Society

Critical Thinking

“Educations Importance in the Worldview as a World Citizen”

Kevin Glover

Professor Tonkin

COM 222

October 23, 2011

When thinking of a topic to write my essay on, I thought of things that pertained closely to my life, something that I have good knowledge on. The number one thing I thought of was education. Working in the educational system I have seen many ups and downs over the last few years, as it is a constantly changing process both here in the U.S. and foreign countries abroad.

Education seems to be becoming more and more of a controversial subject not only among government, but also with school boards, teachers, parents, and even the students. Some of this controversy is attributed to the normal routine things such as starting times, funding for clubs and sports, and more recently the rise of violence in the schools, as well as outcries from the church for the return of religion in the schools. However, people of today’s society are even more confused by the recent additions of new subjects not only the college curriculum but also in the curriculum of grade schoolers as well. These additions include the study of non-western cultures, the study of women and ethnic minorities in the U.S., and finally the study of human sexuality. In addition, people are wondering what exactly education has to do with being a “world citizen”? Is the life experience enough to become a “world citizen”?

According to Nussbaum, a world citizen can be understood in two ways, the first being the strict of the two is “the ideal of citizen whose primary loyalty is to human beings the world over, and whose nationality are considered distinctly secondary” (1). An example that one could use to paint a picture of this type of world citizen could be Ghandi or Mother Teresa who both put others, no matter their race or gender, above themselves. The second way is much more relaxed and states that “however we order our varied loyalties, we should still be...