What Does It Mean To Be Well Educated Summary

What does a student need to become well educated? Educational author Alfie Kohn offers a common belief. Written in his article “What Does it Mean to be Well Educated,” Kohn believes a student’s educational success can never be truly measured; since education differs by location, culture, educators, and monetary resources, defining the characteristics of a well-educated student becomes complex. However, Kohn explains the only reputable characteristic of a well-educated student “is to have the desire as well as the means to make sure that learning never ends,” (Kohn 4). Although Kohn believes a positive education can never be defined, the battle to define the successes of education continues to rack the minds of educators and parents alike; both worrying their students will fall behind. Therefore, starting in 2008, public schools react to this fear by cutting seemingly unimportant studies: music, fine art, and drama (Johnson). In order to accommodate the lack of funding for the arts, schools have begun experimenting with interdisciplinary art curriculum, weaving forms of art through core material. The problem with interdisciplinary art curriculum does not …show more content…
(Cunnington, et al. 4). In order to teach the reading and writing technique of compare and contrast, the educator assigns a project which students discuss the similarities and differences of two paintings of landscapes: Bierstadt’s painting of the Rocky Mountains versus Homers’ painting of a seascape. By using a Venn diagram, the students learn about both renowned works of art and a Language Arts technique. According to the research, activities that integrate works of art into core learning educate the students on “descriptive language, analogic reasoning, and interpretive skills,” (Cunnington, et al. 3). By employing interdisciplinary art curriculum, students find educational