Who is "educated?"

Who do you consider an “educated” person? Is it someone who has completed a certain level of schooling - a college degree, maybe even graduate or doctoral work? Here’s my take: graduating from any level of education doesn’t automatically make someone truly educated.

Let’s apply our morphological awareness and dictionary skills - think about the word graduated. The suffix -ed puts it in the past. You were a student, you completed requirements, you finished a program. You earned a degree. Now consider the word educated, often defined as “having learned a lot.” Learned has that past tense -ed; however, focus on the meaning within the meaning. Analyze the word “having” or the meaning of suffix -ing in this definition: “possessing an education.” Notice the word possessing and its meaning of an ongoing state of action rather than a one-time dynamic action. All this to ask: Do you think to be “educated,” perhaps is more complex than we want to admit? To be “educated,” should we be learning something new right now, not just pointing to what we learned in the past?

This is where we sometimes confuse education with learning. Most educators would agree that formal schooling is not the same as active learning. We’ve all seen students enrolled in courses or sitting in classrooms but not really learning. Do you think this issue also applies to the teachers or teacher educators? An educator may be in the classroom, drawing on what we mastered years ago, but if we’re not continuing to grow, adapt, and try new things, can we still consider ourselves “educated”?

Self-reflection time, in whatever your current role may be: Are you simply “doing what works,” or are you open to trying something that might “work better?” How willing are you to explore a new perspective - even one that may challenge your conception or current practice? If your professional life feels stagnant or uninspired, maybe that’s a sign that there’s more to learn.

The most “educated” individuals, whether they hold advanced degrees or not, never stop learning. They constantly test their understanding, seek new ideas, expand their knowledge, and refine their practices. In education, one powerful way to stay in that active state of learning is through action research.

Action research doesn’t have to be complicated or formal. Start by asking a question about a challenge you’re facing. Read up on what others have tried. Experiment with a new approach. Gather some data, formal or informal, about whether it worked. Then, reflect and repeat the cycle. Even if you’re not struggling with a specific problem, action research can help you explore something new that just might “work better.”

So, who is truly educated? In my view, it’s not just the one with a diploma, abbreviation before their name, or a title. It’s the person who remains reflective, curious, adaptive, and willing to keep learning. In that sense, being educated isn’t a finish line, it’s a lifelong process.

References

Cambridge. (2025). Meaning of educated in English [dictionary]. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/us/dictionary/english/educated

Merriam-Webster. (2025). Definition of educated [dictionary]. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/educated