The Purpose of Education

The Purpose of Education, according to Dr. King

Education and freedom go hand in hand. Through education, we gain exposure to new and old knowledge, new and old ideas, new and old philosophies. We train our minds to think critically, grow and expand, and with each addition we become better equipped to make our own decisions, find our passions, change our own lives, and change the world. In many ways, a solid education is the key to great personal and social power in our society.

But as Uncle Ben says, “With great power comes great responsibility.” We’ve just celebrated the birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, so it seems appropriate to meditate today on what he said in 1948, in a speech at Morehouse College about the Purpose of Education.

He said, “The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals.”

On Dr. King’s day, as we reflect on the suffering and inequality in our world, we have to think of how far we’ve come, but also how far remains for us to go. Whether we are considering the immense suffering of the people in Haiti, or the suffering that exists in our local school system, it would do us good to keep in mind the question Dr. King posed in his famous speech, I Have Been to the Mountaintop:

The question is not, “If I stop to help this man in need, what will happen to me?” The question is, “If I do not stop to help this man in need, what will happen to him?”