Education Ralpho Waldo Emerson Analysis

Every person is born with underlying curiosity, potential, and genius. Whether an individual takes advantage of that potential is up to them. The potential of that genius is driven based on the individual themselves and the motivation within them. However, societal factors surrounding that individual’s life also play a role. The level of love, care, support, and encouragement a child receives is what will ultimately contribute to their future but it is up to the individual to sculpt the genius within. A child is not simply given motivation. They must find that motivation and take advantage of it. Ralpho Waldo Emerson, in his excerpt from Education, claims “every young man [and woman] is born with some determination in his [or her] nature, and is a potential genius” (para.10). Children have the ability and potential to be a genius. A student will strive to learn if they are curious. An individual’s determination plays a significant part in what they accomplish. Many students are

However, teachers must approach these geniuses with care and patience. Geniuses are eccentric; they don’t fit in to what we consider the norm of society (para.10). Schools often make the mistake of teaching to the mass instead of focusing on individual students. Unfortunately, “the teaching comes to be arranged for these many, and not for those few” (para.10). Teachers often become “skillfull tutors, of accurate and systematic mind, rather than ardent and inventive masters” (para.10). The system must be changed to focus on each student and allow students the opportunity to discover their inner genius. Patience is essential.The child should be respected. Teachers must keep the child’s “naturel” (para.2). Allow them to see what they are capable of. The world has the potential to become a mass of geniuses but that begins with a change to the “bureaucratic institutions” we refer to as school