Education acts as the basis of society and reflects the culture from generation to generation. The school serves to induct children into society both formally and informally. Certain choices must be made in the realm of education as follows: 1) What is the curriculum? 2) What are the practical skills the student is supposed to acquire? 3) What are the values? In America, a freedom for all exists, including the right of students to make choices. Thus, educators also have the free choice to be either conservative or liberal with their decisions. Some, such as schools in the Panhandle of Oklahoma, emphasize maintaining the status quo; whereas others, such as schools in Southern California, reflect transitional societies with wide ranging differences and a state of constant change. I have personally had the opportunity to experience such public school systems that are on opposite ends of the continuum. These experiences have caused me to have a paradigm shift in my personal educational theory that I use on a daily basis as a public high school teacher.
My life, my hope, my triumph is in God. His Word guides my thoughts and actions as I search its passages. The wisdom and instruction of the Holy Spirit empowers and directs me. He holds me accountable to His standard for me. He watches me with an intense love and concern, which results in explicit discipline designed for me. I present myself a living sacrifice, submitted to His control and authority.
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Life is a never-ending learning experience. We learn from the time we are born until the day we die. We learn from experience, from our caregivers, from the television, and of course from school. In elementary school we learn how to count and read. In grade school we learn grammar and mathematics, among other subjects. Once you enter the high school level things begin to change. In depth subjects are taught, such as calculus, biology and chemistry. High school teachers teach year long classes of these subjects and go into detail about the inner workings of these studies of interest. After high school a typical student goes to college and receives a second hand look at the subjects. It is here that one can grasp the fact that the education one receives in high school is insignificant compared to the education one receives in a college or university environment.
Take for example the subject of history. In High school you learn about the history of the world including information about wars; why they started, who was involved, when and how they ended. I detailed course curriculum might even include important roles played in the wars; famous generals and battles. At the college level you are taught these things but in more detail. In college it is possible to take an entire class not just one war, but perhaps one year out of that particular war. You could learn in extreme detail all about the subject that was covered in a week or less during your high school level class.
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Both Louis Menand’s “College: The End of the Golden Age” and Joe Quenan’s “ Matriculation Fixation” present us with many misconceptions that the ordinary public and those employed by our educational institutions struggle with. We are faced with many challenges within our institutions of higher education because of the many contradictions that they embody. We need to re-evaluate our goals and missions within our nations universities to produce graduates that will better help society as well as themselves.
Education, a word that can mean so many things. While in the past thirty years colleges and the expanse of knowledge that they offer have continued to evolve, oddly enough, the concept of a four year liberal arts education has remained relatively unchanged. The truth of the matter is that vast majority of students will have very different college experiences. Even though almost half of all Americans have attended college at some point in their lives, scholars in the field feel as though higher education is hopeless. The higher education system has been growing steadily since the 1970’s and with this significant increase in the number of students and ultimately graduates, the value of most degrees has been severely lessened. This, coupled with other outside influences has sent our education system into a state of depression. We need to reassess our reasons for pursuing higher education, and adjust our expectations of what a college degree can and cannot do. Read more…
