Mktg

“Self education or formal education?”

In “Learning to Read”, Malcolm X recounts his extremely tough path of educating himself while he is in jail. The pressures he feels when he cannot transform his ideas and feelings into written words, is an impetus to start educating himself. His long and arduous path of self-education basically consisted on reading and writing. He started copying the whole dictionary! The turmoil created in his head by the large amount of words in the dictionary, made him feel almost illiterate. On his personal experience with education, he particularly focuses upon the power of reading, and how the person he became was intimately connected to this. In one particular instance, Malcolm X states, “I knew right there in prison that reading had changed forever the course of my life” (6). By this he means that reading undoubtedly constitutes a key factor in the academic and social life of a person. In his view, self-education can be as worthy as formal education. Furthermore, when an English writer asked him what was his alma matter, he explained, “I told the Englishman that my alma mater was books, a good library” (6). He indicates that he didn’t go to any formal school; everything he learned was in books. Clearly Malcolm X feels that books are the door to knowledge. In my opinion I agree with his idea, but I think his story is very personal. Everybody does not learn in the same way. I also think that self-education can be very challenging, but not as productive as formal education.

Common sense seems to dictate that personal stories are interesting and motivational. They can have influence over people’s lives and behavior. Malcolm X’s story is very positive and encouraging, and it has become a paradigm in history. Anybody who read or hear about his educational background can be touched or inspired by it. However, I think it is too personal. His experience is not everyone’s. Not everybody has the time and the capacity to read more than twelve...