This week I will play devil's advocate to try to answer the question of whether education is important to pursue.  Surely, life does not always make it easy to go to school.  While there are benefits to receiving an education, they all exist in the long-term.  Down the road, many years from now, you will get a better job with a better income.  But what about making ends meet right now?  What about paying the expenses due at the end of the month?  What about putting a roof over your head and food on the table?  In this context, education appears to be a luxury that may or may not be worth it in the end.  

While this is a compelling argument, so are the numbers and testimonials.  Below is a graph that reveals the median annual earnings of full-time year-round wage and salary workers ages 25–34, by educational attainment: 1995–2012.

For young adults, your level of education greatly impacts your income.  You’re looking at approximately a $10,000 increase with each higher degree you earn.  The difference is so significant that I would argue that education is, in fact, worth it in the long run.   

So, theoretically, it seems that you should do what you have to do now to get an education so that you may benefit in the future.  Easier said than done, right?  You would prefer to hear from real people facing real situations, wouldn't you?  Well, Latisha Hopewell is one such person.  She is a mother of two in her thirties from New York.  While she had originally intended to pursue a higher degree, life interfered, and she didn't graduate from college.  But through hard work and funding opportunities, Ms. Hopewell found her way back to schooling.  Lori Holcomb-Holland writes of Ms. Hopewell’s journey, “College is different this time around. She says she is a better student now that the consequences, as well as the rewards, are more tangible. She wants to give her daughters a better life.”  

While it may be difficult to picture how education will improve your life in the future and so easy to feel the ways it is currently burdening you, I recommend that you try to identify and define your tangible consequences and rewards.  Use the images of these realities as your motivation.  Commit to giving yourself a better life by investing in your education; the future gains will outweigh the current negatives.  It’s worth it.  You’re worth it.  Those who count on you are worth it.  Start your future today.    

-Samantha Phillips

Please comment and share your motivations, visualizations, or tips that keep you on track!

Sources:
New York Times: Going Back to College, and Teaching Her Daughters the Value of Education
National Center for Education Statistics: Fast Facts- Income of young adults 

Alysia Sabatine-Phillips has been in the classroom for 28 years teaching Spanish to middle school and high school students in the Poconos in Pennsylvania.  She always dreamed of becoming a teacher because she enjoys working with kids, helping them to learn and to become better people.  She specifically chose to be a Spanish teacher because she believes it is important to teach American students that there are people different from them in the world and how to be more open and accepting of other people.  Below is an interview with Mrs. Sabatine-Phillips about her experiences in the education field.  

-Samantha Phillips

1.      Can you share a teaching moment of which you are particularly proud?

“I remember when Kaitlyn, [a past student of mine,] came up to me to tell me she was going to become a Spanish teacher because of me.  That was a personal moment of accomplishment I recall.  I was also a member of the Diversity Task Force, and we had kids take a pledge for unity to accept others for their differences.  We had probably 800 kids take the pledge.  That’s something I’m proud of that I did outside of the classroom because kids were pledging to accept other people and cultures.”

2.      What changes have you seen develop over your career in the education field?

“A lot more paperwork.  A lot more standardized testing, which takes away from me teaching my subject matter.  Instead, I have to teach to the test.  Another change is evaluating teachers by their students’ progress.  There have also been huge changes in special education. When I first started, there weren’t special needs kids in a regular classroom, but over the years they have been mainstreamed.”

3.      Have you noticed any systematic issues which limit or enhance learning in your classroom?

“I feel less able to discuss Spanish culture relating to religion because of administration.  No Child Left Behind makes me teach more slowly, and I’m not able to help the kids who already get it and could move on.  And again, state testing has taken up a ton of classroom instructional time.”

4.      In your own words, why is receiving an education important?

“It makes you a better person.  Any new piece of knowledge helps you to improve.  It helps you get a job and be in a better environment.  More opportunities open for you.  You gain the ability to help others.”

5.      What would you say to a student who has become disengaged with their education?

“Shape up.  Focus and buckle down because it’s so important because of the reasons I just stated.  If you drop out, you’re not going to get a good job.  You’re more likely to be earning minimum wage, and this could cause you to struggle your whole life.”

Please share your reactions to these experiences of an educator.

It’s around that time of year that you are brainstorming ways to get your act together and become some better version of yourself.  No matter what kind of goals you are hoping to achieve in 2015 (but possibly something along the lines of committing to your schoolwork and subsequently your future), getting organized could be a smart first step to kick start your plans for the new year. 

The initial step I recommend taking as you get back into the swing of school is to map out the rest of your semester.  Sit down with your calendar and pencil in all of your upcoming due dates.  This will help you visualize when you should start studying for that big exam or should start meeting with your group to put together your presentation.  You’ll be aware of when your busy weeks will be and can prep as much as you can for them in advance. 

From there, I advise that you take the time to break down your upcoming weeks as they come.  Factor in the amount of time you need for a good night’s rest, meals, and maybe some exercise.  Block off your weekly recurring meetings, practices, and your favorite TV show.  Free time is important to include too for your mental health.  Then set aside some reasonable time periods to do your homework and study.  I recommend that you keep your goals realistic and don’t overwhelm yourself, yet make that promise to yourself to use that time wisely to improve yourself.  If you keep at your work steadily while respecting deadlines, you will have the tools to avoid procrastination.  You will be in the position to be at your best and on top of your work. 

After that, my suggestion is to make a list every day of the small steps you have to accomplish that day within the bigger projects.  Then, prioritize them.  After taking the first two steps, you’ll be better able to see what the order should be.  Prioritizing is key to a student’s success and is probably one of the more difficult skills to achieve.  Yet once you figure it out, it is a transferable skill that will serve you later in life, both professionally and personally.  In addition to prioritizing, pay attention to due dates with respect to how long writing a five paragraph essay takes you or the amount of time you need to dedicate to looking over your notes before you feel confident for an exam.   Once you have your daily to-do list, be sure to check tasks off as you complete them.  It will bring you a sense of accomplishment, which will keep you moving forward.

I hope these organization tips will help get you started on the way to accomplishing your goals in 2015.  Getting organized helps you to make better use of your time and energy.  It can help you see where you need to cut back on certain activities (such as browsing Facebook) as well as make you recognize where you need to dedicate more time.  These tips will also hold you accountable for what you truly need to do to be successful. 

-Samantha Phillips

Please let me know your thoughts and feedback on these tips and any you would like to share that currently serve you well.  Good luck!

The field of education is highly contested because it has a significant impact on the future; how and to what end the youth of our country are instructed can make a huge difference in their futures, as well as the world at large.  Plutarch asserted, “The mind is not a vessel to be filled, but a fire to be kindled.”  This offers an answer to the question of what education is supposed to accomplish.  Good education should awaken the desire to learn in students so they will then choose to apply their absorbed lessons in the ‘real world.’  While some would argue that students should simply be drilled in the basics in order to become intelligent citizens, I believe giving students the tools to think for themselves will make a larger impact on their lives.  Involving youth in their schooling makes it relevant and important to them.  'Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day.  Teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime.'  

Besides the ultimate motivation of education, presentation is also an important consideration.  As Plato said, “Do not train a child to learn by force or harshness; but direct them to it by what amuses their minds, so that you may be better able to discover with accuracy the peculiar bent of the genius of each.”  Belaboring facts and figures may be important and at the present inescapable, but it is probably not the most valuable for students in the long run.  

Rather, each individual has strengths which should be identified and developed.  This will lead to confidence since it provides the student with the ability to succeed on their own merit.  Developing inherent talents will make education come naturally, evolving from frustrating to enjoyable.  If information that appears irrelevant is presented in a format that does not correspond with a student’s abilities, learning will seem impossible and not worth the struggle.  But if students' tendencies are taken into consideration in lesson presentation, this makes learning possible.  Subsequently, the lessons’ applicability and practicality is made evident.    

Surely reaching a goal as lofty as interesting students in their own education is not simple.  It begs the question of how this type of education should be formatted.  Should there be a strictly-adhered-to formula or should lessons be personalized?  Should teachings focus on the basics, such as math and English?  Should education be hands-on and practical or should it be theoretical and relevant later?  Should students be judged by tests or projects?  Should these be done in teams or individually? 

Each educator has a different opinion, but if people are to become invested in their own futures and realize education’s close connection to their success, their learning should fully involve them.  They should have the opportunity to have hands-on experiences that require them to use what they have learned and also compel them to learn more during the experience.  Practical lessons will continue to be utilized in the future and therefore hard to forget.  This approach makes education obviously relevant, and subsequently matter to the student. 

Despite many differing opinions on the goals and best methods for education, the benefits are undeniable and unlimited.  It is the job of those who care about education to communicate its importance to youth in order to keep them in school, thus improving their lives and the outlook of the future in general.  Nelson Mandela said, “A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special.”  Yes, a youth may be able to find success with a limited education based on their own strengths.  But if the youth of New York and America were to be made aware of their strengths and capitalize upon them while pairing that invaluable information with a strong intellectual foundation, they would be very well armed to face whatever life has to throw at them. 

And even if someone seems too far removed from their schooling, or it appears as though it is too late, it is not.  Education is a lifelong process with lifelong benefits.  It continually builds on itself, and the first step is only a decision on the part of the learner to get involved in their own education.  This decision can lead to professional rewards, personal satisfaction, and self-confidence.  Jim Rohn advised, “If someone is going down the wrong road, he doesn’t need motivation to speed him up. What he needs is education to turn him around.”  Even if a person possesses natural talents and inner motivation, education can only improve their chances.  4T’s believes in students’ hands-on involvement in their education.  It believes in igniting youth’s interest in their schooling by opening their eyes to the possibilities of their journey with education.  4T’s Productions hopes to work alongside others who care about education to help students acquire the tools to succeed on their own during high school and after their education formally ends.

-Samantha Phillips

Please share your opinions on the format and goals of education and/or your stories of personally connecting to education and the subsequent outcomes.