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"The Purpose of Education"

Author:  King, Martin Luther, Jr.

Date:  September 1, 1946 to January 31, 1947 ?

Location:  Atlanta, Ga. ?

Genre:  Published Article

Topic:  Martin Luther King, Jr. - Political and Social Views

This essay, written sometime during King’s junior year at Morehouse, may be an early draft of the article of the same name published in the  Maroon Tiger . He suggests that education should not only “teach man to think intensively” but also provide “worthy objectives upon which to concentrate.”

Last week we attempted to discuss the purpose of religion. This week our attention moves toward education. I will attempt to answer the question, what is the purpose of education?

To my mind, education has a two-fold function in society. On the one hand it should discipline the mind for sustained and persistent speculation. On the other hand it should integrate human life around central, focusing ideals. It is a tragedy that the latter is often neglected in our educational system.

Education should equip us with the power to think effectively and objectively. To think is one of the hardest things in the world, and to think objectively is still harder. Yet this is the job of education. Education should cause us to rise beyond the horizon of legions of half truth, prejudices and propaganda. Education should enable us to “weigh and consider,” to discern the true from the false, the relevant from the irrelevant, and the real from the unreal. 1  The first function of education, therefore, is to teach man to think intensively. But this is not the whole of education. If education stops here it can be the most dangerous force in society. Some of the greatest criminals in society have been men {who) possessed the power of concentration and reason, but they had no morals. Perhaps the most dangerous periods in civilization have been those periods when there was no moral foundation in society.

Education without morals is like a ship without a compass, merely wandering nowhere. It is not enough to have the power of concentration, but we must have worthy objectives upon which to concentrate. It is not enough to know truth, but we must love truth and sacrifice for it.

1.  “Read not to contradict and confute; nor yet to believe and take for granted; nor to find talk and discourse; but to weigh and consider” (Francis Bacon, “Of Studies,” in  The Works of Francis Bacon , ed. James Spedding, R. L. Ellis, and D. D. Heath [New York: Hurd and Houghton, 1877], p. 252). King used the phrase “weigh and consider” in three papers written at Crozer Theological Seminary (“Light on the Old Testament from the Ancient Near East,” 14 September–24 November 1948, p. 180 in this volume; “The Sources of Fundamentalism and Liberalism Considered Historically and Psychologically,” 13 September–23 November 1949, p. 237; and Book review of  A Functional Approach to Religious Education  by Ernest J. Chave, 12 September–22 November 1950, p. 355).

Source:  MLKP-MBU, Martin Luther King, Jr., Papers, 1954-1968, Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University, Boston, Mass.

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The Purpose of Education

Morehouse College, 1948

As I engage in the so-called “bull sessions” around and about the school, I too often find that most college men have a misconception of the purpose of education. Most of the “brethren” think that education should equip them with the proper instruments of exploitation so that they can forever trample over the masses. Still others think that education should furnish them with noble ends rather than means to an end.

It seems to me that education has a two-fold function to perform in the life of man and in society: the one is utility and the other is culture. Education must enable a man to become more efficient, to achieve with increasing facility the ligitimate goals of his life.

Education must also train one for quick, resolute and effective thinking. To think incisively and to think for one’s self is very difficult. We are prone to let our mental life become invaded by legions of half truths, prejudices, and propaganda. At this point, I often wonder whether or not education is fulfilling its purpose. A great majority of the so-called educated people do not think logically and scientifically. Even the press, the classroom, the platform, and the pulpit in many instances do not give us objective and unbiased truths. To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction.

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.

The late Eugene Talmadge, in my opinion, possessed one of the better minds of Georgia, or even America. Moreover, he wore the Phi Beta Kappa key. By all measuring rods, Mr. Talmadge could think critically and intensively; yet he contends that I am an inferior being. Are those the types of men we call educated?

We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character–that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate. The broad education will, therefore, transmit to one not only the accumulated knowledge of the race but also the accumulated experience of social living.

If we are not careful, our colleges will produce a group of close-minded, unscientific, illogical propagandists, consumed with immoral acts. Be careful, “brethren!” Be careful, teachers!

• Our Mission

What Is Education For?

Read an excerpt from a new book by Sir Ken Robinson and Kate Robinson, which calls for redesigning education for the future.

What is education for? As it happens, people differ sharply on this question. It is what is known as an “essentially contested concept.” Like “democracy” and “justice,” “education” means different things to different people. Various factors can contribute to a person’s understanding of the purpose of education, including their background and circumstances. It is also inflected by how they view related issues such as ethnicity, gender, and social class. Still, not having an agreed-upon definition of education doesn’t mean we can’t discuss it or do anything about it.

We just need to be clear on terms. There are a few terms that are often confused or used interchangeably—“learning,” “education,” “training,” and “school”—but there are important differences between them. Learning is the process of acquiring new skills and understanding. Education is an organized system of learning. Training is a type of education that is focused on learning specific skills. A school is a community of learners: a group that comes together to learn with and from each other. It is vital that we differentiate these terms: children love to learn, they do it naturally; many have a hard time with education, and some have big problems with school.

There are many assumptions of compulsory education. One is that young people need to know, understand, and be able to do certain things that they most likely would not if they were left to their own devices. What these things are and how best to ensure students learn them are complicated and often controversial issues. Another assumption is that compulsory education is a preparation for what will come afterward, like getting a good job or going on to higher education.

So, what does it mean to be educated now? Well, I believe that education should expand our consciousness, capabilities, sensitivities, and cultural understanding. It should enlarge our worldview. As we all live in two worlds—the world within you that exists only because you do, and the world around you—the core purpose of education is to enable students to understand both worlds. In today’s climate, there is also a new and urgent challenge: to provide forms of education that engage young people with the global-economic issues of environmental well-being.

This core purpose of education can be broken down into four basic purposes.

Education should enable young people to engage with the world within them as well as the world around them. In Western cultures, there is a firm distinction between the two worlds, between thinking and feeling, objectivity and subjectivity. This distinction is misguided. There is a deep correlation between our experience of the world around us and how we feel. As we explored in the previous chapters, all individuals have unique strengths and weaknesses, outlooks and personalities. Students do not come in standard physical shapes, nor do their abilities and personalities. They all have their own aptitudes and dispositions and different ways of understanding things. Education is therefore deeply personal. It is about cultivating the minds and hearts of living people. Engaging them as individuals is at the heart of raising achievement.

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights emphasizes that “All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights,” and that “Education shall be directed to the full development of the human personality and to the strengthening of respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.” Many of the deepest problems in current systems of education result from losing sight of this basic principle.

Schools should enable students to understand their own cultures and to respect the diversity of others. There are various definitions of culture, but in this context the most appropriate is “the values and forms of behavior that characterize different social groups.” To put it more bluntly, it is “the way we do things around here.” Education is one of the ways that communities pass on their values from one generation to the next. For some, education is a way of preserving a culture against outside influences. For others, it is a way of promoting cultural tolerance. As the world becomes more crowded and connected, it is becoming more complex culturally. Living respectfully with diversity is not just an ethical choice, it is a practical imperative.

There should be three cultural priorities for schools: to help students understand their own cultures, to understand other cultures, and to promote a sense of cultural tolerance and coexistence. The lives of all communities can be hugely enriched by celebrating their own cultures and the practices and traditions of other cultures.

Education should enable students to become economically responsible and independent. This is one of the reasons governments take such a keen interest in education: they know that an educated workforce is essential to creating economic prosperity. Leaders of the Industrial Revolution knew that education was critical to creating the types of workforce they required, too. But the world of work has changed so profoundly since then, and continues to do so at an ever-quickening pace. We know that many of the jobs of previous decades are disappearing and being rapidly replaced by contemporary counterparts. It is almost impossible to predict the direction of advancing technologies, and where they will take us.

How can schools prepare students to navigate this ever-changing economic landscape? They must connect students with their unique talents and interests, dissolve the division between academic and vocational programs, and foster practical partnerships between schools and the world of work, so that young people can experience working environments as part of their education, not simply when it is time for them to enter the labor market.

Education should enable young people to become active and compassionate citizens. We live in densely woven social systems. The benefits we derive from them depend on our working together to sustain them. The empowerment of individuals has to be balanced by practicing the values and responsibilities of collective life, and of democracy in particular. Our freedoms in democratic societies are not automatic. They come from centuries of struggle against tyranny and autocracy and those who foment sectarianism, hatred, and fear. Those struggles are far from over. As John Dewey observed, “Democracy has to be born anew every generation, and education is its midwife.”

For a democratic society to function, it depends upon the majority of its people to be active within the democratic process. In many democracies, this is increasingly not the case. Schools should engage students in becoming active, and proactive, democratic participants. An academic civics course will scratch the surface, but to nurture a deeply rooted respect for democracy, it is essential to give young people real-life democratic experiences long before they come of age to vote.

Eight Core Competencies

The conventional curriculum is based on a collection of separate subjects. These are prioritized according to beliefs around the limited understanding of intelligence we discussed in the previous chapter, as well as what is deemed to be important later in life. The idea of “subjects” suggests that each subject, whether mathematics, science, art, or language, stands completely separate from all the other subjects. This is problematic. Mathematics, for example, is not defined only by propositional knowledge; it is a combination of types of knowledge, including concepts, processes, and methods as well as propositional knowledge. This is also true of science, art, and languages, and of all other subjects. It is therefore much more useful to focus on the concept of disciplines rather than subjects.

Disciplines are fluid; they constantly merge and collaborate. In focusing on disciplines rather than subjects we can also explore the concept of interdisciplinary learning. This is a much more holistic approach that mirrors real life more closely—it is rare that activities outside of school are as clearly segregated as conventional curriculums suggest. A journalist writing an article, for example, must be able to call upon skills of conversation, deductive reasoning, literacy, and social sciences. A surgeon must understand the academic concept of the patient’s condition, as well as the practical application of the appropriate procedure. At least, we would certainly hope this is the case should we find ourselves being wheeled into surgery.

The concept of disciplines brings us to a better starting point when planning the curriculum, which is to ask what students should know and be able to do as a result of their education. The four purposes above suggest eight core competencies that, if properly integrated into education, will equip students who leave school to engage in the economic, cultural, social, and personal challenges they will inevitably face in their lives. These competencies are curiosity, creativity, criticism, communication, collaboration, compassion, composure, and citizenship. Rather than be triggered by age, they should be interwoven from the beginning of a student’s educational journey and nurtured throughout.

From Imagine If: Creating a Future for Us All by Sir Ken Robinson, Ph.D and Kate Robinson, published by Penguin Books, an imprint of Penguin Publishing Group, a division of Penguin Random House, LLC. Copyright © 2022 by the Estate of Sir Kenneth Robinson and Kate Robinson.

Speech on Importance of Education of Students and Children

Speech on importance of education.

Education is a procedure of learning where knowledge, skills, and habits move from one generation to the other. Moreover, education is essential for the overall development of a human being. For instance, their personal, social as well as the economic development of the country. If we talk about the importance of education in our daily life, we have to admit that it improves our personal lives and helps in running the societies smoothly by protecting everyone including ourselves from the harmful and unexpected events.

Modes of Education

The major types of education system are as follows:

Formal Education: Formal education is basically a practice of learning where a human learns basic, academic or some trade skills for his living. Formal education or formal learning initiates at the basic level. Further, it continues till the college or university level where people study bachelor and master courses. It comes under a certain combination of rules and regulations and it may provide a formal degree after the completion of the course. It is provided by the teachers that are highly qualified and educated and are under strict discipline as well.

Informal Education: Informal education is the type of education where people are not studying in a specific school or a college. They do not use any specific learning method or technique. When a father teaches his son how to ride a bicycle or a mother teaches her daughter how to cook food, then these learnings fall under the category of Informal Education. A person can get informal education by reading some books from any library or any educational website on the internet. However, unlike the formal education, informal education has no particular syllabus or any specific time period for learning.

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Importance of Education in Our Life

Education is very important for personal development as well as for the socio-economic development of our country. Education is important for living life happily. Moreover, it empowers and motivates our mind to conceive the good thoughts and ideas and grow our knowledge day by day. Moreover, education helps us in acquiring new skills and techniques. Thus, it becomes effortless for us to do our daily life activities in the best possible ways with maximum output and excellence. Education is necessary to raise a person’s standard of living. As it gives us all the necessary goods and awareness about how we can increase our earnings with the use of our brains and knowledge.

Importance of Education in the Life of a Student

Education is one of the most important and mandatory elements in the life of a student. It helps the students to do analysis while making important decisions in life. Education is essential for a student because after being educated enough, a student will be able to select a good career option for them. So that they can succeed in life with the help of education. A good career provides the students financial freedom and support along with mental satisfaction. The Education of the students helps them in improving their communication skills. For instance, their speech, body language, and many other elements present in the communication system. Education helps the students in using the technology in a better way in this era of rapid technological development and transformation.

As we all know that education is the key element of everyone’s life today. Education has the value that helps in making people valuable and full of knowledge. Education is necessary for the growth of life for everyone. It has the same value for everyone equally. Everyone is having the right to learn. Without education, life can become so difficult and hard to survive.

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• Education, training and skills
• School curriculum

The purpose of education

Schools Minister Nick Gibb addresses the Education Reform Summit.

Education reform is the great social justice cause of our times. If we are to deliver a fairer society, in which opportunity is shared more widely, we must secure the highest standards of education for all young people, regardless of their background.

This is the commitment which has been at the heart of the government’s programme of reform. It is a pleasure to speak at a conference today with so many dedicated professionals and experts who share this belief, and have guided and implemented the changes we have introduced.

Today, thanks to the hard work of thousands of teachers, 100,000 more 6-year-olds are on track to become confident readers as a result of our focus on phonics.

Two hundred thousand fewer pupils are persistently absent from school compared to 5 years ago.

And over a million more children now attend a ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ school than in 2010.

But too many children still do not receive the standard of education to which they are entitled. In this new Parliament, we will continue to support teachers to raise standards and challenge underperformance.

Two weeks ago, we confirmed the next steps in our programme of structural reform, by setting out more details of how we will support and turn around schools which are ‘coasting’ or failing through the Education and Adoption Bill .

And we have announced our intention that 11-year-olds starting secondary school in September will be the first cohort to benefit from a core academic curriculum when they reach GCSE .

Purpose of education

Today, though, I would like to take a step back from the details of our reforms and turn to a broader question: what is the purpose of education?

Education is the engine of our economy, it is the foundation of our culture, and it’s an essential preparation for adult life. Delivering on our commitment to social justice requires us to place these 3 objectives at the heart of our education system.

We all have a responsibility to educate the next generation of informed citizens, introducing them to the best that has been thought and said, and instilling in them a love of knowledge and culture for their own sake. But education is also about the practical business of ensuring that young people receive the preparation they need to secure a good job and a fulfilling career, and have the resilience and moral character to overcome challenges and succeed.

The government’s economic record is strong. Last year, GDP grew by 3% - the strongest growth since 2006, and the fastest in the G7 . At the end of 2014, employment was at its highest-ever level, with 1.85 million more people in work since the coalition government entered office. Business investment has increased by 25.6% since the first quarter of 2010.

But the data on productivity has been mixed. In line with other advanced economies, productivity fell in the financial crisis, though it has since been increasing steadily. The UK does, however, have a long-term productivity challenge. Output per hour in the UK was 17 percentage points below the G7 average in 2013. We are addressing this gap, by rebalancing our economy, investing in our infrastructure, and building a competitive tax system.

But perhaps most important of all, we must ensure that more people have the knowledge and skills they need to succeed in a demanding economy. Here too, our long-term performance has lagged behind those of our international competitors. Our 15-year-olds are on average 3 years behind their peers in Shanghai in mathematics and we are the only OECD country whose young people do not have better levels of literacy or numeracy than their grandparents’ generation.

Our ambitious programme of reform is addressing this legacy, and this starts by getting the basics right. Reading underpins a child’s academic performance throughout their school career. In 2014, only 1 in 3 pupils who had just reached the current expected standard in English when in key stage 2, achieved 5 good GCSEs including English and mathematics. By contrast, almost 3 in 4 of those with a high level 4 in English achieved this GCSE standard.

The importance of strong literacy skills remain long after a young person has left school or formal education. Adults with good literacy skills (the equivalent of a good English Language GCSE or better) are much more likely to be in work than those with lower levels of literacy: 83% compared to 55%. Data from the recent OECD Survey of Adult Skills show that unemployed adults are twice as likely to have weak literacy skills as those in full-time employment.

We recognised the strong evidence demonstrating that systematic synthetic phonics is the most effective way to teach children to read. In 2012, we therefore introduced the year 1 phonics screening check to help teachers identify pupils falling behind with their phonic knowledge, who may benefit from additional help. We are supporting schools to establish phonics partnerships to help them further improve the quality of their phonics teaching. Each of the successful groups will be led by a school that achieves excellence in teaching early reading. The partnerships will receive £10,000 to improve the quality of phonics teaching; they will develop models that can be used by other schools, and share knowledge and resources that come out of their work.

A basic mastery in mathematics is also essential to success in our modern economy. We have learnt from the best international systems, launching the highly successful teacher exchange with Shanghai . Our new network of maths hubs across England is now raising standards by helping primary schools to deliver the highly effective Asian-style mastery approach and strengthen teaching through the use of high-quality textbooks.

In secondary school, the new mathematics GCSE places greater emphasis on mathematical reasoning and the application of maths; and includes new content to better support transition to the A level - on, for example, rates of change and quadratic functions.

We have taken the important step of introducing ‘core maths’ qualifications for students with a good GCSE in the subject at age 16 but who don’t continue to the A level - to enable them to study this essential subject beyond GCSE .

Employers want to see many more young people entering the labour market with high-level skills in STEM subjects. I’m pleased to support the Your Life campaign which aims to encourage more young people - girls and boys - to continue with these subjects to A level and beyond.

For too long, the quality of technical and vocational education in England has lagged behind that of our international competitors - as a result, employers have sometimes struggled to find staff with the skills they need to grow their business and create jobs. In 2011, we asked Professor Alison Wolf to review vocational education , and have acted swiftly to implement her recommendations. We have removed over 3,000 low-value qualifications from performance tables and introduced tech levels and technical certificates, which set rigorous new standards for technical qualifications.

We have worked with universities and employers to open 30 university technical colleges , which combine the study of technical subjects, including engineering and life sciences, with the core academic qualifications that employers demand. We are committed to having a UTC within reach of every city.

Equipping young people with the knowledge and skills they need to secure a place at a good university, start an apprenticeship, or find their first job, is a fundamental responsibility of all of us working in education. But the purpose of education is, of course, far broader.

As we all know, education has an intrinsic value as the hallmark of a civilised society and the foundation of our culture. Matthew Arnold was a great education reformer of the 19th century. He is best remembered now as a cultural critic, but he also spent 35 years as an HMI , the last 2 of which as Chief Inspector. In ‘Culture and Anarchy’, his best-known work, he articulated the liberal ideal of a high-quality education for all, which:

[…]seeks to do away with classes; to make the best that has been known and thought in the world current everywhere; to make all men live in an atmosphere of sweetness and light, where they may use ideas, as it uses them itself, freely, - nourished, and not bound by them.

This ideal must be reflected in reality if we are to build an education system with social justice at its heart.

Jonathan Rose provides a masterful account of our long tradition of the autodidact - of individuals from all backgrounds staking their claim to our cultural inheritance - in ‘The Intellectual Life of the British Working Classes’. This tradition spans from the 14th century Lollards, suppressed by the church because their ‘vernacular Bible threatened to break a clerical monopoly on knowledge’.

It includes Charles Campbell, a Scottish cotton-spinner born in 1793. He set aside a few pennies of his weekly wage of 8 shillings to pay for a library membership. He was a member of a club of 12 artisans and mechanics who met weekly to discuss literary topics. Their goal was not economic self-improvement - it was a deeper intellectual life. Campbell wrote:

[…]the lover of learning… unbends the wing of his imagination, and solaces his weary mind in the delightful gardens of the classic muse of poetry and music.

The tradition of course continues today. But the truth is that the successful autodidact, finding their own way through literature, history and culture, with little formal education, is a rare exception. For the vast majority, a high-quality education in school is essential - a ‘love of learning’ is not sufficient.

Engaging with a text firstly requires an ability to read. This includes decoding skill, but also reading fluency and speed of reading built up through practice over many years. But reading also demands background knowledge - of vocabulary and of context assumed by the author - assumed knowledge. Factual knowledge is essential for reading comprehension.

Mark Twain wrote, disdainfully, that:

I have never let my schooling interfere with my education.

Daniel Willingham, the American cognitive scientist, is clear that this denial of the importance of schools to culture and imagination is inconsistent with the scientific evidence. Willingham writes:

I don’t know why some great thinkers (who undoubtedly knew many facts) took delight in denigrating schools, often depicting them as factories for the useless memorisation of information… I for one don’t need brilliant, highly capable minds telling me (and my children) how silly it is to know things.

We must resist attempts to divide culture from knowledge, or to suggest that a focus on a core academic curriculum in school makes it more difficult to develop our young people into creative, engaged citizens.

The core academic subjects at school are the primary colours of an educated person’s palette, enabling them to read more, not just within those subjects but also the subjects that emanate from them: history and maths underpin economics; the study of English links to drama; paleontology combines chemistry and biology.

We have also continued to champion the importance of the arts in schools. Music and art and design are statutory subjects in the national curriculum for 5- to 14-year-olds and the national curriculum also ensures that pupils study drama and dance.

Over the 2012 to 2016 period we have spent over £460 million in a diverse portfolio of music and arts education programmes designed to improve access to the arts for all children regardless of their background and to develop talent across the country. These include support for: music education hubs , the Sorrell Foundation’s National Art and Design Saturday Clubs, the British Film Institute’s ‘Film Academy’, Music for Youth’s School Proms, the National Youth Dance Company, and support for the Shakespeare Schools Festival.

The Music and Dance Scheme , funded by the department, enables our most talented young people to receive a world-class education in our top music and dance schools. This year we are spending £29 million to ensure that the children who are able to benefit from this specialist education are those with the most talent, not those whose parents can afford to pay the fees. Just last week, I had the privilege to attend the Royal Ballet School’s End of Year Performance, and the virtuosity on display was astonishing.

Preparation for adult life

These 2 purposes of education - to grow our economy and nurture our culture - are vital. But I believe there is a third, very practical purpose to education. Adult life today is complicated, and we owe it to young people to ensure that they have the character and sense of moral purpose to succeed.

There is now very clear evidence that schools can make a significant contribution to their pupils’ achievement by finding opportunities to instil key character traits, including persistence, grit, optimism and curiosity.

This is not about vague notions of ‘learning how to learn’ or ‘therapeutic education’, and we will not return to the failed approaches of the past. In 2005, the then-government promoted and funded a strategy to schools named ‘ social and emotional aspects of learning ’. This was a well-meaning attempt to ensure children received a broader education. But it failed, because it was part of a wider retreat from the importance of knowledge-based curriculums in schools. Its evaluation found that SEAL was in fact associated with declining respect for teachers and enjoyment of school.

We have recognised that a broader education - including character and values - can only succeed when it is underpinned by the highest standards of academic rigour.

The Knowledge is Power Programme schools - KIPP -are one of the earliest and best groups of charter schools in the United States. Their first school opened in Houston, Texas in 1999. They now have 162 schools educating 60,000 pupils throughout the USA, 87% of whom come from low income families.

The first pupils to graduate from KIPP schools left with academic records which no-one had previously dared to expect from young people growing up in the neighbourhoods from which they came. More than 94% of KIPP middle school students have graduated high school, and more than 82% of KIPP alumni have gone on to college.

But while these students from disadvantaged backgrounds were entering colleges in greater numbers than ever before, it soon became clear that they were much more likely to drop out than their more advantaged peers.

The American academic ED Hirsch has made a persuasive case that an important reason for this gap is a deficit of vocabulary and knowledge. KIPP charters are middle schools - so children enter aged 11 or 12. Even the excellent education they receive after they arrive cannot overcome the disadvantage which they have already experienced. Building vocabulary and knowledge simply takes too long. Once in college, without the intensive support provided by KIPP , some are falling behind.

I have no doubt that this explanation is correct. But I am convinced that that these pupils struggled in college for another reason, too. Recent research - particularly the work of Angela Duckworth and the Nobel Laureate James Heckman - has examined the impact of character on underperformance. They have found that key attributes including resilience, self-control and social intelligence are powerful predictors of achievement in education and success in adult life.

Robert Putnam, a Harvard Professor of Public Policy, recently published ‘Our Kids’, an account of the decline of social mobility in the United States over the past half-century. He places part of the blame on unequal access which disadvantaged children have to extracurricular activities, compared to the greater opportunities open to children in better-off circumstances.

If we are to deliver on our commitment to social justice, breaking the cycle of disadvantage so that every child reaches their potential, we must therefore ensure that all pupils benefit from an education based on these values.

Character education is already a part of the ethos and culture of many good schools. In the United States, KIPP schools now focus on developing grit, resilience and self-confidence in their pupils, and this work is showing results. As of spring 2015, 45% of KIPP pupils have gained a college degree, compared to a national average of 34%, and just 9% from low-income families.

Building on this evidence, we launched a national awards scheme to reward and showcase schools and organisations who demonstrated their commitment to building character in young people aged 5 to 16.

We are also providing £3.5 million to fund 14 projects to build and better understand what works and share the good practice with all schools.

Premier Rugby Limited and 14 professional rugby clubs are leading one of these projects, in the year that the Rugby World Cup comes to England. Building on the core rugby values of respect, teamwork, enjoyment, discipline and sportsmanship, the programme will deliver classroom based and physical activity character building programmes to 17,250 pupils. An additional programme funded by Premier Rugby and its partnerships will offer an intensive 33 week programme to 480 16- to 18-year-olds who are not in education, employment or training. These vulnerable young people will benefit from character building activities, qualifications and work experience, setting them up for a more successful future.

A further project will be led by Floreat Education, a trust with 2 new free schools. They will receive funding to develop and pilot a character virtue development programme for reception, year 1 and year 2 in its 2 new free schools, from September. The project will also provide significant resources and support for other schools, helping to spread the impact of their work more widely.

Three purposes - empowering young people to succeed in the economy, participate in culture, and leave school prepared for adult life - have consistently guided our programme of reform. Delivering on our commitment to social justice means placing these principles at the centre of everything we do, so that every young person has the opportunity to reach their potential.

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The power of education

• Save the Children

Speech given by Save the Children International CEO Helle Thorning-Schmidt at the Education World Forum on 23 January 2017

Education is the most empowering force in the world. It creates knowledge, builds confidence, and breaks down barriers to opportunity.

For children, it is their key to open the door to a better life.

However, it is a sad reality of our world today that millions of children will never receive this key.

They are destined to stay locked in cycles of disadvantage and poverty.

I think Malala described this heart-wrenching situation best when she said:

“In some parts of the world, students are going to school every day. It’s their normal life. But in other parts of the world, we are starving for education … its like a precious gift. Its like a diamond”.

This cannot continue.

All children deserve to receive the ‘precious gift’ of education. In fact, we have promised to give it to them. It is time to deliver.

Under the Sustainable Development Goals, the blue print for progress the whole world has agreed, we are committed to give all children an inclusive and quality education by 2030.

To get the 263 million children currently out of school, back in.

To make sure the 130 million children currently reaching Grade 4 without learning basic reading and maths skills, become masters of both.

To stop girls being excluded, or married off.

Right now, one girl under 15 is married every 7 seconds. They should be starting a new year of school, not starting a new life of disadvantage.

I know this sounds a bit bleak. But we have to face up to the fact that we are in the midst of an education crisis and are running well behind on our promise to the world’s children.

I have just returned from the World Economic Forum in Davos where I gave world leaders this same message.

However, instead of acting fast to address this crisis, our efforts are slowing down. Development dollars spent on education have declined in the past decade — from 13 per cent to 10 per cent since 2002.

The challenge is also not getting any easier. Two billion jobs will be lost to automation by 2050. Access to quality education will therefore be even more critical to prepare young people for the challenges of a changing world.

If we continue with our glacial pace of action, up to half of the world’s 1.6 billion children will still be out of school or failing to learn by 2030, and we would need an extra 50 years to reach our global education goals.

Yet, as we face up to this crisis, we should not be tempted to despair.

We can turn things around if we are prepared to step up now.

I am proud to be part of group doing just that, the Education Commission. We are a group of government, business and cultural leaders who have produced a roadmap for how we can live up to the education promise we have made under the global goals.

A vision for how to create a Learning Generation.

It will not be easy to achieve. But, it can be done.

We know this is possible because a quarter of the world’s countries are already on the right path.

This top 25 per cent are already delivering. They are improving their education systems fast and equipping their children with the skills they need for the future.

What we have to do now is focus more effort on the remaining 75 per cent of countries that are not yet hitting the mark.

In these countries, we have to dramatically scale up investment in education systems to improve both the availability of education, but just as importantly, education quality.

To achieve this, the Education Commission report calls for a Financing Compact. The Financing Compact means that countries commit to invest and reform.

In return, the international community offers leadership and education finance, and both are held accountable for their commitment.

To fulfil the compact, countries need to take on four education transformations.

First, performance. This is about putting results front and centre. Successful education systems must invest in what works.

Second, innovation. We must develop new and creative approaches. Education systems must innovate rather than just replicate.

Third, inclusion. We must reach every last child. We will not close the global learning gap unless leaders take steps to include and support those at greatest risk of being out of school. The poor, the discriminated against, girls, and those facing multiple disadvantages.

And fourth, finance. We need to mobilize more money and ensure that we spend it wisely.

Total spending on education must increase steadily from $1.2 to 3 trillion by 2030 across all low- and middle-income countries. The 75 per cent that are falling behind.

This includes mobilising more domestic resources for education. Public spending on education must rise in these countries from 4 per cent to 5.8 per cent.

And by mobilising more support from the international community — governments, financial institutions, business and philanthropists.

International finance needs to increase from today’s estimated $16 billion per year to $89 billion per year by 2030.

These are certainly huge amounts of money.

But we must not forget that by investing now, we will also create huge benefits.

In developing countries, $1 dollar invested in an additional year of schooling gives back $10 back in economic benefits.

What a rate of return!

It gets even better when you think about the role that education can play in empowering girls.

If we close the gender gap by 2030, and education is a big part of this, we are looking at benefits to the global economy of $25 trillion. That is truly a huge number. It makes the upfront investments needed seem small.

And there are other important benefits to children that you cannot put a price on.

Education equals better lives. Access to decent work, improved health and life outcomes, and the dignity that comes from the ability to know and stand up for your human rights.

In 2017, we at the Commission are already taking the first steps to bring our vision of a learning generation into reality.

Two steps we are taking include:

First, advocating for the establishment of a new development bank for education. One that could potentially mobilize $20 billion or more annually by 2030, up from $3.5 billion today.

Second, kick starting a Pioneer Country Initiative, led by former President of Tanzania, Jakaya Kikwete. Work has already commenced in Uganda and Malawi with other countries joining in soon.

Under this initiative, the Commission will work closely with the leadership of pioneer countries to push education up to the top of their domestic priority pile.

Leaders will undertake needed reforms, and invest more resources in the right places. The commission will then act as a bridge to international financing institutions, to attract even more resources from outside. By working in this way, we can trigger virtuous cycles of reform, investment and results.

It is my hope, that 2017 is the year that we all finally stand up and prioritise education. At the Commission, we are trying to do our part. However, we cannot do it alone. We need government, business and even individual citizens to step up.

The case for education is indisputable, and we have no time to waste. Millions of children and youth around the world cannot wait any longer.

Please join us in our effort to create the Learning Generation!

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• Speech on Education in English

Why is education important? How can an educated person change the world? Speech on education should aim to provide answers to the above questions. It should also provide insight into how education can change a person’s life. Education is one of the necessities required to survive in today’s world. It helps in giving a perspective to a person where he or she can think and provide solutions to different social issues. There are many ways to deliver a speech on education but the most important and effective one is that which allows the audience to think and question the various points discussed in the speech. If you want to get the answer to why education is important, read on to discover how to deliver an effective and engaging speech on education.

Here we have provided a long and short speech about education along with that we have also given 10 line pointers about the best speech on education in English.

Long Speech about Education

Good morning to everyone present here today. I feel honored and blessed to be given this opportunity to give a speech on education. I hope everyone learns something from this speech. 

Education has been with us for ages and it has transformed the world around us. It was because of educating ourselves, humans have invented technologies that have changed the world.

When it comes to an individual, education plays an important role throughout life. Getting proper education is necessary as it is the deciding factor for our status in society nowadays. Education is required to get a good high-paying job, to be successful, and even to start a family. Education also helps us by providing success that would eventually lead us to live a happy and luxurious life. Education helps in developing the personality of a person both in a physical and mental standard and helps in transforming a person’s living standard. It helps in promoting the feeling of the mental, social, and physical well-being of a person by providing a better living life. A good education is always constructive, a person who is educated well is respected by society and even has a role that would help in the development of society. Let us take an example of the teachers sitting here in the audience, their role of teaching and sharing knowledge with the students will help in making a future that will work for the betterment of the country. It is said that knowledge is the greatest weapon in the world and I believe it is true, education provides a lot of confidence by giving us vast knowledge in various fields. It helps in personal growth and the most important way to be successful in life. As we all know, the more knowledge we get, the more we grow and develop in life. Knowledge gives us recognition and respect in the world. There is a difference between the knowledge we learn in school and colleges and the knowledge required to live in a society. Being well educated does not only mean having fancy degrees from reputed colleges and a high-paying job but it also means being kind towards everyone around. Many people in social work in a multinational company but they lack the basic knowledge required to talk to people. Some people are arrogant and consider themselves above because of their education and jobs. Remember my friend, being educated is important but it is also very important to be kind to everyone around you and treat them with respect. The sole purpose of getting an education is to be a good citizen towards everyone and then being successful in personal and professional life. Everyone is incomplete without a good education as it helps us to make the right decisions in life. In this competitive world, everybody is fighting for survival, education could be considered as an advantage to be successful in life and it has become a necessity after food, shelter, and clothes. 

The next point I would like to highlight is the lack of financial education that is taught at school. In many schools and colleges, the only thing everyone is teaching the students is how to score well in exams by memorizing a few textbooks but sadly they are not teaching students the knowledge required to excel in life. Financial education is a very important part of life, it is required to survive in society. Concepts like how to save money, how to invest money in different assets such as gold, silver, and real estate are not being taught in educational institutions. Students must also learn the practical application of learning a subject. We often hear that many graduates are unemployed and the reason being that they do not have enough practical knowledge about the concepts that they learned in educational institutions. Students must learn this knowledge and excel in their careers. 

To conclude this speech, I want to say that education is the most important tool one can have to survive in this world and it is a necessity as it provides solutions to all the problems. If a person is educated, he or she will be aware of different concerns such as corruption, terrorism, and other social issues. It is the most important tool which provides inner and outer strength to a person. Treat everyone with respect, even if you have the most valuable degree or are working in a great company, and always have financial knowledge as it will help you to grow in society. Thank you. 

 A Short Speech about Education

Good morning to one and all present here. Today I have been given an opportunity to give a small speech on education. I hope everyone here learns something from it. 

Education could be defined as the process of gaining knowledge, skill, beliefs, and values that help in the growth and development of a person. Education is the most important asset, it is as important as food, shelter, and clothes. While the school and college education programs are relatively modern, the learning process has persisted for a long time. Humans have developed by learning themselves, and society must evolve. We can take the example of hunter-gatherers, they used to pass down their knowledge of hunting and harvesting food during different seasons. 

Today, education is the most important aspect of society as it helps in providing a job and starting a family. Educating helps in understanding the world in a better way. Let us take an example to understand that, a person who knows about corruption and other social issues will play an important role in fighting it rather than a person who is unaware of anything. Education provides an individual with opportunities to prove themselves in society and be successful in the future. Education also provides an employment opportunity and if a person is employed and is working, the poverty of the country will exponentially decrease which will help in the development of the country. 

In India, many educational institutes provide only theoretical knowledge that helps the student to get good grades in exams which will increase his or her employment opportunities but many educational institutes in India fail to teach students the financial and practical knowledge that is required to excel in the real world. Financial education is important as it helps a person to understand the concept of how the world really works. 

I would like to end this speech by saying education is very important as it helps in bringing economic progress and social change to the country. People who are educated will help in inventing and bringing new ideas, which will help in the development of the country. Thank you. 

10 Lines about the Speech on Education in English

Speech on education should provide an insight on education is important in this world.

Education could be considered as an asset that could help in surviving in the world and make an impact on society. 

If an education topic for speech is given it is very important that the definition of education is explained to the audience.

Education helps us in learning new things and develop a sense of innovation and creativity.

Education could be considered as the tool which will help in earning respect in society.

The Indian education system is divided into four stages of education such as preschool, primary, middle and secondary school. 

Education will help in providing knowledge, enhancing the capability of the reader to think logically on various subjects.

Education plays an important role in the development of the country as educated citizens will choose a leader who will work for the development of the country. 

If an education topic for speech is given try to explain to the audience why education is important and how it can impact the lives around you. 

Education helps in bringing equality in society and eradicating poverty.

Education is not a destination; it is a journey. It is a path paved with challenges and triumphs, with moments of frustration and epiphany. But with each step we take, with each page we turn, we become more than just ourselves. We become citizens of a global community, stewards of our planet, and the authors of our own destinies. So, go forth, students, and let your words paint a picture of a future where knowledge is accessible, minds are empowered, and the possibilities of education are endless. Remember, the pen is mightier than the sword, and in this case, the pen holds the power to unlock the potential of generations to come.

FAQs on Speech on Education in English

1. What is the importance of education?

Education is fundamental for individual and societal development. It equips individuals with the knowledge, skills, and values necessary to lead fulfilling lives and contribute meaningfully to their communities.

2. What are the benefits of education?

Here are some of the key benefits of education:

Personal growth: Education fosters intellectual, emotional, and social development. It helps individuals to understand themselves and the world around them, and to develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and communication skills.

Economic opportunities: Education is essential for securing good jobs and achieving financial security. It opens doors to a wider range of career options and increases earning potential.

Civic engagement: Education empowers individuals to be active and informed citizens. It teaches them about their rights and responsibilities, and how to participate in the democratic process.

Social well-being: Education can help to reduce poverty, inequality, and discrimination. It promotes tolerance, understanding, and cooperation between different groups of people.

3. What are the different types of education?

There are many different types of education, each with its own focus and goals. Some of the most common types include:

Formal education: This type of education takes place in schools, colleges, and universities. It is typically structured and follows a set curriculum.

Informal education: This type of education takes place outside of formal institutions. It can include learning from experience, from mentors, or from everyday life.

Vocational education: This type of education is designed to prepare individuals for specific jobs or careers. It often includes hands-on training and experience.

Adult education: This type of education is for adults who want to continue learning after they have left school. It can be used to improve job skills, learn new hobbies, or simply for personal enrichment.

4. What are some tips for writing a speech on education?

Choose a clear topic: What specific aspect of education do you want to focus on?

Do your research: Gather information from a variety of sources to support your points.

Organize your thoughts: Use an outline to structure your speech and ensure that your ideas flow logically.

Write in a clear and concise style: Avoid using jargon or technical terms that your audience may not understand.

Practice your delivery: Speak slowly and clearly, and use gestures and facial expressions to make your speech more engaging.

5. How can I make my speech on education interesting and engaging?

Use personal stories and anecdotes to illustrate your points.

Incorporate humor and wit to keep your audience entertained.

Ask rhetorical questions to spark thought and discussion.

Use vivid language and imagery to paint a picture in your audience's mind.

Vary your vocal tone and pace to add emphasis and avoid monotony.

Connect with your audience on an emotional level by sharing your own passion for education.

10 TED Talks on Education

Staff Writers

Contributing Writer

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Updated May 23, 2023

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So we all know that education in America has its fair share of problems (understatement alert). Some of these problems are sociocultural, others are economic. Some problems are practical and others still are philosophical.

In the face of these numerous and mounting challenges, elected officials and lawmakers have been short on meaningful solutions. It makes you wonder if perhaps the biggest problem with our educational system is that solutions don’t always come from the smartest of folks. Feel fee to jump to the defense of your district congressman or state senator at any time…Bueller? Bueller?

Ok. Moving on.

If you’re looking for solutions to education’s myriad problems from the smartest folks, most of them have delivered a TED Talk at some point. Technology, Entertainment, Design, or TED, is a set of global conferences operating under the tagline “Ideas Worth Spreading.”

In that spirit, here are a few education ideas from among TED’s nearly endless panel of featured speakers that we feel are worth spreading. Enjoy our first installment of 10 Awesome TED Talks on Education.

10 Awesome TED Talks on Education

1. do schools kill creativity by sir ken robinson.

Sir Ken Robinson gave this speech in February of 2006 and it has since been viewed more than 10 million times on YouTube and a remarkable 39 million times on the TED Talks website. That is more than enough time to arrive at the conclusion that the answer is probably “yes” to the titular question “Do Schools Kill Creativity?”

Robinson makes the argument that we need to rethink the fundamental premise by which we educate our children. Robinson is dry and hilarious in this insightful takedown of formal education as it exists to day. He argues that all children are born inherently creative and that school systematically squanders that creativity, and “pretty ruthlessly” at that. Robinson makes the powerful assessment that creativity should be viewed as equal in importance to literacy. Robinson also resolves that if you’re not prepared to be wrong, you’ll never come up with anything original. Nonetheless, schools train students to be frightened of being wrong, and of making mistakes. Robinson laments that many highly talented, brilliant, creative people are educated to believe their talents are not valued, and perhaps even that these talents are obstacles to success.

Robinson insists that we can’t afford to continue on this way, that we need to radically rethink our view of intelligence as something diverse, dynamic, and distinct.

2. How To Fix a Broken School? Lead Fearlessly, Love Hard by Linda Ciatt-Wayman

With 1.3 million views on the TED Talks website, and 87,000 views on YouTube, Cliatt-Wayman’s May 2015 Talk casts a blinding light on the reality facing students and educators alike in “low-performing” inner-city schools. As a graduate and principal of North Philadelphia schools, Cliatt-Wayman gives a stirring and personal speech, one that moved many in the audience to tears. Cliatt-Wayman charged that what we call low-performing schools are often not schools at all, that the chains on the doors, the darkened hallways and the half-empty classrooms do not imply places of learning.

Cliatt-Wayman shares her strategies as a principal for transforming dark, dangerous, and frightening North Philadelphia schools from havens for drugs, weapons and violence to havens for disincline, enrichment, and love. Her experiential wisdom makes for a poignant Talk, anchored by a few of the slogans that have produced meaningful change at her Strawberry Mansion High School (where it bears noting she was the fourth principle in four years).

Cliatt-Wayman advises that “If you’re going to lead, LEAD,” an attitude that contributed to changes large and small at her troubled school, from replacing lightbulbs and decorating bulletin boards to recasting the way the school day is scheduled and transforming the budget. She also told educators that eliminating excuses at every turn is the primary responsibility for leaders at struggling schools. Finally and fundamentally, she said that it is the job of educators to offer their students hope, undivided attention, unwavering belief in their potential, consistent expectations, and unconditional love.

3. Teaching the World Peace Game by John Hunter

Filmed in March of 2011, and viewed just under 1.3 million times on TED Talks, 228,000 times on YouTube, “Teaching the World Peace Game” provides an energizing demonstration of how we can use classroom time to cultivate students who will one day be leaders, innovators and decision-makers.

Public School teacher John Hunter is warm, funny and personable as he explains his extraordinary approach to stimulating interactive learning among gifted students. Hunter demos the multi-tiered, map-based gameboard—basically Risk on anabolic steroids—that he has used to engage students since the late 1970s. The goal of the game is to do nothing less than solve the world’s problems. Students are handed a planet and a list of encompassing crises—not unlike the world that they will eventually inherit from prior generations.

The class collaborates, debates and compromises on developing solutions for issues as far-reaching as ethnic tension, nuclear proliferation, environmental disasters, water rights disputes and basically the entire grab-bag of seemingly insoluble problems that they will one day be asked to solve. Indeed, John told the audience that he’d happily send his fourth graders to consult Al Gore because they succeeded in solving the problem of global warming in a single week.

Hunter demonstrates both how educators can excite the imagination of their students and how they can nurture the young minds that will eventually be required to shape our world for the better. What most fascinates about Hunter’s experience is the fact that his students ultimately manifested strategies in ways that no educator could possibly predict, suggesting that the best educational results come when students are allowed to arrive at their own answers and solutions.

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4. Our Failing Schools. Enough is Enough by Geoffrey Canada

In May of 2013, Geoffrey Canada delivered an impassioned talk that has been viewed 188,000+ times on YouTube and more than 1.5 million times on the TED Talks website. Canada levies an accusation that’s pretty hard to dispute, claiming that in spite of our long track record of educational failure, we’ve basically done nothing to improve our outcomes. From both a scientific perspective and a business perspective, Canada says that our approach to education simply doesn’t make sense.

We’re losing kids, we know we’re losing kids, and yet we simply don’t allow real educational innovation to occur. He asks the audience to imagine a world in which we took the same stagnating approach to technology as we did to education. Whereas we respond to failure in this sector by probing for yet greater achievement, the education business has failed to use science to improve its approach to children.

To much approval from the audience, Canada attests that what sets him apart from many education policy-makers is that he “actually likes kids.” In this spirit, he remarks just how strange it is that we spend billions of dollars on standardized testing, that we gather enormous troves of incredible data, and that we fail to use them to actually help students in either a timely or effective manner.

Canada urges that its time to try something different. He insists that we must keep innovating in education until we nail the science down. We cannot wait another 50 years to get this right. He warns that here is an educational cliff and that we are walking over it right this very second.

5. The Nerd’s Guide To Learning Everything Online by John Green

John Green’s Talk, from November of 2012, has been viewed roughly 2.8 million times on the Ted Talks website and does not appear to have been published on YouTube.

Green takes a little bit of time to get to the point. Fortunately, he does so in a decidedly engrossing fashion. Green analogizes the lifelong quest for knowledge to cartography. Learning, he explains, makes the map of your life bigger. When you begin learning, you may not know every location on the map but you do have an instrument that tells you where you’d like to go. As Green phrases it, you’ve seen the coastline but now you want to explore the land.

When we’re young—and to the extent that we manage to develop a love for learning in school—we get to be part of a physical community of learning. Green advises that as we age out of school, we often lose that level of engagement. He shows how online forums like YouTube are restoring our opportunity to be part of a fluid, active and dynamic learning community.

Green demonstrates the variety and intuition with which YouTube can teach and invite learning, all in real-time. Green notes that videos which aim to teach are not necessarily being viewed in classrooms but independently by individuals electing to be part of a learning community. The centerpiece of his Talk is the resolution that these virtual spaces have become, for a new generation of learners, the kind of communities we used to have as students, communities that allow us to continue following our own learning maps into adulthood.

6. The Key To Success? Grit by Angela Lee Duckworth

Filmed in April of 2013, viewed by roughly 1.6 million on YouTube, and by 8.5 million viewers on the TED Talks website, Angela Lee Duckworth’s Talk brings some level of scientific rigor to a character trait that has rarely been measured thusly.

Often millennials are disparaged for being soft and entitled. If this criticism has any basis in reality, Duckworth’s concise Talk is something today’s students and parents need to watch. Duckworth argues that we need to achieve a better understanding of students and learning from a motivational and psychological perspective. She contends that schools are only really effective at measuring I.Q. and asks if success in school and life require more than just being able to learn quickly.

More than social charisma, attractiveness, and intelligence, Duckworth’s experience and research led her to conclude that grit—day-in day-out hard work and determination—is the trait that most determines success. Measuring traits of grittiness among her own students, Duckworth learned that grittier kids—marathon runners rather sprinters—generally succeeded best, independent of talent and intelligence. In spite of just how determinant an impact grit has, Duckworth concedes that science knows precious little on the subject.

Accordingly, Duckworth promotes “growth mindset,” the belief that the ability to learn can change with one’s effort. In Duckworth’s findings, the fascinating trait that most differentiates gritty people from their softer counterparts is that they don’t view failure as a permanent condition. Duckworth admits that her remarks are brief because we simply don’t know much about grit. Her speech ultimately suggests itself as a starting point for improving our understanding of what might be a key determinant of success. Among TED Talks, Duckworth’s is brief but instructive.

7. Let’s Use Video to Reinvent Education by Salman Khan

Salman Khan’s Talk from March of 2011 doesn’t necessarily break any new ground. Instead it reaffirms that, at least in one regard, we are moving in the right direction. Even if schools aren’t taking the active steps to revolutionize education, at least technologists and web users are. Viewed roughly 900,000 times on YouTube and 4 million times on the TED Talks website, Khan’s Talk deals largely with the positive impact that web-based video-education can have on learners. Indeed, Khan scored his best laugh when he informed his audience that as a former analyst for a hedge fund, he wasn’t accustomed to doing something of social value.

But that’s exactly what happened when he started tutoring his cousin remotely. As part of the process, Khan began producing explanatory YouTube videos to accompany individual lessons and quickly found that his cousin preferred the videos to live instruction. Getting past the “backhanded” nature of that compliment, Khan discusses the ways that video learning can help to improve the individuality, accessibility, and comprehensibility of instruction. Rather than using video to supplement the classroom experience, Khan made a case for allowing video instruction to transform the way we approach classroom time.

Khan’s approach transposes the classroom and homework experiences. As teachers assigned his videos for self-guided after-school instruction, they found that classroom time was freed up for problem-solving, game-playing and innovation-building. Teachers also used this time to provide individual attention and in-class guidance to students while they completed assignments. Ironically, remarks Khan, the impact of replacing human instruction with video instruction was a humanization of the otherwise dehumanizing process of sitting in a classroom listening to a monolithic lecture. Khan’s presentation ultimately demonstrates that video instruction, properly dispatched, can be used to individualize learning outside of the classroom while transforming the in-class experience into something far more personal and stimulating.

8. Teachers need real feedback by Bill Gates

If you’ve ever seen Bill Gates speak, then you know this one isn’t breathtakingly exciting. It does, however, inform on a major shortcoming in our educational system, and one that may help to explain why so many other countries outperform the U.S. in math, science and reading. Filmed in March of 2013, Gates’ Talk has been viewed roughly 293,000 times on YouTube and just under 2 million times on the TED Talks website.

Gates laments that teachers receive woefully inadequate feedback on how to improve their practice. The Microsoft magnate argues that the system in place is unfair to teachers and is consequently unfair to students.

Gates diverges with a brief video featuring a teacher who uses a camera to record her classroom lessons. Not unlike a quarterback, the teacher explains that she revisits her tapes following each lesson in order to dissect her own performance. Gates suggests that this method could be a pathway to providing teachers with real-time diagnoses on their performance and could ultimately help schools develop the tools they need to act on these diagnoses. Again, this won’t be the most entertaining TED Talk you’ll ever watch (and the visual aids just scream Windows ’98), but Gates is right. Teachers need feedback that’s actually designed to help. The real value of this Talk is that a person of visible influence is making that case.

9. Mathematics and Sex by Clio Cresswell

If you’ve just finished with the Gates Talk and you’re looking for something a little more…stimulating…this one is your next logical stop. More than 3.6 million YouTube viewers have indulged their curiosity in mathematics since Cresswell delivered her April 2014 Talk.

Full disclosure, this isn’t as much about sex as how sexy math can be, whether it’s used to detect inconsistencies in how people report their sexual activeness or in designing the perfect piece of chocolate. Cresswell draws playful connections between sexuality and mathematics, two natural conditions which transcend human culture, in order to demonstrate the fact that mathematics can provide new insight and understanding into all things around us.

The value of Cresswell’s presentation is in its appeal to those who are not of an inherently mathematical disposition. She reveals just how fascinating and all-encompassing mathematics are, and just how scintillating they can be.

10. Why Some of Us Don’t Have One True Calling by Emilie Wapnick

This talk centers around the oft-posed question, “what do you want to be when you grow up?” Wapnick’s Talk has been viewed 261,000+ views on YouTube and 2.7 Million on the TED Talks website since being delivered in April of 2015.

The troubling implication of Wapnick’s leading question is that we are raised to believe that we have no recourse but to choose a single path of personal and professional development. This question, which is innocent and entertaining when we’re young but which imposes stress and insecurity as we grow older, implies that we each have one great thing that we are meant to do while we’re here on this earth and that we have to figure out what that thing is and devote our lives to it.

But what of those who have many interests, whose passions and intelligences can’t be bottled as a single elixir? Wapnick calls these individuals “multipotentialites.” For those who have been instructed that they must pursue a single true calling, Wapnick says its easy to see multipotentiality as a flaw to be overcome but she argues that multipotentialites have superpowers, among them idea synthesis, rapid learning, adaptability.

We need creative thinkers to tackle the world’s problems, Wapnick argues. Accordingly, says Wapnick, we should all be pursuing careers based on how we’re wired. She advises “embrace your inner-wiring, whatever that may be. If you’re a specialist at heart, by all means specialize…To the multipotentialites…embrace your many passions, follow your curiosity down those rabbit holes, explore your intersections.”

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Malala Yousafzai: 16th birthday speech at the United Nations

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New York, New York

Bismillah hir rahman ir rahim. In the name of God, the most merciful, the most beneficent.

Honourable UN Secretary General Mr Ban Ki-moon, Respected President General Assembly Vuk Jeremic Honourable UN envoy for Global education Mr Gordon Brown, Respected elders and my dear brothers and sisters; Today, it is an honour for me to be speaking again after a long time. Being here with such honourable people is a great moment in my life.

I don't know where to begin my speech. I don't know what people would be expecting me to say. But first of all, thank you to God for whom we all are equal and thank you to every person who has prayed for my fast recovery and a new life. I cannot believe how much love people have shown me. I have received thousands of good wish cards and gifts from all over the world. Thank you to all of them. Thank you to the children whose innocent words encouraged me. Thank you to my elders whose prayers strengthened me.

I would like to thank my nurses, doctors and all of the staff of the hospitals in Pakistan and the UK and the UAE government who have helped me get better and recover my strength. I fully support Mr Ban Ki-moon the Secretary-General in his Global Education First Initiative and the work of the UN Special Envoy Mr Gordon Brown. And I thank them both for the leadership they continue to give. They continue to inspire all of us to action.

There are hundreds of human rights activists and social workers who are not only speaking for human rights, but who are struggling to achieve their goals of education, peace and equality. Thousands of people have been killed by the terrorists and millions have been injured. I am just one of them.

So here I stand, one girl among many.

I speak not for myself, but for all girls and boys.

I raise up my voice — not so that I can shout, but so that those without a voice can be heard.

Those who have fought for their rights:

Their right to live in peace. Their right to be treated with dignity. Their right to equality of opportunity. Their right to be educated.

Dear Friends, on the 9th of October 2012, the Taliban shot me on the left side of my forehead. They shot my friends too. They thought that the bullets would silence us. But they failed. And then, out of that silence came, thousands of voices. The terrorists thought that they would change our aims and stop our ambitions but nothing changed in my life except this: Weakness, fear and hopelessness died. Strength, power and courage was born. I am the same Malala. My ambitions are the same. My hopes are the same. My dreams are the same.

Dear sisters and brothers, I am not against anyone. Neither am I here to speak in terms of personal revenge against the Taliban or any other terrorists group. I am here to speak up for the right of education of every child. I want education for the sons and the daughters of all the extremists especially the Taliban.

I do not even hate the Talib who shot me. Even if there is a gun in my hand and he stands in front of me. I would not shoot him. This is the compassion that I have learnt from Muhammad — the prophet of mercy, Jesus Christ and Lord Buddha. This is the legacy of change that I have inherited from Martin Luther King, Nelson Mandela and Muhammad Ali Jinnah. This is the philosophy of non-violence that I have learnt from Gandhi Jee, Bacha Khan and Mother Teresa. And this is the forgiveness that I have learnt from my mother and father. This is what my soul is telling me, be peaceful and love everyone.

Dear sisters and brothers, we realise the importance of light when we see darkness. We realise the importance of our voice when we are silenced. In the same way, when we were in Swat, the north of Pakistan, we realised the importance of pens and books when we saw the guns.

The wise saying, "The pen is mightier than sword” was true. The extremists are afraid of books and pens. The power of education frightens them. They are afraid of women. The power of the voice of women frightens them. And that is why they killed 14 innocent medical students in the recent attack in Quetta. And that is why they killed many female teachers and polio workers in Khyber Pukhtoon Khwa and FATA. That is why they are blasting schools every day. Because they were and they are afraid of change, afraid of the equality that we will bring into our society.

I remember that there was a boy in our school who was asked by a journalist, "Why are the Taliban against education?” He answered very simply. By pointing to his book he said, “A Talib doesn't know what is written inside this book.” They think that God is a tiny, little conservative being who would send girls to the hell just because of going to school. The terrorists are misusing the name of Islam and Pashtun society for their own personal benefits. Pakistan is peace-loving democratic country. Pashtuns want education for their daughters and sons. And Islam is a religion of peace, humanity and brotherhood. Islam says that it is not only each child's right to get education, rather it is their duty and responsibility.

Honourable Secretary General, peace is necessary for education. In many parts of the world especially Pakistan and Afghanistan; terrorism, wars and conflicts stop children to go to their schools. We are really tired of these wars. Women and children are suffering in many parts of the world in many ways. In India, innocent and poor children are victims of child labour. Many schools have been destroyed in Nigeria. People in Afghanistan have been affected by the hurdles of extremism for decades. Young girls have to do domestic child labour and are forced to get married at early age. Poverty, ignorance, injustice, racism and the deprivation of basic rights are the main problems faced by both men and women.

Dear fellows, today I am focusing on women's rights and girls' education because they are suffering the most. There was a time when women social activists asked men to stand up for their rights. But, this time, we will do it by ourselves. I am not telling men to step away from speaking for women's rights rather I am focusing on women to be independent to fight for themselves.

Dear sisters and brothers, now it's time to speak up.

So today, we call upon the world leaders to change their strategic policies in favour of peace and prosperity.

We call upon the world leaders that all the peace deals must protect women and children's rights. A deal that goes against the dignity of women and their rights is unacceptable.

We call upon all governments to ensure free compulsory education for every child all over the world.

We call upon all governments to fight against terrorism and violence, to protect children from brutality and harm.

We call upon the developed nations to support the expansion of educational opportunities for girls in the developing world.

We call upon all communities to be tolerant — to reject prejudice based on cast, creed, sect, religion or gender. To ensure freedom and equality for women so that they can flourish. We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.

We call upon our sisters around the world to be brave — to embrace the strength within themselves and realise their full potential.

Dear brothers and sisters, we want schools and education for every child's bright future. We will continue our journey to our destination of peace and education for everyone. No one can stop us. We will speak for our rights and we will bring change through our voice. We must believe in the power and the strength of our words. Our words can change the world.

Because we are all together, united for the cause of education. And if we want to achieve our goal, then let us empower ourselves with the weapon of knowledge and let us shield ourselves with unity and togetherness.

Dear brothers and sisters, we must not forget that millions of people are suffering from poverty, injustice and ignorance. We must not forget that millions of children are out of schools. We must not forget that our sisters and brothers are waiting for a bright peaceful future.

So let us wage a global struggle against illiteracy, poverty and terrorism and let us pick up our books and pens. They are our most powerful weapons.

One child, one teacher, one pen and one book can change the world.

Education is the only solution. Education first.

Malala Yousafzai is a Pakistani activist, student, UN messenger of peace and the youngest Nobel Laureate. As co-founder of Malala Fund, she is building a world where every girl can learn and lead without fear.

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Module 5: Choosing and Researching a Topic

Finding the purpose and central idea of your speech, learning objectives.

• Identify the specific purpose of a speech.
• Explain how to formulate a central idea statement for a speech.

General Purpose

The general purpose of most speeches will fall into one of four categories: to inform , to persuade , to entertain , and to commemorate or celebrate . The first step of defining the purpose of your speech is to think about which category best describes your  overall  goal with the speech. What do you want your audience to think, feel, or do as a consequence of hearing you speak? Often, the general purpose of your speech will be defined by the speaking situation. If you’re asked to run a training session at work, your purpose isn’t to entertain but rather to inform. Likewise, if you are invited to introduce the winner of an award, you’re not trying to change the audience’s mind about something; you’re honoring the recipient of the award. In a public speaking class, your general purpose may be included in the assignment: for instance, “Give a persuasive speech about . . . .”  When you’re assigned a speech project, you should always make sure you know whether the general purpose is included in the assignment or whether you need to decide on the general purpose yourself.

Specific Purpose

Now that you know your general purpose (to inform, to persuade, or to entertain), you can start to move in the direction of the specific purpose. A specific purpose statement builds on your general purpose and makes it more specific (as the name suggests). So if your first speech is an informative speech, your general purpose will be to inform your audience  about a very specific realm of knowledge.

In writing your specific purpose statement, you will take three contributing elements and bring them together to help you determine your specific purpose :

• You (your interests, your background, experience, education, etc.)
• Your audience
• The context or setting

There are three elements that combine to create a specific purpose statements: your own interests and knowledge, the interests and needs of your audience, and the context or setting in which you will be speaking.

Keeping these three inputs in mind, you can begin to write a specific purpose statement, which will be the foundation for everything you say in the speech and a guide for what you do not say. This formula will help you in putting together your specific purpose statement:

To _______________ [ Specific Communication Word (inform, explain, demonstrate, describe, define, persuade, convince, prove, argue)] _______________ [ Target Audience (my classmates, the members of the Social Work Club, my coworkers] __________________. [ The Content (how to bake brownies, that Macs are better than PCs].

Example: The purpose of my presentation is to demonstrate to  my coworkers the value of informed intercultural communication .

Formulating a Central Idea Statement

While you will not actually say your specific purpose statement during your speech, you will need to clearly state what your focus and main points are going to be. The statement that reveals your main points is commonly known as the central idea statement (or just the central idea). Just as you would create a thesis statement for an essay or research paper, the central idea statement helps focus your presentation by defining your topic, purpose, direction, angle, and/or point of view. Here are two examples:

• Central Idea—When elderly persons lose their animal companions, they can experience serious psychological, emotional, and physical effects.
• Central Idea—Your computer keyboard needs regular cleaning to function well, and you can achieve that in four easy steps.

Please note that your central idea will emerge and evolve as you research and write your speech, so be open to where your research takes you and anticipate that formulating your central idea will be an ongoing process.

Below are four guidelines for writing a strong central idea.

• Your central idea should be one, full sentence.
• Your central idea should be a statement, not a question.
• Your central idea should be specific and use concrete language.
• Each element of your central idea should be related to the others.

Using the topic “Benefits of Yoga for College Students’ Stress,” here are some correct and incorrect ways to write a central idea.

A strong central idea shows that your speech is focused around a clear and concise topic and that you have a strong sense of what you want your audience to know and understand as a result of your speech. Again, it is unlikely that you will have a final central idea before you begin your research. Instead, it will come together as you research your topic and develop your main points.

• Purpose and Central Idea Statements. Provided by : eCampusOntario. Project : Communication for Business Professionals. License : CC BY-SA: Attribution-ShareAlike
• Finding the Purpose of Your Speech. Authored by : Susan Bagley-Koyle with Lumen Learning. License : CC BY: Attribution

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6.1 General Purposes of Speaking

Learning objectives.

• Differentiate among the three types of general speech purposes.
• Examine the basics of informative speech topics and some common forms of informative speeches.
• Examine the basics of persuasive speech topics and some common forms of persuasive speeches.
• Examine the basics of entertaining speech topics and some common forms of entertaining speeches.

Jeffrey Beall – Search! – CC BY-ND 2.0.

What do you think of when you hear the word “purpose”? Technically speaking, a purpose can be defined as why something exists, how we use an object, or why we make something. For the purposes of public speaking, all three can be applicable. For example, when we talk about a speech’s purpose, we can question why a specific speech was given; we can question how we are supposed to use the information within a speech; and we can question why we are personally creating a speech. For this specific chapter, we are more interested in that last aspect of the definition of the word “purpose”: why we give speeches.

Ever since scholars started writing about public speaking as a distinct phenomenon, there have been a range of different systems created to classify the types of speeches people may give. Aristotle talked about three speech purposes: deliberative (political speech), forensic (courtroom speech), and epideictic (speech of praise or blame). Cicero also talked about three purposes: judicial (courtroom speech), deliberative (political speech), and demonstrative (ceremonial speech—similar to Aristotle’s epideictic). A little more recently, St. Augustine of Hippo also wrote about three specific speech purposes: to teach (provide people with information), to delight (entertain people or show people false ideas), and to sway (persuade people to a religious ideology). All these systems of identifying public speeches have been attempts at helping people determine the general purpose of their speech. A general purpose refers to the broad goal in creating and delivering a speech.

These typologies or classification systems of public speeches serve to demonstrate that general speech purposes have remained pretty consistent throughout the history of public speaking. Modern public speaking scholars typically use a classification system of three general purposes: to inform, to persuade, and to entertain.

The first general purpose that some people have for giving speeches is to inform . Simply put, this is about helping audience members acquire information that they do not already possess. Audience members can then use this information to understand something (e.g., speech on a new technology, speech on a new virus) or to perform a new task or improve their skills (e.g., how to swing a golf club, how to assemble a layer cake). The most important characteristic of informative topics is that the goal is to gain knowledge. Notice that the goal is not to encourage people to use that knowledge in any specific way. When a speaker starts encouraging people to use knowledge in a specific way, he or she is no longer informing but is persuading.

Let’s look at a real example of how an individual can accidentally go from informing to persuading. Let’s say you are assigned to inform an audience about a new vaccination program. In an informative speech, the purpose of the speech is to explain to your audience what the program is and how it works. If, however, you start encouraging your audience to participate in the vaccination program, you are no longer informing them about the program but rather persuading them to become involved in the program. One of the most common mistakes new public speaking students make is to blur the line between informing and persuading.

Why We Share Knowledge

Knowledge sharing is the process of delivering information, skills, or expertise in some form to people who could benefit from it. In fact, understanding and exchanging knowledge is so important that an entire field of study, called knowledge management , has been created to help people (especially businesses) become more effective at harnessing and exchanging knowledge. In the professional world, sharing knowledge is becoming increasingly important. Every year, millions of people attend some kind of knowledge sharing conference or convention in hopes of learning new information or skills that will help them in their personal or professional lives (Atwood, 2009).

People are motivated to share their knowledge with other people for a variety of reasons (Hendriks, 1999). For some, the personal sense of achievement or of responsibility drives them to share their knowledge (internal motivational factors). Others are driven to share knowledge because of the desire for recognition or the possibility of job enhancement (external motivational factors). Knowledge sharing is an important part of every society, so learning how to deliver informative speeches is a valuable skill.

Common Types of Informative Topics

O’Hair, Stewart, and Rubenstein identified six general types of informative speech topics: objects, people, events, concepts, processes, and issues (O’Hair, et al., 2007). The first type of informative speech relates to objects, which can include how objects are designed, how they function, and what they mean. For example, a student of one of our coauthors gave a speech on the design of corsets, using a mannequin to demonstrate how corsets were placed on women and the amount of force necessary to lace one up.

The second type of informative speech focuses on people. People-based speeches tend to be biography-oriented. Such topics could include recounting an individual’s achievements and explaining why he or she is important in history. Some speakers, who are famous themselves, will focus on their own lives and how various events shaped who they ultimately became. Dottie Walters is most noted as being the first female in the United States to run an advertising agency. In addition to her work in advertising, Dottie also spent a great deal of time as a professional speaker. She often would tell the story about her early years in advertising when she would push around a stroller with her daughter inside as she went from business to business trying to generate interest in her copywriting abilities. You don’t have to be famous, however, to give a people-based speech. Instead, you could inform your audience about a historical or contemporary hero whose achievements are not widely known.

The third type of informative speech involves explaining the significance of specific events, either historical or contemporary. For example, you could deliver a speech on a specific battle of World War II or a specific presidential administration. If you’re a history buff, event-oriented speeches may be right up your alley. There are countless historical events that many people aren’t familiar with and would find interesting. You could also inform your audience about a more recent or contemporary event. Some examples include concerts, plays, and arts festivals; athletic competitions; and natural phenomena, such as storms, eclipses, and earthquakes. The point is to make sure that an informative speech is talking about the event (who, what, when, where, and why) and not attempting to persuade people to pass judgment upon the event or its effects.

The fourth type of informative speech involves concepts, or “abstract and difficult ideas or theories” (O’Hair, et al., 2007). For example, if you want to explain a specific communication theory, E. M. Griffin provides an excellent list of communication theories on his website, http://www.afirstlook.com/main.cfm/theory_list . Whether you want to discuss theories related to business, sociology, psychology, religion, politics, art, or any other major area of study, this type of speech can be very useful in helping people to understand complex ideas.

The fifth type of informative speech involves processes. The process speech can be divided into two unique types: how-it-functions and how-to-do. The first type of process speech helps audience members understand how a specific object or system works. For example, you could explain how a bill becomes a law in the United States. There is a very specific set of steps that a bill must go through before it becomes a law, so there is a very clear process that could be explained to an audience. The how-to-do speech, on the other hand, is designed to help people come to an end result of some kind. For example, you could give a speech on how to quilt, how to change a tire, how to write a résumé, and millions of other how-to oriented topics. In our experience, the how-to speech is probably the most commonly delivered informative speech in public speaking classes.

The final type of informative speech involves issues, or “problems or matters of dispute” (O’Hair, et al., 2007). This informative speech topic is probably the most difficult for novice public speakers because it requires walking a fine line between informing and persuading. If you attempt to deliver this type of speech, remember the goal is to be balanced when discussing both sides of the issue. To see an example of how you can take a very divisive topic and make it informative, check out the series Point/Counterpoint published by Chelsea House ( http://chelseahouse.infobasepublishing.com ). This series of books covers everything from the pros and cons of blogging to whether the United States should have mandatory military service.

Sample: Jessy Ohl’s Informative Speech

The following text represents an informative speech prepared and delivered by an undergraduate student named Jessy Ohl. While this speech is written out as a text for purposes of analysis, in your public speaking course, you will most likely be assigned to speak from an outline or notes, not a fully written script. As you read through this sample speech, notice how Ms. Ohl uses informative strategies to present the information without trying to persuade her audience.

In 1977, a young missionary named Daniel Everett traveled deep into the jungles of Brazil to spread the word of God. However, he soon found himself working to translate the language of a remote tribe that would ultimately change his faith, lead to a new profession, and pit him in an intellectual fistfight with the world-famous linguist Noam Chomsky. As New Scientist Magazine of January 2008 explains, Everett’s research on a small group of 350 people called the Pirahã tribe has revealed a language that has experts and intellectuals deeply disturbed. While all languages are unique, experts like Noam Chomsky have argued that they all have universal similarities, such as counting, that are hard-wired into the human brain. So as National Public Radio reported on April 8, 2007, without the ability to count, conceptualize time or abstraction, or create syntax, the Pirahã have a language that by all accounts shouldn’t exist. Daniel Everett is now a professor of linguistics at Illinois State University, and he has created controversy by calling for a complete reevaluation of all linguistic theory in light of the Pirahã. Exploration of the Pirahã could bring further insight into the understanding of how people communicate and even, perhaps, what it means to be human. Which is why we must: first, examine the unique culture of the Pirahã; second, explore what makes their language so surprising; and finally, discover the implications the Pirahã have for the way we look at language and humanity. Taking a closer look at the tribe’s culture, we can identify two key components of Pirahã culture that help mold language: first, isolation; and second, emphasis on reality. First, while globalization has reached nearly every corner of the earth, it has not been able to penetrate the Pirahã natives in the slightest. As Dr. Everett told the New Yorker of April 16, 2007, no group in history has resisted change like the Pirahã. “They reject everything from outside their world” as unnecessary and silly. Distaste for all things foreign is the reason why the people have rejected technology, farming, religion, and even artwork. The lack of artwork illustrates the second vital part of Pirahã culture: an emphasis on reality. According to the India Statesman of May 22, 2006, all Pirahã understanding is based around the concept of personal experience. If something cannot be felt, touched, or experienced directly then to them, it doesn’t exist, essentially eliminating the existence of abstract thought. Since art is often a representation of reality, it has no value among the people. During his work as a missionary, Everett was amazed to find that the natives had no interest in the story of Jesus once they found out that he was dead. The Pirahã psyche is so focused on the present that the people have no collective memory, history, written documents, or creation myths. They are unable to even remember the names of dead grandparents because once something or someone cannot be experienced, they are no longer important. Since his days as a missionary, Everett remains the only Western professor able to translate Pirahã. His research has discovered many things missing with the language: words for time, direction, and color. But more importantly, Pirahã also lacks three characteristics previously thought to be essential to all languages: complexity, counting, and recursion. First, the Pirahã language seems incredibly simple. Now, this isn’t meant to imply that the people are uncivilized or stupid, but instead, they are minimalist. As I mentioned earlier, they only talk in terms of direct experience. The London Times of January 13, 2007, notes that with only eight consonants and three vowels, speakers rely on the use of tone, pitch, and humming to communicate. In fact, Pirahã almost sounds more like song than speech.

Second, Noam Chomsky’s famous universal grammar theory includes the observation that every language has a means of counting. However, as reported in the June 2007 issue of Prospect Magazine , the Pirahã only have words for “one, two, and MANY.” This demonstrates the Pirahã’s inability to conceptualize a difference between three and five or three and a thousand. Dr. Everett spent six months attempting to teach even a single Pirahã person to count to ten, but his efforts were in vain, as tribal members considered the new numbers and attempts at math “childish.” Third, and the biggest surprise for researchers, is the Pirahã’s apparent lack of recursion. Recursion is the ability to link several thoughts together. It is characterized in Christine Kenneally’s 2007 book, The Search for the Origins of Language , as the fundamental principle of all language and the source of limitless expression. Pirahã is unique since the language does not have any conjunctions or linking words. Recursion is so vital for expression that the Chicago Tribune of June 11, 2007, reports that a language without recursion is like disproving gravity. Although the Pirahã don’t care what the outside world thinks of them, their language and world view has certainly ruffled feathers. And while civilization hasn’t been able to infiltrate the Pirahã, it may ultimately be the Pirahã that teaches civilization a thing or two, which brings us to implications on the communicative, philosophical, and cultural levels. By examining the culture, language, and implications of the Pirahã tribe we are able to see how this small Brazilian village could shift the way that we think and talk about the world. Daniel Everett’s research hasn’t made him more popular with his colleagues. But his findings do show that more critical research is needed to make sure that our understanding of language is not lost in translation.

To Persuade

The second general purpose people can have for speaking is to persuade . When we speak to persuade, we attempt to get listeners to embrace a point of view or to adopt a behavior that they would not have done otherwise. A persuasive speech can be distinguished from an informative speech by the fact that it includes a call for action for the audience to make some change in their behavior or thinking.

Why We Persuade

The reasons behind persuasive speech fall into two main categories, which we will call “pure persuasion” and “manipulative persuasion.” Pure persuasion occurs when a speaker urges listeners to engage in a specific behavior or change a point of view because the speaker truly believes that the change is in the best interest of the audience members. For example, you may decide to give a speech on the importance of practicing good oral hygiene because you truly believe that oral hygiene is important and that bad oral hygiene can lead to a range of physical, social, and psychological problems. In this case, the speaker has no ulterior or hidden motive (e.g., you are not a toothpaste salesperson).

Manipulative persuasion , on the other hand, occurs when a speaker urges listeners to engage in a specific behavior or change a point of view by misleading them, often to fulfill an ulterior motive beyond the face value of the persuasive attempt. We call this form of persuasion manipulative because the speaker is not being honest about the real purpose for attempting to persuade the audience. Ultimately, this form of persuasion is perceived as highly dishonest when audience members discover the ulterior motive. For example, suppose a physician who also owns a large amount of stock in a pharmaceutical company is asked to speak before a group of other physicians about a specific disease. Instead of informing the group about the disease, the doctor spends the bulk of his time attempting to persuade the audience that the drug his company manufactures is the best treatment for that specific disease.

Obviously, the key question for persuasion is the speaker’s intent. Is the speaker attempting to persuade the audience because of a sincere belief in the benefits of a certain behavior or point of view? Or is the speaker using all possible means—including distorting the truth—to persuade the audience because he or she will derive personal benefits from their adopting a certain behavior or point of view? Unless your speech assignment specifically calls for a speech of manipulative persuasion, the usual (and ethical) understanding of a “persuasive speech” assignment is that you should use the pure form of persuasion.

Persuasion: Behavior versus Attitudes, Values, and Beliefs

As we’ve mentioned in the preceding sections, persuasion can address behaviors—observable actions on the part of listeners—and it can also address intangible thought processes in the form of attitudes, values, and beliefs.

When the speaker attempts to persuade an audience to change behavior, we can often observe and even measure how successful the persuasion was. For example, after a speech attempting to persuade the audience to donate money to a charity, the charity can measure how many donations were received. The following is a short list of various behavior-oriented persuasive speeches we’ve seen in our own classes: washing one’s hands frequently and using hand sanitizer, adapting one’s driving habits to improve gas mileage, using open-source software, or drinking one soft drink or soda over another. In all these cases, the goal is to make a change in the basic behavior of audience members.

The second type of persuasive topic involves a change in attitudes, values, or beliefs. An attitude is defined as an individual’s general predisposition toward something as being good or bad, right or wrong, negative or positive. If you believe that dress codes on college campuses are a good idea, you want to give a speech persuading others to adopt a positive attitude toward campus dress codes.

A speaker can also attempt to persuade listeners to change some value they hold. Value refers to an individual’s perception of the usefulness, importance, or worth of something. We can value a college education, we can value technology, and we can value freedom. Values, as a general concept, are fairly ambiguous and tend to be very lofty ideas. Ultimately, what we value in life actually motivates us to engage in a range of behaviors. For example, if you value protecting the environment, you may recycle more of your trash than someone who does not hold this value. If you value family history and heritage, you may be more motivated to spend time with your older relatives and ask them about their early lives than someone who does not hold this value.

Lastly, a speaker can attempt to persuade people to change their personal beliefs. Beliefs are propositions or positions that an individual holds as true or false without positive knowledge or proof. Typically, beliefs are divided into two basic categories: core and dispositional. Core beliefs are beliefs that people have actively engaged in and created over the course of their lives (e.g., belief in a higher power, belief in extraterrestrial life forms). Dispositional beliefs , on the other hand, are beliefs that people have not actively engaged in; they are judgments based on related subjects, which people make when they encounter a proposition. Imagine, for example, that you were asked the question, “Can gorillas speak English?” While you may never have met a gorilla or even seen one in person, you can make instant judgments about your understanding of gorillas and fairly certainly say whether you believe that gorillas can speak English.

When it comes to persuading people to alter beliefs, persuading audiences to change core beliefs is more difficult than persuading audiences to change dispositional beliefs. If you find a topic related to dispositional beliefs, using your speech to help listeners alter their processing of the belief is a realistic possibility. But as a novice public speaker, you are probably best advised to avoid core beliefs. Although core beliefs often appear to be more exciting and interesting than dispositional ones, you are very unlikely to alter anyone’s core beliefs in a five- to ten-minute classroom speech.

Sample: Jessy Ohl’s Persuasive Speech

The following speech was written and delivered by an undergraduate student named Jessy Ohl. As with our earlier example, while this speech is written out as a text for purposes of analysis, in your public speaking course, you will most likely be assigned to speak from an outline or notes, not a fully written script.

Take a few minutes and compare this persuasive speech to the informative speech Ms. Ohl presented earlier in this chapter. What similarities do you see? What differences do you see? Does this speech seek to change the audience’s behavior? Attitudes? Values? Dispositional or core beliefs? Where in the speech do you see one or more calls for action?

With a declining population of around 6,000, my home town of Denison, Iowa, was on the brink of extinction when a new industry rolled in bringing jobs and revenue. However, as the Canadian Globe and Mail of July 23, 2007, reports, the industry that saved Denison may ultimately lead to its demise. Denison is one of 110 communities across the country to be revolutionized by the production of corn ethanol. Ethanol is a high-powered alcohol, derived from plant matter, that can be used like gasoline. According to the Omaha World Herald of January 8, 2008, our reliance on foreign oil combined with global warming concerns have many holding corn ethanol as our best energy solution. But despite the good intentions of helping farmers and lowering oil consumption, corn ethanol is filled with empty promises. In fact, The Des Moines Register of March 1, 2008, concludes that when ethanol is made from corn, all of its environmental and economic benefits disappear. With oil prices at 100 dollars per barrel, our nation is in an energy crisis, and luckily, the production of ethanol can be a major help for both farmers and consumers, if done correctly. Unfortunately, the way we make ethanol—over 95% from corn—is anything but correct. Although hailed as a magic bullet, corn ethanol could be the worst agricultural catastrophe since the Dust Bowl. The serious political, environmental, and even moral implications demand that we critically rethink this so-called yellow miracle by: first, examining the problems created by corn ethanol; second, exploring why corn ethanol has gained such power; and finally, discovering solutions to prevent a corn ethanol disaster. Now, if you have heard anything about the problems of corn ethanol, it probably dealt with efficiency. As the Christian Science Monitor of November 15, 2007, notes, it takes a gallon of gasoline or more to make a gallon of ethanol. And while this is an important concern, efficiency is the least of our worries. Turning this crop into fuel creates two major problems for our society: first, environmental degradation; and second, acceleration of global famine. First, corn ethanol damages the environment as much as, if not more than, fossil fuels. The journal Ethanol and Bio-diesel News of September 2007 asserts that the production of corn ethanol is pushing natural resources to the breaking point. Since the Dust Bowl, traditional farming practices have required farmers to “rotate” crops. But with corn ethanol being so profitable, understandably, farmers have stopped rotating crops, leading to soil erosion, deforestation, and fertilizer runoff—making our soil less fertile and more toxic. And the story only gets worse once the ethanol is manufactured. According to National Public Radio’s Talk of the Nation of February 10, 2008, corn ethanol emits more carbon monoxide and twice the amount of carcinogens into the air as traditional gasoline. The second problem created from corn ethanol is the acceleration of global famine. According to the US Grains Council, last year, 27 million tons of corn, traditionally used as food, was turned into ethanol, drastically increasing food prices. The March 7, 2007, issue of The Wall Street Journal explains that lower supplies of corn needed for necessities such as farm feed, corn oil, and corn syrup have increased our food costs in everything from milk to bread, eggs, and even beer as much as 25 percent. The St. Louis Post Dispatch of April 12, 2007, reports that the amount of corn used to fill one tank of gas could feed one person for an entire year. In October, Global protests over corn ethanol lead the United Nations to call its production “a crime against humanity.” If you weren’t aware of the environmental or moral impacts of corn ethanol, you’re not alone. The Financial Times of May 27, 2007, reports that the narrative surrounding corn ethanol as a homegrown fuel is so desirable that critical thinking is understandably almost nonexistent. To start thinking critically about corn ethanol, we need to examine solutions on both the federal and personal levels. First, at the federal level, our government must end the ridiculously high subsidies surrounding corn ethanol. On June 24, 2007, The Washington Post predicted that subsidies on corn ethanol would cost the federal government an extra 131 billion dollars by 2010. This isn’t to say that the federal government should abandon small farmers. Instead, let’s take the excitement around alternative fuels and direct it toward the right kinds of ethanol. The Economist of June 2, 2007, reports that other materials such as switch grass and wood chips can be used instead of corn. And on July 6, 2011, The New York Times reported on ethanol made from corn cobs, leaves, and husks, which leaves the corn kernels to be used as food. The government could use the money paid in subsidies to support this kind of responsible production of ethanol. The point is that ethanol done right can honestly help with energy independence. On the personal level, we have all participated in the most important step, which is being knowledgeable about the true face of corn ethanol. However, with big business and Washington proclaiming corn ethanol’s greatness, we need to spread the word. So please, talk to friends and family about corn ethanol while there is still time. To make this easier, visit my website, at http://www.responsibleethanol.com . Here you will find informational materials, links to your congressional representatives, and ways to invest in switch grass and wood ethanol. Today, we examined the problems of corn ethanol in America and discovered solutions to make sure that our need for energy reform doesn’t sacrifice our morality. Iowa is turning so much corn into ethanol that soon the state will have to import corn to eat. And while my hometown of Denison has gained much from corn ethanol, we all have much more to lose from it.

To Entertain

The final general purpose people can have for public speaking is to entertain. Whereas informative and persuasive speech making is focused on the end result of the speech process, entertainment speaking is focused on the theme and occasion of the speech. An entertaining speech can be either informative or persuasive at its root, but the context or theme of the speech requires speakers to think about the speech primarily in terms of audience enjoyment.

Why We Entertain

Entertaining speeches are very common in everyday life. The fundamental goal of an entertaining speech is audience enjoyment, which can come in a variety of forms. Entertaining speeches can be funny or serious. Overall, entertaining speeches are not designed to give an audience a deep understanding of life but instead to function as a way to divert an audience from their day-to-day lives for a short period of time. This is not to say that an entertaining speech cannot have real content that is highly informative or persuasive, but its goal is primarily about the entertaining aspects of the speech and not focused on the informative or persuasive quality of the speech.

Common Forms of Entertainment Topics

There are three basic types of entertaining speeches: the after-dinner speech, the ceremonial speech, and the inspirational speech. The after-dinner speech is a form of speaking where a speaker takes a serious speech topic (either informative or persuasive) and injects a level of humor into the speech to make it entertaining. Some novice speakers will attempt to turn an after-dinner speech into a stand-up comedy routine, which doesn’t have the same focus (Roye, 2010). After-dinner speeches are first and foremost speeches.

A ceremonial speech is a type of entertaining speech where the specific context of the speech is the driving force of the speech. Common types of ceremonial speeches include introductions, toasts, and eulogies. In each of these cases, there are specific events that drive the speech. Maybe you’re introducing an individual who is about to receive an award, giving a toast at your best friend’s wedding, or delivering the eulogy at a relative’s funeral. In each of these cases, the speech and the purpose of the speech is determined by the context of the event and not by the desire to inform or persuade.

The final type of entertaining speech is one where the speaker’s primary goal is to inspire her or his audience. Inspirational speeches are based in emotion with the goal to motivate listeners to alter their lives in some significant way. Florence Littauer, a famous professional speaker, delivers an emotionally charged speech titled “Silver Boxes.” In the speech, Mrs. Littauer demonstrates how people can use positive comments to encourage others in their daily lives. The title comes from a story she tells at the beginning of the speech where she was teaching a group of children about using positive speech, and one of the children defined positive speech as giving people little silver boxes with bows on top ( http://server.firefighters.org/catalog/2009/45699.mp3 ).

Sample: Adam Fink’s Entertainment Speech

The following speech, by an undergraduate student named Adam Fink, is an entertainment speech. Specifically, this speech is a ceremonial speech given at Mr. Fink’s graduation. As with our earlier examples, while this speech is written out as a text for purposes of analysis, in your public speaking course you will most likely be assigned to speak from an outline or notes, not a fully written script. Notice that the tenor of this speech is persuasive but that it persuades in a more inspiring way than just building and proving an argument.

Good evening! I’ve spent the last few months looking over commencement speeches on YouTube. The most notable ones had eight things in common. They reflected on the past, pondered about the future. They encouraged the honorees. They all included some sort of personal story and application. They made people laugh at least fifteen times. They referred to the university as the finest university in the nation or world, and last but not least they all greeted the people in attendance. I’ll begin by doing so now. President Holst, thank you for coming. Faculty members and staff, salutations to you all. Distinguished guests, we are happy to have you. Family members and friends, we could not be here without you. Finally, ladies and gentlemen of the class of 2009, welcome to your commencement day here at Concordia University, Saint Paul, this, the finest university in the galaxy, nay, universe. Really, it’s right up there with South Harlem Institute of Technology, the School of Hard Knocks, and Harvard. Check and check! Graduates, we are not here to watch as our siblings, our parents, friends, or other family walk across this stage. We are here because today is our graduation day. I am going to go off on a tangent for a little bit. Over the past umpteen years, I have seen my fair share of graduations and ceremonies. In fact, I remember getting dragged along to my older brothers’ and sisters’ graduations, all 8,000 of them—at least it seems like there were that many now. Seriously, I have more family members than friends. I remember sitting here in these very seats, intently listening to the president and other distinguished guests speak, again saying welcome and thank you for coming. Each year, I got a little bit better at staying awake throughout the entire ceremony. Every time I would come up with something new to keep myself awake, daydreams, pinching my arms, or pulling leg hair; I was a very creative individual. I am proud to say that I have been awake for the entirety of this ceremony. I would like to personally thank my classmates and colleagues sitting around me for slapping me every time I even thought about dozing off. Personal story, check—and now, application! Graduates, don’t sleep through life. If you need a close friend or colleague to keep you awake, ask. Don’t get bored with life. In the words of one of my mentors, the Australian film director, screen writer, and producer Baz Luhrman, “Do one thing every day that scares you.” Keep yourself on your toes. Stay occupied but leave room for relaxation; embrace your hobbies. Don’t get stuck in a job you hate. I am sure many of you have seen the “Did You Know?” film on YouTube. The film montages hundreds of statistics together, laying down the ground work to tell viewers that we are approaching a crossroad. The way we live is about to change dramatically. We are living in exponential times. It’s a good thing that we are exponential people.

We are at a crossing point here, now. Each of us is graduating; we are preparing to leave this place we have called home for the past few years. It’s time to move on and flourish. But let’s not leave this place for good. Let us walk away with happy memories. We have been fortunate enough to see more change in our time here than most alumni see at their alma mater in a lifetime. We have seen the destruction of Centennial, Minnesota, and Walther. Ladies, it might not mean a lot to you, but gentlemen, we had some good times there. We have seen the building and completion of the new Residence Life Center. We now see the beginnings of our very own stadium. We have seen enough offices and departments move to last any business a lifetime. Let us remember these things, the flooding of the knoll, Ultimate Frisbee beginning at ten o’clock at night, and two back-to-back Volleyball National Championship teams, with one of those championship games held where you are sitting now. I encourage all of you to walk out of this place with flashes of the old times flickering through your brains. Reflection, check! Honorees, in the words of Michael Scott, only slightly altered, “They have no idea how high [we] can fly.” Right now you are surrounded by future politicians, film critics, producers, directors, actors, actresses, church workers, artists, the teachers of tomorrow, musicians, people who will change the world. We are all held together right here and now, by a common bond of unity. We are one graduating class. In one of his speeches this year, President Barack Obama said, “Generations of Americans have connected their stories to the larger American story through service and helped move our country forward. We need that service now.” He is right. America needs selfless acts of service. Hebrews 10:23–25 reads, “Let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds. Let us not give up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but let us encourage one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Let us not leave this place as enemies but rather as friends and companions. Let us come back next fall for our first reunion, the Zero Class Reunion hosted by the wonderful and amazing workers in the alumni department. Let us go and make disciples of all nations, guided by His Word. Let us spread God’s peace, joy, and love through service to others. Congratulations, graduates! I hope to see you next homecoming. Encouragement, check!

Key Takeaways

• There are three general purposes that all speeches fall into: to inform, to persuade, and to entertain. Depending on what your ultimate goal is, you will start by picking one of these general purposes and then selecting an appropriate speech pattern that goes along with that general purpose.
• Informative speeches can focus on objects, people, events, concepts, processes, or issues. It is important to remember that your purpose in an informative speech is to share information with an audience, not to persuade them to do or believe something.
• There are two basic types of persuasion: pure and manipulative. Speakers who attempt to persuade others for pure reasons do so because they actually believe in what they are persuading an audience to do or think. Speakers who persuade others for manipulative reasons do so often by distorting the support for their arguments because they have an ulterior motive in persuading an audience to do or think something. If an audience finds out that you’ve been attempting to manipulate them, they will lose trust in you.
• Entertainment speeches can be after-dinner, ceremonial, or inspirational. Although there may be informative or persuasive elements to your speech, your primary reason for giving the speech is to entertain the audience.
• Imagine you’re giving a speech related to aardvarks to a group of fifth graders. Which type of informative speech do you think would be the most useful (objects, people, events, concepts, processes, and issues)? Why?
• Imagine you’re giving a speech to a group of prospective voters supporting a specific political candidate. Which type of persuasive speech do you think would be the most useful (change of behavior, change of attitude, change of value, or change of belief)? Why?
• Imagine that you’ve been asked to speak at a business luncheon and the host has asked you to keep it serious but lighthearted. Which type of entertainment speech do you think would be the most useful (the after-dinner speech, the ceremonial speech, or the inspirational speech)? Why?

Atwood, C. G. (2009). Knowledge management basics . Alexandria, VA: ASTD Press.

Hendriks, P. (1999). Why share knowledge? The influence of ICT on the motivation for knowledge sharing. Knowledge and Process Management, 6 , 91–100.

O’Hair, D., Stewart, R., & Rubenstein, H. (2007). A speaker’s guidebook: Text and reference (3rd ed.). Boston, MA: Bedford/St. Martins.

Roye, S. (2010). Austan Goolsbee a funny stand-up comedian? Not even close… [Web log post]. Retrieved from http://www.realfirststeps.com/1184/austan-goolsbee-funny-standup-comedian-close

Stand up, Speak out Copyright © 2016 by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License , except where otherwise noted.

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Speech on Education for Students

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We have provided below a variety of speeches on education for the students of different classes. All the education speech are written uniquely using very simple and easy words according to the student’s requirement such as for 2 minutes, 3 minutes, 5 minutes and 6 minutes.

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Long and Short Speech on Education

Education is a lifelong journey, and whether it’s a long and detailed discourse or a short and impactful speech, its importance cannot be overstated. A long speech on education delves into its multifaceted aspects, while a short one distills its essence, reminding us that knowledge is the key to a brighter future for individuals and societies alike

Education Speech 1

Good morning to the Excellencies, distinguished guests, my respected teachers, and my dear friends. The topic of my speech is education. Through my speech, I will let you know all about the value of education and its contribution in our lives. Education is the tool that helps us remove our all doubts and fears about all the challenges and happiness in our lives. It is the tool that keeps us happy and peaceful as well as makes us better socialize human beings. Our teachers are like God for us who helps us all in getting good quality education from the institutions. They try their best to make us learn everything and shape us for future challenges. Our teacher comes into our lives, removes all the darkness, removes all the fears, removes all the doubts, and helps us to find a beautiful career in this big world.

Education is not about to gain only knowledge, however it means, learning the ways to be happy, learning the way to keep others happy, learning the way to live in society, learning the way to tackle challenges, learning the way to help others, learning the way to care older, and learning the way how to behave others. My dear friends, education is like a healthy food that nourishes us both internally and externally. It makes us strong internally and gives lots of confidence by making our personality and giving us knowledge. Good education is only way to remove bad habits, poverty, inequality, gender discrimination, and so many social issues.

Education Speech 2

Good morning to my respected teachers and my dear friends. My dear friends, education is the tool which removes all the differences among us and makes us capable to go ahead together. It makes our challenging paths of the life very easy to lead. Getting quality education is like yoga and meditation as it requires concentration, patience and dedication. Without education, there is no difference between human beings and animals. Education is a powerful tool capable to solve all the social, personal and family problems. It is like a medicine which has capability to treat almost all the diseases. Getting education is not only means to get good job, it means to make a good personality, to be healthy and fit, to maintain hygiene, to be happy all time, to behave well to others, to tackle all challenges of life and so many.

Education is most important to all of us to lead a happy life. Earlier the education system in India was so poor and undisciplined. The kids of rich people were allowed to study however kids of poor people were not allowed to study in the same school or college. Poor people were forced to do labour in the fields only, which was the main reason of discrimination among people in society, inequality, gender inequality , and lots of social issues because of the lack of good education. Low level of education for poor people made them vulnerable to the economic and political exploitation in their own country. There has been made adequate provisions for the poor people in the Indian constitution in order to remove inequality and ensure the empowerment and participation of people of all levels equally.

The right for proper education is the birth right of everyone, restricting one from getting proper education is the crime. Education helps us to understand between good or bad, right or wrong and help us in taking decision in the favour of right ones. It helps us in everything of wide range of problems. We can solve the mysteries of this universe. Education is like magic which helps us to learn all the magic to stay happily on this planet. It keeps us free of all doubts, superstitions as well as removes away all the social evils affecting the society. Better educated people can safeguard their family and nation in more secure and easy way.

Education Speech 3

Good morning to my respected teachers and my dear friends. Today, at this great occasion, I would like to speech about the education and its values in our lives. Education means a lot to us, without education we are nothing. We get motivated towards the education from our childhood by our parents and from teachers when we start going to school. If one is getting proper education from childhood, doing a best investment of his/her life. Education is not only means to read, write or learn, it is the way to live positively and live life happily. It benefits everyone related to the person such as personal, family, neighbours, society, community and country. It is the best tool to remove poverty and inequality from the society. It provides everyone critical skills and technical knowledge to serve better in their own life, family society and country.

Education provides better opportunity in future for viable economic growth. It helps us to keep ourselves and people related to us happy and healthy. Proper education prevents us from the many diseases as well as helps fight the spread of communicable diseases like HIV/AIDS, infections, etc. It helps to make future bright in all aspects. It gives proper understanding to us to tackle to many problems all through the life. Through the proper education, one knows the value of people and value of unity which ultimately reduces the conflicts among people in family, society and country. Good education is the best tool for any nation to go ahead, grow and develop among other strong nations. Well educated people of any country are the most precious assets of that country. Education is the way to reduce mother and child mortality rate by improving their health.

Education brings transparency, stability, good governance as well as helps to fight against graft and corruption. Still, in many backwards regions the meaning of education is nothing. They are so poor that they spend their whole day in earning only two times food. They understand that earning money from childhood is good instead of wasting money in education. Education is really an amazing tool which raises income, improves health, promotes gender equality, mitigates climate change, reduces poverty and so many. It helps in making a peaceful environment at home or in office. Education provides intellectual freedom and keeps us happy physically, mentally, socially and intellectually. It promotes the habit of ideas and experiences sharing among people as well as motivates them for morals, ethics and community responsibilities.

Education provides us wide range of knowledge such as art, history, sports, maths, literature and fields. Education is the basic building blocks of success, bright career and better quality of life.

Education Speech 4

Good morning to my respected teachers and my colleagues. As we have gathered here to celebrate this auspicious occasion, I would like to speech on education. It’s very hard to imagine a world without schools and colleges. I think it is impossible for everyone. Every one of us gets problem in waking up in the early morning or studying all through the night during monthly tests and examinations. However, we all know well about the value and importance of the education in our life. It is not true that if one does not get proper education, he becomes fail in life. However, education provides better chance in life to always go ahead and easy ways to get success in life. Education is very important to all of us as it provides confidence and dare to lot of problems.

Educated people are better able to fulfil their dreams in comparison to uneducated people. Education is very important for a person to overcome all the ancient superstitions which negatively affects our lives even after being baseless and useless. Illiterate and uneducated people become more prone to the superstitious beliefs very easily as they have no clue about truth. Education improves our awareness about the reality of superstitions and replaces all the negative beliefs with proper reasons and logics. In the ever changing world of high technologies, it needs to be careful and updated all time which is not possible without education. Without education it is not possible for everyone to accept and adapt all the changes of modern world.

A well educated person becomes more aware of the latest technologies and keeps himself more updated to the all changes going throughout the world. In this advance world of internet, everyone go to internet and search required information to get online and quick knowledge. The education system in the modern world has become so easy and comfortable than the ancient time just because of the internet. Everyone knows how to surf internet however uneducated one may not know all the benefits of the internet however educated one understand internet as a gift of technology and use in their personal and professional life to make better and happy career.

Education involves better in the life to make it happy and healthy. Illiterate people do lots of ignorance towards their health, family, society and country. Such ignorance may prove very dangerous in their life and personal and national growth and development. Educated people know better how to keep themselves happy and healthy as well as prevent from a number of diseases. Educated person knows well about the symptoms of any disease and never avoid seeking medical aids unless symptoms gone completely however uneducated person do opposite because of lack of knowledge and poverty. It makes us confident, more sociable and more responsible towards our life.

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FAQs on Speech on Education

What is education 1 minute speech.

Education, in a nutshell, is the key to unlocking our potential and shaping our future. It encompasses the acquisition of knowledge, skills, and values that empower individuals to thrive in society.

How do you start a speech on education?

To commence a speech on education, begin with a compelling anecdote, a thought-provoking quote, or a surprising statistic related to education. This captures your audience's attention and sets the tone for your discussion.

Why is education important speech?

An education is vital because it equips us with the tools needed to navigate life's challenges, fosters personal growth, promotes societal progress, and empowers individuals to make informed choices that shape a brighter future for themselves and their communities.

What is education in 200 words?

Education is a multifaceted journey that involves the acquisition of knowledge, skills, values, and experiences. It equips individuals with the means to understand the world around them, to think critically, and to adapt to changing circumstances. Education doesn't just take place in schools; it occurs throughout life. Through education, individuals gain the ability to pursue their interests and passions, to contribute to their communities, and to lead fulfilling lives. It is a powerful tool for personal development and societal progress. Education isn't limited to textbooks and classrooms; it extends to learning from life experiences, from interactions with others, and from exploring the world. It empowers individuals to make informed decisions, solve problems, and adapt to a rapidly changing global landscape.

What is the 3min speech on education?

In a 3-minute speech on education, you can cover the significance of education in personal and societal development, the role of teachers and mentors, the importance of lifelong learning, and the transformative power of education in shaping a better future for individuals and communities. It's an opportunity to inspire and motivate your audience to value and invest in education as a cornerstone of progress and success.

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