- Growing up I was always told that in order to even have a chance at success I needed to complete an extensive course of education, pre-K, elementary, middle, high, college, some even push all the way for further education after getting a four-year bachelor’s degree. It is common opinion that if you do not complete all of these steps of schooling you won’t be successful. This makes sense, as early education teaches children the building blocks, knowledge, creativity, individuality, social skills, etc.. In “Between the World and Me”, written by Ta-Nehis Coates, he speaks of his experiences with the push to “grow up and be somebody” (Coates 93.) The education system is a concrete mold that doesn’t change depending on the person going through the school. This has led to kids like Coates wondering why they’re even there in the first place. Different people have different interests in life, school isn’t always the answer for everyone. The approach they take to force kids to think school is the only road to success, it isn’t the way to go for everyone. If these kids do not finish school, they are punished. If they do go through school, they’re attacked for getting an education.
- Critical thinking is the analysis and evaluation of a situation that leads to a decision. Throughout Coates’s essay, he is constantly looking at challenges in his life and asking questions about them. He takes that question and develops it further until he can either develop a nuanced question based upon the previous question, or he digs until he finds the answer. This is exactly what critical thinking is based upon. In this instance, it isn’t a skill that he learned through school, it’s something he does for himself by himself to take control and think about his own life. His grandma showed him how writing can help with the analysis of these problems that come up in our lives. If we write about them, if we think about them, if we explore multiple outcomes instead of just one it can help us solve the problem for us. Coates talks about how “The writing had to answer a series of questions” (94.) It seems to me that this is how Coates solved the problem of education. If we are taught in schools to think in a way that’s beneficial for us and in our best interest, that is how we make it more enjoyable for students. To feel like they can be successful by just thinking for themselves.
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