with the natural, but such propositions are pervasive and ineliminable.

Here is an argument for the unsustainability of a clean natural/value divide among propositions. A clean divide goes hand in glove with the Humean thesis that a purely evaluative claim cannot be validly inferred from purely natural claims, and vice versa. Let N be a purely natural claim and V a purely evaluative claim. Consider the conditional claim C : if N then V . Suppose C is a purely natural claim. Then from two purely natural claims ( N and C ) one could infer a purely evaluative claim V . Suppose instead that C is purely evaluative. The conjunction of two purely evaluative (natural) claims is itself purely evaluative (natural). Likewise, the negation of a purely evaluative (natural) proposition is itself purely evaluative (natural). 6 Consequently, not‐ N , like N , is purely natural, and so one could derive a purely evaluative claim ( C ) from a purely natural claim (not‐ N ). Alternatively, not‐ V , like V , is purely evaluative. So, one could derive a purely natural claim (not‐ N ) from two purely evaluative claims ( C and not‐ V ).

Propositions like C are natural‐value hybrids : they cannot be coherently assigned a place on either side of a sharp natural/value dichotomy. Hybrids are not just propositions that have both natural and evaluative content (like the thick evaluative attributes). Rather, their characteristic feature is that their content is not the conjunction of their purely natural and purely evaluative contents.

Hybrids are rife among the propositions in which we traffic. Jack believes Cheney unerringly condones what's good (i.e., Cheney condones X if and only if X is good), and Jill, that Cheney unerringly condones what's not good. Neither Jack nor Jill knows that Cheney has condoned the waterboarding of suspected terrorists. As it happens, both are undecided on the question of the value of waterboarding suspected terrorists. They don't disagree on any purely natural fact (neither knows what Cheney condoned); nor do they disagree on any purely evaluative fact (neither knows whether condoning waterboarding is good). They disagree on this: Cheney condones waterboarding suspected terrorists if and only if condoning such is good . Suppose both come to learn the purely natural fact that Cheney condones waterboarding. They will deduce from their beliefs conflicting, purely evaluative conclusions: Jack that condoning waterboarding is good; Jill that condoning waterboarding is not good. So, given that folk endorse rival hybrid propositions, settling a purely natural fact will impact the value endorsements of the participants differentially because natural facts and value endorsements are entangled via a rich set of hybrids.

I don't deny that there are purely natural or purely evaluative claims, nor that certain claims can be disentangled into their pure components. I am arguing that there are hybrids—propositions that are not equivalent to the conjunction of their natural and evaluative components. The fact that we all endorse hybrid claims means that learning something purely natural will often exert rational pressure on evaluative judgments (and vice versa). An education in the purely natural sciences may thus necessitate a reevaluation of values; and an education in values may necessitate a rethinking of purely natural beliefs.

6. Intrinsically Motivating Facts and the Queerness of Knowledge of Value

I have argued that natural and evaluative endorsements cannot be neatly disentangled in an educational setting for purely logical reasons. Still, it's problematic to embrace teaching a subject unless we have a body of knowledge . For there to be value knowledge there must be knowable truths about value. A common objection to these is that they would be very queer —unlike anything else that we are familiar with in the universe.

The queerness of knowable value facts can be elicited by considering their impact on motivation. Purely natural facts are motivationally inert. For example, becoming acquainted with the fact that this glass contains potable water (or a lethal dose of poison) does not by itself necessarily motivate me to drink (or refrain from drinking). Only in combination with an antecedent desire on my part (to quench my thirst, or to commit suicide) does this purely natural fact provide me with a motivation. A purely evaluative fact would, however, be different. Suppose it's a fact that the best thing for me to do now would be to drink potable water, and that I know that fact. Then it would be very odd for me to say, “I know that drinking potable water would be the best thing for me to do now, but I am totally unmoved to do so.” One explanation of this oddness is that knowledge of a value fact entails a corresponding desire: value facts necessarily motivate those who become acoquainted with them.

Why would this intrinsic power to motivate be queer rather than simply interesting ? The reason is that beliefs and desires seem logically independent—having a certain set of beliefs does not entail the having of any particular desires. Beliefs about value would violate this apparent independence. Believing that something is good would entail having a corresponding desire . Additionally, simply by virtue of imparting to your student a value belief you would thereby instill in him the corresponding motivation to act. How can mere belief necessitate a desire? Believing something good is one thing; desiring it is something else.

One response to the queerness objection is to reject the idea that knowing an evaluative fact necessarily motivates. Let's suppose, with Hume, that beliefs without desires are powerless to motivate. A person may well have a contingent independent desire to do what he believes to be good, and once he becomes acquainted with a good he may, contingently, be motivated to pursue it. But no mere belief, in isolation from such an antecedent desire, can motivate. That sits more easily with the frequent gap between what values we espouse and how we actually behave.

This Humean view would escape the mysteries of intrinsic motivation, but would present the educationist with a different problem. What is the point of attempting to induce true value beliefs if there is no necessary connection between value beliefs and motivations? If inducing true evaluative beliefs is the goal of values education, and evaluative beliefs have no such connection with desires, then one might successfully teach a psychopath correct values, but his education would make him no more likely to choose the good. His acquisition of the correct value beliefs , coupled with his total indifference to the good, might just equip him to make his psychopathic adventures more effectively evil.

There are two traditions in moral education that can be construed as different responses to the problem of intrinsic motivation. There is the formal, rationalist tradition according to which the ultimate questions of what to do are a matter of reason, or rational coherence in the body of evaluative judgments. But there is a corresponding empiricist tradition, according to which there is a source of empirical data about value, something which also supplies the appropriate motivation to act.

7. The Rationalist Response to the Problem of Intrinsic Motivation

Kant famously espoused the principle of universalizability: that a moral judgment is legitimate only if one can consistently will a corresponding universal maxim. 7 A judgment fails the test if willing the corresponding maxim involves willing conditions that make it impossible to apply the maxim. Cheating to gain an unfair advantage is wrong, on this account, because one cannot rationally will that everyone cheat to gain an unfair advantage. To be able to gain an unfair advantage by cheating, others have to play by the rules. So, cheating involves a violation of reason. If this idea can be generalized, and value grounded in reason, then perhaps we don't need to posit queer value facts (that cheating is bad , say) that mysteriously impact our desires upon acquaintance. Value would reduce to nonmysterious facts about rationality.

This rationalist approach, broadly construed, informs a range of educational value theories—for example, those of Hare and Kohlberg, as well as of the “values clarification” theorists. 8 They share the idea that values education is not a matter of teaching substantive value judgments but, rather, of teaching constraints of rationality, like those of logic, critical thinking, and universalizability. They differ in the extent to which they think rational constraints yield substantive evaluative content. Kant apparently held that universalizability settles our moral obligations. Others, like Hare, held that universalizability settles some issues (some moral judgments are just inconsistent with universalizability) while leaving open a range of coherent moral stances, any of which is just as consistent with reason as another. What's attractive about the rationalist tradition is that it limits the explicit teaching of value content to the purely cognitive values demanded by reason alone—those already embedded in the educational enterprise—without invoking additional problematic value facts.

There are two problems with rationalism. First, despite the initial appearance, it too presupposes evaluative facts. If cognitive values necessarily motivate—for example, learning that a maxim is inconsistent necessarily induces an aversion to acting on it—then the queerness objection kicks in. And if cognitive values don't necessarily motivate, then there will be the familiar disconnect between acquaintance with value and motivation.

Second, rational constraints, including even universalizability, leave open a vast range of substantive positions on value. A Kantian's inviolable moral principle—it is always wrong intentionally to kill an innocent person, say—may satisfy universalizability. But so, too, does the act‐utilitarian's injunction to always and everywhere maximize value. If killing innocent people is bad, then it is better to kill one innocent person to prevent a larger number being killed than it is to refrain from killing the one and allowing the others to be killed. The nihilist says it doesn't matter how many people you kill, and this, too, satisfies universalizability. The radical divergence in the recommendation of sundry universalizable theories suggests that rational constraints are too weak to supply substantive evaluative content. Reason leaves open a vast space of mutually incompatible evaluative schemes.

8. The Empiricist Response to the Problem of Intrinsic Motivation

To help weed out some of these consistent but mutually incompatible evaluative schemes, value empiricists posit an additional source of data about value. They argue that detecting value is not a matter of the head, but rather a matter of the heart—of feeling, emotion, affect, or desire. It involves responding appropriately to the value of things in some way that is not purely cognitive. Many value theorists whose theories are otherwise quite different (Aristotle, Hume, Brentano, and Meinong, and their contemporary heirs) have embraced variants of this idea. 9

Different value empiricists espouse different metaphysical accounts of value, from strongly idealist accounts (according to which values depend on our actual value responses) to robustly realist accounts (according to which values are independent of our actual responses). What they share is the denial that grasping value is a purely cognitive matter. Responses to value involve something like experience or perception. That is to say, things seem to us more or less valuable, these value‐seemings are analogous to perceptual seemings rather than to beliefs, and value‐seemings involve a motivational component, something desire‐like.

What, then, are these experiences of value, these value‐seemings? According to the Austrian value theorists (Meinong and his descendents), evaluative experiences are emotions. So, for example, anger is the emotional presentation of, or appropriate emotional response to, injustice; shame is the appropriate emotional response to what is shameful; sadness to the sad, and so on. Emotions are complex states that are necessarily connected with value judgments, but also with desires and nonevaluative beliefs. A much sparser theory of value experiences identifies them simply with desires. 10 That is to say, to desire P is just for P to seem good to me. To desire P is not to judge that P is good, or to believe that P is good. Something might well seem good to me (I desire it) even though I do not believe that it is good. Indeed, I might well know that it is not good (just as a rose I know to be white may appear to be pink to me). Value‐seemings, whatever their nature, would provide the necessary empirical grounding for beliefs about value, while also providing the link between acquaintance with value and the corresponding motivations.

Imagine if you were taught the axiomatic structure of Newtonian mechanics without ever doing an actual experiment, or even being informed what results any such experiment would yield in the actual world. You might well come to know all there is to know about Newtonian mechanics, as a body of theory, without having any idea whether the actual world is Newtonian. But, then, why should you prefer Newton's theory to, say, Aristotle's, as an account of the truth? According to the value empiricist, values taught entirely as matters of reason alone would be similarly empty. By contrast, if value judgments have to be justified ultimately by appeal to some shared value data, and the value data consist of value experiences, then the job of a value educator would be, at least in part, to connect the correct evaluative judgments in the appropriate way with actual experiences of value.

9. The Theory‐Ladenness of Value Data and Critical Empiricism

If pure rationalism seems empty of content, then pure empiricism seems correspondingly blind. Notoriously, people experience very different responses to putative values. Indeed, the highly variable nature of our value responses is the root of the contestedness of value, and it is often the major premise in an argument to the effect that either there is no such thing as value or, if there is, it cannot be reliably detected. If values education goes radically empiricist, and experiences of value (affect, emotion, desire, etc.) are the empirical arbiters of value, then an uncriticizable subjectivism, or at best relativism, looms, and the teaching of values would amount to little more than the teacher, like a television reporter, eliciting from her students how they feel.

This criticism presupposes a rather naive version of empiricism, according to which experience is a matter of passively receiving theory‐neutral data that are then generalized into something like a value theory. A more promising model is provided by some variant of critical rationalism. Perceptual experiences are rarely a matter of passively receiving “theory‐neutral” data, as a prelude to theorizing but, rather, are themselves informed and guided by theory. Even if there is a core to perceptual experience that is relatively immune to influence from background theory, the information that one gains from experience is partly a function of such theory. An experience in total isolation from other experiences to which it is connected by a theory rarely conveys significant information. If someone who knows no physics is asked to report what he sees in the cloud chamber, say, then what he reports will likely be very thin indeed and hardly a basis for grasping the nature of matter. So, enabling folk to have the right kinds of experiences—informative and contentful—which can then be appropriately interpreted and taken up into a web of belief, is in part a matter of teaching them a relevant background theory that makes sense of those experiences. This might be more accurately called a critical empiricist approach.

Given value experiences, and a critical empiricist approach to knowledge of value, values education would be, in part, a matter of cultivating appropriate experiential responses to various values; in part, a matter of refining and honing such responses; and in part, a matter of providing a framework that supports those responses and that can be challenged and revised in the light of further value experiences. Further, if experiences of value are a matter of emotion, feeling, or desire, values education would need to take seriously the training of folk in having, interpreting, and refining appropriate emotions, feelings, and desires. This would not in any way diminish the crucial role of logic, critical thinking, and rational constraints like universalizability. But it would open up the educational domain to cultivation and refinement of affective and conative states.

10. The Agent‐Neutrality of Value and the Relativity of Value Experiences

The hypothesis of the theory‐ladenness of experience is, unfortunately, insufficient to defuse the problem of the radical relativity in value experiences. Compare value experiences with ordinary perception. It is rare for a rose to appear to one person to be red and to another blue. But it is not at all rare for one and the same state of affairs to seem very good to one person and seem very bad to another. If these radical differences in value experiences are to be attributed simply to differences in the value beliefs that people hold, then value experiences are too corrupted to be of any use. Experiences too heavily laden with theory cease to be a reliable source of data for challenging and revising beliefs.

This problem can be sharpened by a combination of an idea endorsed by many empiricist value theorists (namely, that value is not what is desired in fact, but what it would be fitting or appropriate to desire), with a popular idea endorsed by most rationalist value theorists (namely, the agent‐neutrality of real value). The fitting‐response thesis says that something is valuable just to the extent that it is appropriate or fitting to experience it as having that value. The agent‐neutrality of value thesis says that the actual value of a state or property is not relative to persons or point of view. So if something—a severe pain, say—has a certain disvalue, then it has that disvalue regardless of whose pain it is. It is bad, as it were, irrespective of its locus. These theses combined imply the agent‐neutrality of the fitting response to value . If a state possesses a certain value, then it possesses that regardless of its locus. And a certain response to that value is fitting regardless of the relation of a valuer to the locus of the value. Consequently, the fitting response must be exactly the same response for any valuer. So ideally, two individuals, no matter what their relation to something of value, should respond to that value in exactly the same manner. The responses of the person whose responses are fitting are thus isomorphic to value, irrespective of the situation of that person or her relation to the value in question. Call this consequence of fitting‐response and agent‐neutrality, the isomorphic‐response thesis .

Now, quite independent of the issue of theory‐ladenness, the isomorphic‐response thesis seems very implausible. Suppose that the appropriate response to valuable states of affairs is desire, and the more valuable a state of affairs, the more one should desire it. Then, the isomorphic‐response thesis entails that any two individuals should desire all and only the same states to exactly the same degree. But clearly the states of affairs that people desire differ radically. Consequently, either we are all severely defective experiencers of value or one of the two theses that jointly entail the isomorphic‐response thesis is false.

11. The Effects of Perspective, Shape, and Orientation on Perception

The fitting‐response thesis looks implausible if value experiences are analogous to perceptual experiences. There is an objective state of the world that is perceiver‐neutral, but perceivers have very different experiences of the world depending on how they are situated within it. First, there are perspectival effects: the farther away an object is, the smaller it will appear relative to objects close by, and that is entirely appropriate; objects should look smaller the farther away they are. Is there an analogue of distance in value space, and an analogue to perspective? If so, something might, appropriately, seem to be of different value depending on how far it is located from different valuers. Second, there are variable perceptual effects owing to the shape of objects and their orientation to the perceiver. An asymmetric object, like a coin, looks round from one direction but flat from another; but again, it should look those different ways. Is there anything in the domain of value analogous to shape and orientation?

Grant that pain is bad and that qualitatively identical pains are ( ceteris paribus ) equally bad. I am averse to the pain I am currently experiencing—it seems very bad to me. However, an exactly similar pain I experienced twenty years ago does not elicit such a strong aversion from me now. Nor does the similar pain I believe I will face in twenty years' time. I can have very different aversive responses to various pains, all of which are equally bad, and those different responses do seem fitting. The temporally distant pains are just further away, in value space, from me now. Time can, thus, be thought of as one dimension in value space that affects how values should be experienced.

Some people are close to me, and the pain of those close to me matters more to me than pain experienced by distant beings. If my wife is in severe pain, that appears much worse to me than if some stranger is in severe pain; and that response, too, seems appropriate. I know, of course, that my loved ones are no more valuable than those strangers, and I am not saying I shouldn't care at all about the stranger's pain. Clearly, the stranger's pain is bad—just as bad as my wife's pain—and I am somewhat averse to it as well. But suppose I can afford only one dose of morphine, and I can give it to my wife or have it FedExed to the stranger. Would it be inappropriate of me to unhesitatingly give it to my wife? Hardly. Someone who tossed a coin to decide where the morphine should be directed would be considered lacking normal human feelings. Persons are located at various distances from me, and since persons are loci of valuable states, those states inherit their positions in value space, and their distances from me, from their locus. And it seems appropriate to respond more vividly to states that are close than to those that are more distant.

Finally, we can think of possibility—perhaps measured by probability—as a dimension of value. Imagine this current and awful pain multiplied in length enormously. If hell exists and God condemns unbelievers to hell, then I am going to experience something like this for a very, very long time. That prospect is much worse than my current fleeting pain. And yet I am strangely unmoved by this prospect. Why? Because it seems very improbable to me. First, it seems improbable, given the unnecessary suffering in the world, that God exists. And if, despite appearances, a Perfect Being really exists, it seems improbable She would run a postmortem torture chamber for unbelievers. So, extremely bad states that are remote in probability space elicit less vivid responses than less bad states that have a higher probability of actualization. And that, too, seems fitting.

Of course, one might argue that these things should not appear this way to me, that the same pain merits the same response wherever it is located. But that's just implausible. As a human being, with various attachments, deep connections with particular others, and a limited capacity to care, it would be impossible for me to respond in a totally agent‐neutral way to all pain whatever its locus: the pain of total strangers; pains past, present, and future; and pains actual as well as remotely possible. It would also be bizarre if one were required to randomly allocate one's limited stock of care regardless of the distance of the bearers of such pains. So, if a value that is closer should appear closer, and desires and aversions are appearances of value, then it is entirely fitting that desires and aversions be more sensitive to closely located values than to distantly located values. 11

Distance is not the only factor affecting value perception. A valuer's orientation to something of value (or disvalue) may also affect perception. Take a variant of Nozick's famous case of past and future pain. You have to undergo an operation for which it would be dangerous to use analgesics. The surgeon tells you that on the eighth day of the month you will go into the hospital and on the morning of the ninth, you will be administered a combination of drugs that will paralyze you during the operation, scheduled for later that day, and subsequently cause you to forget the experiences you will have during the operation, including all the dreadful pain. You wake up in hospital, and you don't know what day it is. If it is the tenth, the operation was yesterday and the operation was twelve hours ago. If it is morning of the ninth, then you have yet to undergo the operation in twelve hours' time. So, depending on which of these is true, you are twelve hours away from the pain. Both are equally likely, given your information. You are equidistant from these two painful possibilities in both temporal space and probability space. You are, however, much more averse to the 50 percent probability of the future as yet‐unexperienced pain than to the 50 percent probability that the pain is now past. This asymmetric response seems appropriate. We are differently oriented toward past and future disvalues, and that can make a difference how bad those disvalues seem.

What about the shape of value, and the effect of shape together with orientation on perception? Should the value of one and the same situation be experienced by folk differently if they are differently oriented with respect to it? Suppose that a retributive theory of justice is correct, and that in certain cases wrongdoers ought to be punished for their wrongdoing; that such punishment is some sort of suffering; and that the punishment restores justice to the victim. The suffering inflicted on the wrongdoer is, then, from the agent‐neutral viewpoint, a good thing. Consider three people differently, related to the wrongdoer's receiving his just deserts: the wrongdoer himself, the wrongdoer's victim, and some bystander. It is fitting for the victim to welcome the fact that the wrongdoer is getting his just deserts. A neutral bystander will typically not feel as strongly about the punishment as the victim does, but provided she recognizes that the deserts are just, she should be in favor. What about the wrongdoer? His punishment is a good thing, but he has to be averse to the punishment if it is to be any sort of punishment at all. The difference in the victim's and the bystander's degree of desire for the just deserts can be explained by their differing distances from the locus of the value. But the differing responses of the victim and the wrongdoer cannot be explained by distance alone. Desire and aversion pull in opposite directions. Unless the wrongdoer is averse to his punishment, it is no punishment at all. Unless the victim desires the wrongdoer's punishment, it will not serve its full role in restoring justice.

Value is one thing, the appropriate response to it on the part of a situated valuer is another. The same value may thus elicit different responses depending on how closely the value is located to a value perceiver, the shape of the value, and the orientation of the valuer toward it. The thesis that the appropriate responses to value are experiences, which, like perceptual experiences, are heavily perspectival, defuses what would otherwise be a powerful objection to the agent‐neutrality of value. If the appropriate response to an agent‐neutral value were the same for all, then value would impose a wholly impractical, even inhuman, obligation on a person to effectively ignore his singular position in the network of relationships. Fortunately for us, experiences of agent‐neutral values can legitimately differ from one valuer to another.

Interestingly, these features of value experience help explain the attraction of Nel Noddings's ethics of caring, perhaps the most prominent contemporary educational ethic in the empiricist tradition. For Noddings, the prime value seems to be caring relationships and fostering such relationships through fostering caring itself. But one is not simply supposed to promote caring willy‐nilly, in an agent‐neutral way. Rather, one is supposed to be attentive to the caring that goes on fairly close to oneself. Consequently, it would be bad to neglect one's nearest and dearest even if by doing so one could foster more caring relationships far away. But it is not just distance in the network of care that is important. I am located at the center of a particular network of caring relationships, and my moral task is to tend not just to the amount and quality of caring in my network but also to my peculiar location in the network. So, it would be wrong for me to neglect my caring for those close to me even if by doing so I could promote more or better caring among those very folk. I should not cease to care for my nearest and dearest even if by doing so I could promote higher quality caring among my nearest and dearest. 12

12. Teaching Values on the Critical Empiricist Approach

Agent‐relative responses to agent‐neutral values are, thus, entirely appropriate on a critical empiricist conception of value. If this is right, it is not the job of an educationist to try to impose a uniform experiential response to all matters of value. Rather, it is to try to provide the necessary critical and logical tools for making sense of agent‐neutral values in the light of our highly variable agent‐relative responses, and to elicit and refine the fitting response to value in the light of a valuer's relation to it.

But this, of course, raises a difficult question for any would‐be value educator. How is it possible to teach appropriate responses to value and coordinate such responses with correct value judgments? Partly, this is a philosophical question involving the nature of value and the fitting responses to it, and partly, it is an empirical question involving the psychology of value experience and the most effective ways to develop or refine fitting responses.

Let us begin with a fairly uncontroversial case. It is not difficult for a normal human being to appreciate the value of her own pleasures or the disvalue of her own pains. A normal child will almost always experience her own pain as a bad thing. There is no mystery here, given empiricism, for the child's aversion to pain is part and parcel of the experience of the pain's badness. Indeed, it is through aversion to states like pain, or desire for pleasure, that a child typically gets a grip on the concepts of goodness and badness in the first place, since the good (respectively, bad) just is that to which desire (respectively, aversion) is the normal and fitting response.

Correct judgments on the goodness of one's own pleasures and the badness of one's own pains thus follow rather naturally on the heels of one's direct experiences of those pleasures and pains. What about judgments concerning more remotely located goods and evils? Provided one has some capacity to empathize, one also has the capacity to experience, to some extent, the disvalue of another's pain or the value of another's pleasure, albeit somewhat less vividly than in the case of one's own. Clearly, normal people do have an innate ability, perhaps honed through evolutionary development, to empathize with others in these crucial ways. 13 Recent research suggests that this capacity may be realized by the possession of mirror neurons and that these structures have played a crucial role in the evolution of social behavior. 14 With empathy in place, there is the capacity to experience values located beyond oneself.

What may not always come so naturally, and what might conceivably require some tutoring, is that the exactly similar pains and pleasures of others must have exactly the same value and disvalue as one's own. Even for a good empathizer, given the perspectival nature of value experience, another's exactly similar pain will seem less bad than one's own. And the more distant the pain is, the less bad it will seem. One has to learn, at the level of judgment, to correct for this perspectival feature of value experience. That will mostly be a matter of learning to apply principles of reason—specifically, that if two situations are qualitatively identical at the natural level, they must be qualitatively identical at the level of value. Presumably, knowledge of the agent‐neutrality of the goodness and badness of pain and pleasure will feed back into one's capacity for empathic response, enhancing and refining such responses. A defect in empathy may, thus, be corrected by becoming cognizant of the actual structure of value.

A person may, of course, have a very weak capacity for empathy, or even lack it altogether. This seems to be a feature of severe autism. Interestingly, an autistic person is often capable of using his experience of what is good or bad for him, together with something like universalizability, to gain a purchase on goods and evils located in other beings. His purchase on these more remote goods and evils lacks direct experiential validation, but he can still reason, from experiences of his own goods and evils, to judgments of other goods and evils. An autistic person may not thereby acquire the ability to empathize—just as a blind person may not be taught how to see—but he may still learn a considerable amount about value. 15 The value judgments he endorses will admittedly rest on a severely reduced empirical base, and that may never be enlarged by the theory, but the theory might still be quite accurate.

A more radical defect is exhibited by the psychopath, who seems to have no capacity to reason from his experience of his own goods and evils to goods and evils located elsewhere. 16 It is not clear how one might go about teaching value judgments or value responses to a psychopath. It might be like trying to teach empirical science to someone who has vivid experiences of what is going on immediately around him, but lacks any capacity to reason beyond that or to regard his own experience as a situated response to an external reality. Clearly there are limits to what can be taught and to whom.

13. Conclusion

Value endorsements and their transmission are unavoidable in educational settings, as they are everywhere. The question, then, is not whether to teach values but which values to teach, in what contexts, and how to teach them effectively. Clearly, the constraints of reason are crucial to the cultivation of a coherent set of value endorsements. But reason alone is insufficient. To access values we need some value data, experiences of value. And, to mesh motivation appropriately with value endorsements, value experiences have to be desiderative. This critical empiricist model of value knowledge suggests a model of values education that is richer and more interesting than either its rationalist or its naive empiricist rivals—one in which the cultivation and refinement of emotion, feeling, and desire and the honing of critical skills both play indispensable roles.

Of course, any teaching of values could go awry. That we are serious about teaching values, and that we attempt to do so with due respect for both reason and experience, does not guarantee that we will succeed. We ourselves may have got value wrong. Or, we might possess and try to pass on the right values, but our students reject them. Here, as elsewhere in the educational enterprise, there is always a risk that things might turn out badly despite our noblest intentions and sincerest efforts.

Mackie 1977 .

Putnam 2002 .

Murdoch 1970 .

All three are reprinted in Boonin and Oddie 2004 .

Scheffler 1973 and Siegel 1997 .

If not, then other troubling consequences flow.

Kant 2002 .

Kohlberg 1981 ; Hare 1998 ; Simon, Howe, and Kirschenbaum 1972 .

Oddie 2005 , chap. 3.

Oddie 2005 .

Oddie 2005 , chaps. 3 and 8.

Bergman 2004 .

Eisenberg 2006 .

Singer 2006 .

Kennett 2002 .

Bergman, R. ( 2004 ). “ Caring for the Ethical Ideal: Nel Noddings on Moral Education. ” Journal of Moral Education 33: 149–62. 10.1080/0305724042000215203

Google Scholar

Boonin, D. , and G. Oddie , eds. ( 2004 ). What's Wrong? Applied Ethicists and their Critics. New York: Oxford University Press.

Google Preview

Eisenberg, N. ( 2006 ). “Empathy‐related Responding and Prosocial Behavior.” In Empathy and Fairness , Novartis Foundation (pp. 71–79). Chicester: Wiley. 10.1002/9780470030585.ch6

Hare, R. M. ( 1998 ). “Language and Moral Education.” In: Hare, R. M., Essays on Religion and Education (pp. 154–72). Oxford: Clarendon.

Kant, I. ( 2002 ). Groundwork for the Metaphysics of Morals , edited and translated by Allen W. Wood . New Haven: Yale University Press.

Kennett, J. ( 2002 ). “ Autism, Empathy and Moral Agency. ” Philosophical Quarterly 52: 340–57. 10.1111/1467-9213.00272

Kohlberg, L. ( 1981 ). Essays on Moral Development , vol 1. New York: Harper and Row, 1981.

Mackie, J. ( 1977 ). Ethics: Inventing Right and Wrong. New York: Penguin.

Murdoch, I. ( 1970 ). The Sovereignty of Good. London: Routledge.

Noddings, N. ( 1984 ). Caring: a Feminine Approach to Ethics and Moral Education. Berkeley: University of California Press.

Oddie, G. ( 2005 ). Value, Reality and Desire. Oxford: Oxford University Press. 10.1093/0199273413.001.0001

Putnam, H. ( 2002 ). The Collapse of the Fact/Value Dichotomy and Other Essays. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.

Scheffler, I. ( 1973 ). Reason and Teaching. London: Routledge

Siegel, H. , ed. ( 1997 ). Reason and Education: Essays in Honor of Israel Scheffler . Dordrecht: Kluwer.

Simon, S. B. , L. W. Howe , and H. Kirschenbaum . ( 1972 ). Values Clarification: A Handbook of Practical Strategies for Teachers and Students. New York: Hart Publishing.

Singer, T. ( 2006 ). “The Neuronal Basis of Empathy and Fairness. ” In Empathy and Fairness , Novartis Foundation (pp. 20–29). Chicester: Wiley. 10.1002/9780470030585.ch3

• About Oxford Academic
• Publish journals with us
• University press partners
• What we publish
• New features  
• Open access
• Institutional account management
• Rights and permissions
• Get help with access
• Accessibility
• Advertising
• Media enquiries
• Oxford University Press
• Oxford Languages
• University of Oxford

Oxford University Press is a department of the University of Oxford. It furthers the University's objective of excellence in research, scholarship, and education by publishing worldwide

• Copyright © 2024 Oxford University Press
• Cookie settings
• Cookie policy
• Privacy policy
• Legal notice

This Feature Is Available To Subscribers Only

Sign In or Create an Account

This PDF is available to Subscribers Only

For full access to this pdf, sign in to an existing account, or purchase an annual subscription.

Value of Education Essay in 300, 400, 500, 600, 700 Words for Class 1-12

We have got some interesting, short, long, and simple essays on the value of education in 300, 400, 500, 600, and 700 words for students of class 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12. You can find a suitable one for yourself. 

In This Blog We Will Discuss

Value of Education Essay in 300 Words

Introduction: 

Education is the most important factor in human life. It creates a huge difference between human to human quality. An educated person is well-developed and gets better characteristics. That’s why education is a basic priority for everyone’s life. 

There are lots of values and the importance of education that will take a person’s life into a new height. It changes the way of thinking, inspiration, and ideas. 

Value of Education: 

People become so knowledgeable after getting a proper education. There are different types of education and every type of education is really important. As kids, we get lots of education from our family . 

Suppose we learn how to behave with the elders and how to act with people outside in our family. But when we arrive at a school the education is different there. Overall, it’s highly important to get all types of education in life to get a better perspective. 

An educated person is like a property of the country. He can manage and handle different things properly and without making problems. An educated person has better thinking and creativity, that’s why people love them so much. 

Makes You Confident: 

Education makes you confident. When a person learns something, it makes him so confident that he can do that without any hassle in the future. That’s the power of education. It brings light to human life. 

Educated people read books and gather knowledge and this knowledge guides them to lead a better life. It offers a better lifestyle with a better financial situation. 

Conclusion: 

Everybody needs to get a proper education in life so that they can manage to have a better future. Education adds lots of opportunities in life, that’s how a person can get success. We all need to get a proper education. 

Value of Education in Society Essay in 400 Words

Education is a basic need for a human. It has lots of different importance and values in our life. It has a direct impact on our lives and helps us to grow better. An educated person is very important for society and the country. 

They add lots of values and make the country better. Today we will talk about the values of education and will see how education can change our present social system and make it better. 

First of all, let’s see how education makes an impact on human life and brings some changes. When a boy gets properly educated he becomes aware of many little things. And these little things bring some huge changes in his life. 

For example, if you compare two girls, one is educated and another is uneducated, even if they are living in the same facilities you will find many differences between them. Education changes a human’s taste. 

And it lets us understand what is better for me and what is not. An educated boy or girl will be sufficiently known about their body, and they will take care of it. They will know how to manage little problems. 

They are well behaved with their family and other peoples. They expect a better life, and that’s how they work and act. They love reading books that give them lots of creative ideas and they can imagine big things. That’s how all the great things have been invented. 

They lead a better life and get a better vision in their life. People love them and get happy with them. That’s how education makes an impact on human life and changes it in a positive way. That’s the biggest value of education. 

Self Dependent: 

Education teaches us to become self-dependent. Self-dependency is a huge thing in human life. We all need to stop depending on others and need to depend on ourselves. That’s how we can plan a better life ahead. 

It becomes very easy for an educated person. Education gives you an opportunity to get a better job and get your financial situation better. When you make your financial situation better it makes you self-dependent. 

These are the values of education. And it’s the universal truth that we can’t shine in our life in this era without proper education. That’s why the country should ensure education for everyone. 

Essay on Value of Education in 500 Words

The value of education is indescribable. To have a better life, you must have to be educated. When you are an educated person, you have so many doors open in front of you. You can choose the best one for yourself. 

That is possible because of your gained knowledge through education. If you can’t gain knowledge through education then it’s not education at all. When we are talking about ‘knowledge’ we are not saying memorizing an essay or paragraph. When a person gets proper education, he comes with the power to explain everything in a better way. 

There are lots of values of education in our life. It changes our life completely. When a person gets an education, it brings many opportunities in front of him. Let me share an example. When you get a degree from computer science, it gets easier for you to get a job in this industry. 

Or even you can do something like business or entrepreneurship on that topic. That’s all possible, because of your education about computer science. It is completely impossible without proper education. 

Education gives us a vision that we can achieve and change our life. It makes people creative and lets them think freely. Wisdom and freedom are the most important thing that people gain from education. That’s are the values of education that make our life better. 

How Education Can Change Society?

Education could be the most important way of changing our society. We know that our country is fighting with economic problems and the social system is very poor here. We can fix all the problems that are happening in education. 

We need to ensure an educated next generation for this. The government is working on ‘education for everyone’. But still, it is not successful, we have problems like child labor in our country. A huge amount of kids are working to maintain their families. 

That’s all happening because of weak social systems. We can bring a change to this weak system by educating everyone. Only education could be the solution to this problem. 

When a person adds value in society, it gets better and when everyone will start adding values, then it will be great for society, and even for the country. That’s how it is possible to change society with education. 

What is the Value of Education in Our Life?

There are many values of education in our life. It makes our life better and gives us lots of lessons to follow in life. An educated person leads a better life and they can have a better vision in their life. 

It makes us creative and visionary. It becomes easy for us to become an entrepreneur or a businessperson. 

That’s all are the values of education that can change your life. We all need to get an education and need to ensure education for the next generation. It is important to work for unprivileged kids so that they can get a better education. 

Value of Education Essay in 600 Words

Education is a basic need that every human being needs to have. We all required education for so many reasons. Today we will talk about the value of education. There are tons of values of education in human life.

It helps a person in many ways to get prosperity and a better life. It helps to improve their livelihood and become a better person. Overall there are so many values of education, that we are going to talk about. 

First thing first, the value of education starts with gaining knowledge. The most important purpose of getting an education is to gain knowledge. We need the knowledge to improve our life. When we have enough knowledge about a specific thing, we can utilize that topic and it gives us an opportunity to get a job or do business on that. 

That’s how we manage to get a better livelihood. Suppose when a person studies a computer, he keeps special knowledge about this topic. And it gets easy for him to get a similar job or do similar business. 

Learn Skills:

We can learn skills by getting an education. We all have a practical part of our education, where we see some live tests or experiments. Either it could be in a science lab or in a playground. By doing all these things, we gain expertise on a specific skill. 

That makes it easy for us to get work in a similar field. And that improves our life. That’s why education is very important. An educated person can learn any skill easily because he can manage some resources about the skill. 

Suppose you want to learn about cooking, if you read a cooking book, then you can cook better food. You would not need to waste any food item to do tests or experiments. You already have enough knowledge from the book. 

Boost Creativity: 

The creativity of an educated person is better than an illiterate person. It opens lots of doors of your mind and brain and lets you think out of the box. When a person starts thinking out of the box, he comes with many amazing and creative ideas. And it is only possible when you are educated and have the proper knowledge and resources to do that. 

Become a Better Citizen:

It helps people to become better citizens. We learn about all the rights and responsibilities of a citizen by getting a proper education. Even an educated person gets that sense to understand what is right, and what is wrong. 

That’s how he becomes a better citizen for the country. And the country wants more and more ideal citizens because they contribute to the country in a positive way. 

Get Freedom and Wisdom:

When you will get the right education, then you will get enough wisdom in your life to become a free soul. One of the biggest reasons behind education is to get freedom and independence from an unwanted life. 

If you get the right education and in a proper way, then it has opportunities to make you a very independent person. And if you can become an independent person, then you will feel the real fun of living a life. 

Education shapes our life in a better way. It improves and helps us in many ways. That’s how we can adapt to modern life. So education is very important for everyone to get. We need to ensure education for every person. The government should pay extra attention to that topic. 

Value of Education Essay in 700 Words

Education is the most important basic need. To get success in the world is every aspect, you need education. It is playing a significant role in the progress of human civilization. If we look at the brightest faces of the country, we will all be educated peoples. 

Education opens lots of doors for a person. It helps to gain knowledge and at the same time, it teaches how to use that knowledge in real life. Education has different types and forms. The method of education is different from one place to another. 

Some people believe in practical education, and some people believe in the theory and practical both. People can learn different types of skills and it becomes helpful for them to make a better future. It helps to prepare the students for their next life so that they can work and make their life better. 

Types of Education:

Education has two types mainly, theory and practical. We go to school and colleges, read textbooks, and gain knowledge from books. That is called theoretical education. When a person learns something by doing it, then it is called practical education. 

Both are highly important for students. But we know that our country is not paying proper attention to practical education. The government should pay more attention to technical education. 

When a student gains some practical skill then it becomes easy for him to get a job. But theory education is also important. We can’t ignore any of them, both of them are highly important for our life. 

Importance of Education for Country:

A country needs a responsible and ideal citizen and it is impossible if the citizen doesn’t get a proper education. Only education can ensure a citizen’s responsibility. That’s why the importance of education for the country is huge. 

That’s why almost every country in the world offers free education. They don’t charge or students don’t have to pay for education. But it is different for higher degrees. It teaches a citizen about his responsibilities and rights. 

And that’s how someone can become a proper citizen of a country. An educated citizen is like a gem or property for the country. That’s why the state wants everyone to get educated. 

Importance of Education for Society: 

The society is structured with a bunch of people. In society, there is every type of person. Some people are very responsible and polite. They are an important part of society. There are some people too who are a risk and threat to everyone. 

The difference between the two types of people in society happens due to a lack of education. When a person gets a proper education, then he becomes a very polite and important part of the family. That’s why we need to give lots of priority to ensure education for everyone in society. 

Importance of Education for Individuals: 

Education is most important for an individual. There are so many good sides to being an educated person. First of all, you will be able to gain knowledge which is a significant thing that everyone is looking for. It improves people’s livelihood. 

People find a huge change in their mentality and behavior. The behavior of an educated person is polite and most of the time they are calm. They have a high standard of mentality. And they can think deep. 

That’s why all this science and technology has been possible, because of a bunch of educated people. Educated people come politely with nature and animals. They take care of the environment because they know the importance of saving our environment. 

They can save themselves from different types of superstitions. It makes a person very polite with their friends and family, and they become successful in getting a good life. Overall education is a highly important thing in the life of a person. The light of education can change a person’s life. 

When a country has a quality education system, that country will go ahead for sure. That’s why the education system should include real things such as physical education, technological education, and real-life skills. The better education system is our hope and we know the better education system will fix every problem of the country. 

What is the value of education in our life? 

Education gives us knowledge that guides us to get a better vision in our life. We can use it to improve our life. We learn how to deal with problems and make a solution. Knowledge is power and we get it from education. 

More Essays:

• Environment Pollution Essay Writing for Students
• Essay on Aim in Life | 100, 150, 300, 500 Words Paragraphs and Essays
• Essay on Railway Station | Short and Long Essays for Students
• Essay on Female Education: For All Students
• Essay on My Mother: 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 Words Essays
• Rainy Season Essay and Paragraph for School Students
• Essay on Winter Vacation for All Class Students
• My Grandmother Essay in 100, 150, 250, 300, 400 Words for Students
• Essay on Social Media for School and College Students
• Essay on Myself: For All Classes Students and Children
• Essay on Travelling in English for All Class
• Essay on Save Water in 200, 300, 400, 500 and 600 Words for All Classes
• Essay on My Best Friend in 200, 300, 400, 500 and 600 Words
• Essay on My Parents: 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 Words
• My Sister Essay in 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 Words for All Students

Related posts:

• A Rainy Day Essay: 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 Words
• Visit to a Historical Place Essay for All Class
• Essay on My Village in 200, 300, 400, 500, 600 Words for Class 1-10
• Essay on My Father in 300, 400, 500, 600, 700 Words for Class 1-10
• Essay on Advantages and Disadvantages of Mobile Phone for Class 1-12
• Essay on Early Rising in 300, 400, 500, 600 Words for Class 1-10

• Yale University
• About Yale Insights
• Privacy Policy
• Accessibility

What’s the Value of Higher Education?

Have political and fiscal debates about higher education lost sight of the value of education for individuals and society? Dr. Johnnetta Cole discusses how universities can inform and inspire.

• Dr. Johnnetta Cole President Emerita, Smithsonian National Museum of African Art; President Emerita, Spelman College and Bennett College

This interview was conducted at the Yale Higher Education Leadership Summit , hosted by Yale SOM’s Chief Executive Leadership Institute on January 30, 2018.

The value of a college degree can be measured in a number of different ways: increased lifetime earnings potential, a network of classmates and fellow alumni, subject-matter expertise, a signal of stick-to-itiveness, potentially a marker of class or the capacity to move across classes. There are also less tangible benefits, like becoming a more well-rounded individual and part of a well-informed public.

Yale Insights recently talked with Dr. Johnnetta Cole about how she measures the value of higher education. Cole is the former president of Spelman College and Bennett College, the only two historically black colleges and universities that are exclusively women’s colleges. After retiring from academia, she served as the director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African Art. In addition, she served on the boards of a number of corporations, including Home Depot, Merck, and Coca-Cola. She was the first African-American chair of the board for the United Way of America.

Q: Why does higher education matter?

I would say that we could get widespread agreement on what I’m going to call the first purpose of higher education: through this amazingly powerful process of teaching and learning, students come to better understand the world.

There might be some disagreement on the second purpose. I’d say it is to inspire students to figure out how they can contribute to helping to make the world better. Certainly, higher education is about scholarship, but it’s also about service. It’s about creativity. It’s about matters of the mind, but it’s also, or at least it should be, about matters of the heart and the soul.

Q: Has the public perception of universities changed in recent years?

Throughout the history—and herstory—of higher education, there have been doubters, those who have critiqued it. But I have a concern, and some polls tell us, in this period in which we are living, many people believe that higher education is not contributing in a positive way to American life.

That’s something that we need to work on, those of us who are deeply engaged in and care about higher education, because I think when one looks with as much objectivity as possible, the truth is, and it’s always been, that higher education contributes substantially.

Q: You’ve led two historically black colleges for women. What is the role of special mission institutions?

In my view, we still need special mission institutions. Remember Brandeis, Notre Dame, and Brigham Young are special mission institutions.

With respect to historically black colleges and universities (HBCU), not every African American wants to or does go to an HBCU. The same is true of women and women’s colleges. But for those who wish that kind of education, and if the fit is right, it’s almost magical.

I think it is as basic as having an entire community believe that you can. On these campuses, we believe that black students can do whatever they set their minds to do. On the women’s campuses, we believe that women can reach heights that have not been imagined for women.

HBCUs are not totally free of racism. Women’s colleges are not utopias where there are no expressions of gender inequality or sexism. But they come far closer than at our predominately white and co-ed institutions.

Q: One of the big issues with higher education now is cost. How do we solve the affordability problem?

The affordability question is highly complex and serious. James Baldwin said, “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed that is not faced.” I believe that this is a perfect example. Colleges and universities are not just raising tuitions so they can make big profits. Pell grants are no longer at least a reasonable response to the affordability question.

We’ve got to figure this out because, in a democracy, accessibility to education is fundamental. The idea that something as precious, as powerful, as a solid education is only accessible to some and not to others, is an assault upon democracy.

Q: You came out of retirement to lead the Smithsonian National Museum of African Art. Why was the draw so strong?

I’ve managed, systematically, to get a failing grade in retirement.

I grew up in the South, in the days of legalized segregation—you could also call it state-sponsored racism. I didn’t have access to symphony halls. I didn’t have access to art museums. I still remember the library that I went to in order to travel the world through books, was the A. L. Lewis Colored Public Library.

As a young girl, I fell in love with the visual arts, especially African and African-American art. I went off to Fisk University at age 15 and began to see the real works of art for which we only had reproductions in my home. From Fisk, I went to Oberlin, where the Allen Memorial Art Gallery was a special place of solace for me

The opportunity with the Smithsonian wasn’t something I sought; I was asked to apply. My doctorate is in anthropology, not art history, so I was reluctant, but they told me they were looking for a leader, not an art historian. It was one of the most extraordinary experiences of my life. The work was an almost indescribable joy.

Generally, our museums across America do not reflect who America is, nor do they reflect how our world looks. They need to be far more diverse in terms of their boards, staff, exhibitions, educational programs, and visitorship.

What the African art museum has is a unique opportunity because it can speak to something that binds us together. If one is human, just go back far enough, I mean way back, and we have all come from a single place. It is called Africa.

Here’s a museum that says to its visitors, “No matter who you are, by race, gender, sexual orientation, religion, age, ability or disability, or nationality, come to a place where the visual arts connect you to the very cradle of humanity.”

During those eight years when I had the joy of being the director of the National Museum of African Art, I would greet our visitors by saying “Welcome home! Welcome to a place that presents the diverse and dynamic, the exquisite arts of Africa, humanity’s original home.”

Q: Do you think that our education and cultural institutions are properly valued in our society?

I have to say no. Because if we did, we would take better care of them. If we did, we would make sure that not some but all of our educational institutions from kindergarten through post-secondary education, into graduate and professional schools, have the means to do what needs to be done.

If we really value all of our cultural expressions, whether it’s dance or music, visual arts, theater, when there is a budget shortfall, we wouldn’t say, “These are the first things to go.” We wouldn’t say, “Kids can do without music in their public school.” It’s one thing to say we love an institution; it’s another to care for and protect an institution. I think we can do far better.

Essay Sample on Value of Education in Life

The value of education in one’s life is immeasurable. Education gives us knowledge of our society and environment, as well as the skills to improve these. Education also assists us in developing our unique perspective on life, preparing us to have our points of view and make our own opinions on many topics. As a result, education is critical in determining an individual’s success. It enables us to become productive members of a civilized society by providing us with all of the required skills. Our vision is broadened and we become more aware as a result of education. It aids in the development of a disciplined lifestyle and increases our earning potential. However, the system of education was disrupted and is no longer a process of learning information as a result of the abrupt emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic. According to a study, the country’s education system is one of the institutions that has been severely impacted. The Commission on Higher Education (CHED) has implemented a series of adjustments, now referred to simply as “blended learning,” to ensure that learners’ needs are not neglected in this so-called new normal. This set-up has tested the majority of students’ adjustment to the new normal. It put the students’ abilities, skills, time management, health, social interaction, and, most significantly, self-worth to the test. Many people have acclimated and are still adjusting to today’s new educational learning environment. I regard myself to be somewhere in the middle. It has significantly improved my abilities and abilities. In comparison to the prior setup, I’ve become more motivated and passionate about what I do, which has resulted in better results. I couldn’t concentrate on my studies at the time due to a variety of factors. A sport, rest, friends, and even hanging out all serve to divert my attention away from my studies. I can say that at the time, I was learning while slowly drowning in bliss to the point that I wasn’t providing my academic best. For learning having time management, it was hard at first. However, as time passes, I have come to respect and make good use of my time to balance my study habits and social life. For my health, it affected it at first. My sleeping pattern was altered. As I become an all-nighter only to run some school errands, I tend to sleep past midnight. While everyone else in our place was sleeping peacefully, I was awake in the middle of the night, pondering how I was going to do all of the tasks. Under the stars and moon, there was a dreadful student like me who wished to slow down the passage of time. Nobody can see my pain, worries, and most especially my tears. And I don’t want to disturb others in this situation as I know that we all have the same and maybe deeper burdens that we carry in life. But that’s life, I need to go through pain and suffering before reaching the endpoint of my chosen career path. As time passed by, I learned how to interact virtually. I’ve made a new circle of friends and I can participate in class, unlike before where there’s no pandemic. I’m hesitant to speak up or recite knowing that I’m not confident in my answer and I’m afraid to be judged. But through this new setup of learning, I’ve gained confidence. I participate in class, do reporting, and can share what I’ve learned with others. I believe it is beneficial for me as I’ll be able to concentrate properly. I became more excited if there’s a recitation as I know that it can be a great contribution to my grades. My friends in today’s setup may not be permanent as we only met virtually but I am thankful that they were able to help me to strive hard and push through my limits. They were the reason why I can easily understand the given tasks and assignments. We’ve been sharing information so that no one will be left behind. We’ve become each other’s strength when someone’s feeling down. In general, I can put a higher importance on my education as a result of this new learning approach. It gave me great pleasure to be able to continue my studies despite the Pandemic. Even though managing my time is difficult and stressful, I’m glad I’m able to do so and that this continues to surprise me of how flexible am I toward this. I can develop myself in many aspects of life and allow myself to grow each time I use this new learning technique. As a result, I can remark that even though this online program has been very beneficial to me, it would be even better if the old system were reinstated so that many of us could comprehend the lessons thoroughly. Moreover, any learning environment will not hinder me from learning and improving my skills and abilities that will aid me on this journey.

Related Samples

• Admission Essay Example: Yale University
• Persuasive Essay Sample: Should Students Be Allowed To Grade Their Teachers
• Persuasive Essay Example: Art is an Important Part of Education
• Critical Thinking in Education Essay Example
• What Does It Mean To Be Educated Essay Example
• Argumentative Essay Sample: School Uniforms Should Be Mandatory
• Cyber Bullying in Schools Essay Example
• Essay Sample about Early Reading
• Essay Example: Face-to-Face Vs. Face-to-Screen Learning
• Essay on Higher Education Should be Free

Didn't find the perfect sample?

You can order a custom paper by our expert writers

The Life of Henry Ford: Education, Motivation, and Entrepreneurship

This essay about Henry Ford highlights his legacy as a pioneer of the automotive industry and a key figure in industrial innovation. Born in 1863 in rural Michigan, Ford’s formative years on a farm instilled in him a profound work ethic and a penchant for mechanical understanding. The narrative traces his rise from a machinist apprentice to the founder of Ford Motor Company, emphasizing his introduction of the assembly line, which revolutionized manufacturing and made cars affordable. Despite his achievements, the text also touches on the controversies surrounding his personal views and business practices.

How it works

In the annals of history, few names stand as tall as that of Henry Ford. The very mention of his name evokes images of innovation, industry, and the indomitable spirit of entrepreneurship. But behind the legend lies a remarkable journey—one marked by education, unwavering motivation, and a relentless drive to reshape the world.

Henry Ford’s story begins in the rural heartland of Michigan, where he was born on July 30, 1863. Growing up on a farm, Ford developed a deep appreciation for hard work and resourcefulness from an early age.

His formal education was modest, but his curiosity and intellect were boundless. It was this hunger for knowledge that would propel him forward in the years to come.

At the age of 16, Ford left his family’s farm to pursue an apprenticeship as a machinist in Detroit. It was here that he found his true calling—the world of machines and mechanics. Ford immersed himself in his work, learning everything he could about the inner workings of engines and automobiles. But it wasn’t just technical skills that set him apart; it was his ability to see beyond the status quo and envision a future that others could scarcely imagine.

Motivation coursed through Ford’s veins like a relentless river. He dreamed of a world where transportation was not a luxury reserved for the elite but a necessity accessible to all. This vision fueled his tireless efforts to revolutionize the automotive industry. In 1896, Ford built his first self-propelled vehicle, the Quadricycle—a humble contraption by modern standards but a revolutionary feat of engineering at the time. It was the spark that ignited his passion for automobiles and set him on a trajectory that would change the course of history.

But it was Ford’s entrepreneurial spirit that truly set him apart. In 1903, he founded the Ford Motor Company with little more than a vision and a handful of investors. From its humble beginnings in a small Detroit factory, the company would grow to become one of the largest and most influential corporations in the world. Ford’s genius lay not only in his ability to build machines but in his understanding of people and markets. He recognized that to truly democratize transportation, he would need to make cars affordable to the masses.

And so, in 1913, Ford introduced the world to the moving assembly line—a revolutionary production method that dramatically reduced the cost of manufacturing and made mass production of automobiles a reality. With each passing year, Ford’s factories churned out more cars, driving down prices and putting the American Dream within reach of millions.

But Ford’s contributions to society extended far beyond the realm of industry. He was a pioneer in employee relations, implementing policies such as the five-dollar workday and the eight-hour workday, which set new standards for labor practices and helped usher in a new era of prosperity for American workers. Ford believed that happy, well-paid employees were not just a moral imperative but a strategic advantage—and his company thrived as a result.

Despite his many successes, Ford was not without his flaws. His staunch opposition to unions and his controversial views on topics such as race and religion tarnished his reputation in later years. But even in his darkest moments, Ford remained a towering figure—a man whose impact on the world cannot be overstated.

Today, Henry Ford’s legacy lives on in every car on the road, every factory floor, and every corner of the modern world. His life is a testament to the power of education, motivation, and entrepreneurship—a reminder that with vision, determination, and a willingness to challenge the status quo, anything is possible. As we look to the future, let us draw inspiration from the life of Henry Ford and strive to build a world that is not just better but truly extraordinary.

Cite this page

The Life of Henry Ford: Education, Motivation, and Entrepreneurship. (2024, Apr 29). Retrieved from https://papersowl.com/examples/the-life-of-henry-ford-education-motivation-and-entrepreneurship/

"The Life of Henry Ford: Education, Motivation, and Entrepreneurship." PapersOwl.com , 29 Apr 2024, https://papersowl.com/examples/the-life-of-henry-ford-education-motivation-and-entrepreneurship/

PapersOwl.com. (2024). The Life of Henry Ford: Education, Motivation, and Entrepreneurship . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/the-life-of-henry-ford-education-motivation-and-entrepreneurship/ [Accessed: 30 Apr. 2024]

"The Life of Henry Ford: Education, Motivation, and Entrepreneurship." PapersOwl.com, Apr 29, 2024. Accessed April 30, 2024. https://papersowl.com/examples/the-life-of-henry-ford-education-motivation-and-entrepreneurship/

"The Life of Henry Ford: Education, Motivation, and Entrepreneurship," PapersOwl.com , 29-Apr-2024. [Online]. Available: https://papersowl.com/examples/the-life-of-henry-ford-education-motivation-and-entrepreneurship/. [Accessed: 30-Apr-2024]

PapersOwl.com. (2024). The Life of Henry Ford: Education, Motivation, and Entrepreneurship . [Online]. Available at: https://papersowl.com/examples/the-life-of-henry-ford-education-motivation-and-entrepreneurship/ [Accessed: 30-Apr-2024]

Don't let plagiarism ruin your grade

Hire a writer to get a unique paper crafted to your needs.

Our writers will help you fix any mistakes and get an A+!

Please check your inbox.

You can order an original essay written according to your instructions.

Trusted by over 1 million students worldwide

1. Tell Us Your Requirements

2. Pick your perfect writer

3. Get Your Paper and Pay

Hi! I'm Amy, your personal assistant!

Don't know where to start? Give me your paper requirements and I connect you to an academic expert.

short deadlines

100% Plagiarism-Free

Certified writers