Education and School

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Dear Student Leader,

What’s the difference between education and school? Are they one and the same?

If you’ve never thought about it, continue reading this letter.

You attend school to receive an education. The school is the structure. You know the desks, the building, textbooks, and material components.

School also includes teachers, administrators, your peers, and the staff.

An education is how you apply what you learn from the things and people in school.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. said, “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.” Check the source of this quote and other educational ideas from Black leaders at this link.

Education is your goal. The degree is secondary to acquiring knowledge and developing the skills to impact others and improve your life. Learn what you can in school and afterward apply your ideas to improving conditions in your community.  

Your teachers can help, but it will be up to you to think creatively and critically about the material shaping your mind. Every teacher aims to teach you something. Their learning objectives guide the course’s activities and assignments.

It’s your responsibility to uncover the hidden curriculum. Remove the white sheet that hides your history from the class lecture. Use your smartphone, social media, and the library to discover multiple perspectives of pivotal events shaping our world.

Dr. Carter Godwin Woodson started a movement to teach Black history. He created Negro History Week, which evolved into Black History Month. It’s on you to continue his efforts.

Learn everything that you can about the African diaspora.

February will come and go, but you can extend your education beyond the celebrations. Consider challenges in your community, examine how others work towards solutions, and join or start a change movement.

What we do in response to injustices is the ultimate test. Actions bring into question our purposes for living.

I hope this message doesn't come across as harsh. I frequently ask myself, is there more that I can do?

On Monday, I attended a local MLK march with my family. We observed the pre-rally and started the march, but left prematurely to attend to other affairs. En route to the car, the thought crossed my mind that perhaps I should have stayed longer.

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Everyone was cold, and I had promised the children a celebratory snack for coming to the march. I made the right decision to honor my word and left after two hours.

As long as we live, opportunities will exist to apply the lessons learned in and around schools. Unfortunately, structural and individual forms of oppression will persist.

Education can equip our minds with the strategies to engage in resistance to injustices. It can also encourage compliance. You decide how you will use education.

We will commemorate one hundred years of Black History Month observances in February. Today, we can take our ancestors' stories, acknowledge their struggles in school, and use education to drive change.

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In solidarity with your success,

Dr. V