"Education is among the most potent anti-poverty vaccines," CNN reporter Gayle Tzemach Lemmon states. In fact, the case could be made that poverty-reduction is the primary goal of education, considering that education, for many, means unlocking the potential of a higher paying job. I want my children to go to school so that they can have opportunity, the common rationale goes - and by opportunity the parent means possibility of providing for themselves, their families, their communities.
I volunteer at an organization called LIFT in Boston, in the predominantly disadvantaged and predominantly African American neighborhood of Roxbury. LIFT is a national organization where volunteers work with clients with poverty-related qualms, although there are no client eligibility requirements. We are thrilled when a client comes in with a high school diploma, a GED, a nursing certification, or, on a rare but not unheard-of occasion, a college degree, because these educational stepping stones mean for us easier job searches, less likelihood of a criminal record, greater chance of successful housing applications. And, to tell the truth, the more academically inclined a client is, the better they generally will be at doing their "homework" in between weekly meetings, and at showing up for their appointments with us and other service providers.
However, while I am always elated by a client's desire to further his or her education, ideally they would find merit to educational pursuits beyond the prospective monetary reward. I have had (and am having) the privilege of an education that is more than so-called "job training" or "employment readiness." The fact is that being at and learning at school intrinsically will prepare you to work well, because school is work. Practice makes perfect, so meeting deadlines, preparing papers, showing up on time, and learning how to intellectually articulate spontaneous thoughts as a child or young adult will better prepare you for doing this and getting paid for it.
For me, though, poverty reduction can never have a price tag, and the education that frequently causes it is valuable for reasons more far-reaching. Ideally, too, having an education would enable a person to have more constructive and critical thoughts, which could be used to the betterment of a company, a society, or a product. These are, unfortunately, not the tasks that LIFT clients are often asked to do in their jobs or careers, and I hold their education (or lack of it) accountable. In general terms, a deeper and more productive education alone can provide an individual with creative job opportunities. Aside from probably providing him or her with an above-the-poverty-line salary that can break generational patterns of desperate need, such a job provides a person with the priceless opportunity to participate in societal construction and use their own voice to create change for the better.
I volunteer at an organization called LIFT in Boston, in the predominantly disadvantaged and predominantly African American neighborhood of Roxbury. LIFT is a national organization where volunteers work with clients with poverty-related qualms, although there are no client eligibility requirements. We are thrilled when a client comes in with a high school diploma, a GED, a nursing certification, or, on a rare but not unheard-of occasion, a college degree, because these educational stepping stones mean for us easier job searches, less likelihood of a criminal record, greater chance of successful housing applications. And, to tell the truth, the more academically inclined a client is, the better they generally will be at doing their "homework" in between weekly meetings, and at showing up for their appointments with us and other service providers.
However, while I am always elated by a client's desire to further his or her education, ideally they would find merit to educational pursuits beyond the prospective monetary reward. I have had (and am having) the privilege of an education that is more than so-called "job training" or "employment readiness." The fact is that being at and learning at school intrinsically will prepare you to work well, because school is work. Practice makes perfect, so meeting deadlines, preparing papers, showing up on time, and learning how to intellectually articulate spontaneous thoughts as a child or young adult will better prepare you for doing this and getting paid for it.
For me, though, poverty reduction can never have a price tag, and the education that frequently causes it is valuable for reasons more far-reaching. Ideally, too, having an education would enable a person to have more constructive and critical thoughts, which could be used to the betterment of a company, a society, or a product. These are, unfortunately, not the tasks that LIFT clients are often asked to do in their jobs or careers, and I hold their education (or lack of it) accountable. In general terms, a deeper and more productive education alone can provide an individual with creative job opportunities. Aside from probably providing him or her with an above-the-poverty-line salary that can break generational patterns of desperate need, such a job provides a person with the priceless opportunity to participate in societal construction and use their own voice to create change for the better.
No comments:
Post a Comment