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Samantha McCullough
Comp II: TR 10:30
D. Watkins
19 April 2016
Education for the Win
Tony Wagner, who currently serves as the Expert in Residence at Harvard Universitys
new Innovation Lab, once said,
Today knowledge is ubiquitous, constantly changing, growing exponentially Today
knowledge is free. Its like air, its like water. Its become a commodity Theres no
competitive advantage today in knowing more than the person next to you. The world
doesnt care what you know. What the world cares about is what you can do with what
you know.
When we acknowledge that there is more to life than just the problems that we as individuals
face, we begin to understand that the struggles that we perceive as mountains are realistically just
small bumps in the road. We tend to realize that our problems as Americans are so insignificant
compared to what the rest of world has to cope with. Education is a universal tool that allows us
to realize such differences, and is much more significant to our everyday life than most humans
make it out to be. If it was held higher on every individuals priority list, we might be able to fix
some of the worlds most prominent social and economic catastrophes. Establishing an education
as a high ranking priority and enabling more countries to have access to it, will benefit our world
economically by alleviating the poverty numbers, socially by raising awareness of issues such as
gender inequality while establishing an efficient means of communication, and intellectually by

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providing information that we as global citizens, should be aware of to accurately serve our
country well.
Strategies that use effective teaching policies are crucial to the elimination of poverty
because they give us insight as to what is imperative in their lives. An education helps develop
the maintenance and prosperity of the social classes, and gives us awareness to life on a global
scale. According to The Borgen Magazine which is an innovative, national campaign that works
with U.S. leaders to improve their response to the global poverty crisis,
being educated in the area of diseases is very important. Not only does
understanding the symptoms of a disease contribute greatly, knowing basic hygiene can
daily hygienic practices (and teaching people how to obtain ideal conditions for good
daily hygiene) is an important place to start. In dealing with more high-danger diseases
(HIV/AIDS/malaria), knowing ways to limit the damage and preventing others from
obtaining them is important. Education in the field of disease management and
prevention could drastically change the death toll dramatically for many poverty-stricken
areas, (Borgen).
Understanding concepts like birth control, basic hygiene, vaccinations, arithmetic, and most
importantly the ability to read are the building blocks of an innovative, global society. A
fundamental education is something that no one can ever take away from us and once we have
that knowledge we can spread it throughout our countries and use it to eventually change the
world. Shawn F. Dorius, who is a research professor in the Department of Sociology at Iowa
State University, in his peer edited journal The Rise and Fall of Worldwide Education Inequality
from 1870 to 2010: Measurement and Trends wrote,

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National education levels, whether measured by literacy rates, enrollment rates, or

attainment, are robustly correlated with other measures of human well-being such as
income levels, life expectancy, and political and religious freedoms. High levels of
human capital are associated with higher rates of innovation and technological
adaptation, (Dorius).
The fundamental education that a community receives is directly related to the amount of success
they have economically because our citizens are, as a result, more innovative, hard-working, and
therefore generating more income for the country. The Global Partnership for Education states
that, If all students in low-income countries left school with basic reading skills, 171 million
people could be lifted out of poverty. This is equal to a 12% cut in global poverty, (GPE). The
ability to read and write is a necessity for us in order to not only get jobs and create revenue for
our country, but for ourselves. Education levels worldwide need to see in increase in numbers in
order to relieve the impoverished of their poor economic environments and teach them about the
world and what all it has to offer. Dorius makes another great point in his paper when he says,
Literacy has become an increasingly popular indicator of the degree to which people have the
most basic skills necessary to successfully function in the con-temporary world, (Dorius).
Learning is defined in the Webster Dictionary as, the activity or process of gaining
knowledge or skill by studying, practicing, being taught, or experiencing something. If
we never learn a skill by either experiencing it ourselves, being taught, or reading it
somewhere, then we would never know that a better alternative exists. For example,
when we think about gender roles in certain countries there are two extremes, such as
America where women can do whatever they want with the freedom that they have here
in U.S. While on the other hand, in Africa or the Middle East girls get shot at for

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wanting to go school and raped on a daily basis simply because the people/men in those
countries believe that their way is the only way. According to Azza Karam who served as
a Senior Advisor on Social and Cultural Development, United Nations Population Fund, the
inability of women to read and write creates a momentous impediment for women in developing
countries that do not acknowledge their rights. He says that since women in these types of
instances are so underprivileged, their lack of education can lead to the inability to exercise their
rights that they have currently such as the ability to own land or property. These barriers in civil
rights still exist around the world and Karem links them directly to education when he says that,
there are often legal rights in rule books that are not used because the aggrieved parties cannot
read those rule books. Gaps in schooling can, therefore, directly lead to insecurity by distancing
the deprived from the ways and means of fighting against that deprivation, (Karem). In order to
battle inequality between the sexes and offer a fundamental education to women especially, but
also to the men who are executing these barriers against womens rights, we must provide relief
for these women and make their individual stories known. The International Labor Service
published a worldwide program that is confronting these issues piece by piece. They say in
Chapter 4 of the publication that there are a wide range of initiatives that are targeted on making
education more of a priority and are prevalent in countries around the world. They also say that
one of the most influential ways to increase enrollment in schools is the abolition of school fees
and the addition of conditional cash transfers which encourage school attendance. The
International Labor Organization defines CCT programs as the action of governments making
cash payments to persons who meet certain criteria; these may include the regular attendance of
children at school or regular visits of family members to health centers, (ILO). Overall,
programs initiated by international organizations such as the ILO are increasing the awareness

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about education with regards to gender inequality and have made a meaningful difference so far.
Communicating these strategies to countries that are still in practice of barring women from their
natural human right to an education, must be the top priority for us as global citizens. If we
would simply take the time to read about these global issues, we could get involved with
organizations who could make a difference in our world. It should not take a catastrophe to
happen in order for us to to care about other humans, we should be informed and educated about
what is going on in our world.
In order to educate the public on a global scale we will need to start small, preferably
with small town and communities. Understanding how our own country operates in America for
example, could inform citizens about how our country interacts globally and what policy topics
that directly affect us. Voting is a privilege that we as Americans should be delighted about, but
instead the majority of us do not even take the 30 minutes out of our day to go and participate in
the decision as to who is going to run our country. That is understood, since we as Americans pay
little attention to what kinds of programs that each candidate is proposing or even to what their
strategies are in attempting to bring our country out of debt for example. Scott Clement makes an
accurate dissertation in his article from the Washington Post when he asked the question, So,
why did so few Americans vote last year? He mentions a Census Bureau statistic when they ask
people why they did not vote in their last election, and people most often said that they were "too
busy." He shares that the the rest of the list of excuses included, a lack of interest, being sick, out
of town, simply forgetting, and disliking the candidates or the issues. Clement explains that few
people blamed semi-acceptable issues such as, registration, inconvenience, transportation, or
bad weather, (Clement). Why would a citizen of the United States not want to cast a ballot for
an election that affects their countrys potential future simply because they were too busy? What

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if every single presidential candidate decided not to run because they were too busy, then where
would we be? In order to increase the amount of not only voter turnout, but educated voter
turnout we will need to pay attention to what is going on, or we should establish political
information seminars, much like the requirements for jury duty. If we were educated on political
matters that were proven to affect us, and demonstrate to the public that an individual citizens
participation would actually make more of a difference, then most people would be more likely
to carry out their civic duties. Regardless of these classes that I have proposed, studies have
proven that the more educated public is the percent of our country that actually votes in
elections. For example, Barry C. Burden point out in his Electoral Studies article that,
educational attainment is, in fact, the single most potent predictor of an adults political
activity. This conclusion is echoed in TAVR. TAVR showed that while only 51% of
those with a junior high education reported that they had voted in the 2004 presidential
election, 92% of the college educated did so, (Burden).
With that being said, it has been proven that those of us who are educated on the matter and
know what is going on politically are more prone to voice our opinions because we believe it
matters more. Aside from voting, there are other ways of implementing our political voice here
in the United States and hopefully in most developing and socialistic countries in the near future.
Information seminars encouraging the public to embrace their natural right to an education as
their civic duty is something that would benefit us all. They would be free and provide for
educating us on how our voices are important when it comes to voting, which directly affects
everyone. These seminars would include topics such as how to allocate our money effectively,
illustrate political highlights for a country specifically, and raise awareness about crucial issues

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going on in the world. There is a website called the Public Seminar, and their goal is to
Confront [ing] fundamental problems of the human condition and pressing problems of the day,
using the broad resources of social research, we seek to provoke critical and informed discussion
by any means necessary, (Public Seminar). This attempt at educating the public on information
that actually matters is what will be most influential and accurate to not only increase voter
turnout, but simply to bring our neighbors, family, friends, kids, old, and young to be more aware
of how much one voice actually matters.
One voice is all is takes sometimes to start a fire and let it catch in peoples hearts around
us. To inspire humans to make a difference because they understand what need to be done.
Whether it be about establishing economic peace and stability, communicating the importance of
raising awareness, or even simply educating the public about what their duties as a citizen entail,
education is what allows for innovation and change in our world. An old Chinese proverb once
said, Give a man a fish and you feed him for a day; teach a man to fish and you feed him for a
lifetime. Learning and knowledge are powerful tools, they can inspire people, who alter towns,
who transform states, who eventually revolutionize countries, and who might even change the
world. So next time your given the opportunity to learn something new, please take the time to
listen and understand the bigger picture. The world does not care what we know but rather what
we can do with what we know.

Works Cited

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Admin. "The Importance of Education: Alleviating Extreme Poverty." Borgen Magazine 16 Oct.
2013. 14 Apr.2016. Web. < http://www.publicseminar.org/category/reviews/>
Burden, Barry C. "'The Dynamic Effects of Education on Voter Turnout'"ResearchGate.
University of Wisconsin, Department of Political Science, 22 May 2009. Web. 15 Apr.
2016.<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/228963328_
%27The_Dynamic_Effects_of_Education_on_Voter_Turnout%27>.
Clement, Scott. "Why Dont Americans Vote? Were too Busy.." The Washington Post. Fred
Ryan, 17 July 2015. Web. 15 Apr.2016. <https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/thefix/wp/2015/07/17/why-dont-americans-vote-were-too-busy/>
Dorius, 1Shawn F. "The Rise and Fall of Worldwide Education Inequality from 1870-2010:
Measurement and Trends." The Rise and Fall of Worldwide Education Inequality from
1870-2010: Measurement and Trends (2012): 1-38. Sage Journals. Population Studies
Center, University of Michigan, May 2012. Web. 10 Apr. 2016.
<http://www.psc.isr.umich.edu/pubs/misc/Dorius_Shawn_Rise%26Fall.pdf>.
Global Partnership for Education. "The Benefits of Education | Global Partnership for
Education." The Benefits of Education | Global Partnership for Education. N.p., n.d.
Web. 18 Apr. 2016. <http://www.globalpartnership.org/education/the-benefits-ofeducation>.
Goldfarb, Jeffery C. PUBLIC SEMINAR. 8 Apr. 2016. Web. 15 Apr. 2016.
International Labour Office. "ILO." World Day Against Child Labour 2009: Give Girls a Chance
(IPEC). International Labour Organization, 2009. Web. 18 Apr. 2016.

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Karem, Azza. "Education as the Pathway towards Gender Equality." UN Chronicle. United
Nations, Dec. 2013. Web. 6 Apr. 2016. <http://unchronicle.un.org/article/educationpathway-towards-gender-equality/>.