During my first few days of sophomore year at Stuyvesant High School, I saw how the ways of thinking were diverse in each of my classes. In my European Literature class, where, in our first reading assignment, we questioned the purpose of education itself. I always went with the flow in my learning, and never stopped to say to myself, “Why am I doing this to myself?”. However, once I read Live and Learn by Louis Menand, I started to think about Menand’s three theories of college and juxtapose each of them to my experience so far in high school. In the end, I concluded that many of my classes followed the main points of Theory 2, which was the theory that I mostly agreed with when I read the article for the first time. First, I would like to …show more content…
They will have no incentive to acquire knowledge and skills important for life as an informed citizen.” This theory is hypocritical since many of the life skills and knowledge are what we need for success. In my chemistry class, my teacher explained to the students that the purpose of her class is to help me “evolve as an independent learner”, “develop communication and collaboration skills”, and “develop critical thinking skills and creative problem solving techniques”. My computer science class emphasized that learning by yourself and practicing etiquette is just as important as just learning the subject itself. Assuming that all of those aforementioned skills are required for success, it can be seen that at least 2 of my classes in my sophomore year promote Theory 2. Menand also mentioned that if you were a Theory 2 person, you would “consider grades a useful instrument of positive and negative reinforcement, but the only thing that matters is what students actually learn.” The first part of this statement is appropriate at the end of the first marking periods, where teachers only give letter grades which would show the students how well they are doing in their class and motivate them to keep it up or to try harder. As for the second part of the statement, the many skills that students learn in school also matter in real …show more content…
However, I disagree that high schools, especially Stuyvesant, is for the general learner. Students in our school are able to choose classes such as APs and electives that help them in their paths of becoming what they want to be. Also, there are many clubs which promote certain career fields that will provide extra experience. Secondly, this theory is mostly true since there are still those classes that students are required to take even though they are absolutely sure that they are not pursuing a career in anything related to that subject. Nonetheless, Theory 3 does not apply to Stuyvesant due to the fact that some of us don’t know what careers we want to pursue and that our high school isn’t intensely training all of us for a specific career choice. If Theory 3 were true in Stuyvesant, everyone should have a goal in mind and would be working hard only in specific
Rick Perlstein states in his article, "What's the Matter with College?" that college should be a time of self-discovery. He thinks of college as a gateway into to adulthood where everyone is suddenly gaining this new sense of freedom and finding their own identity. It was a time one to read their first banned book and see their first independent film. Perlstein seems to consider one's college years as the most defining years of their life. Today, however, students do not have the luxury of attending an institution solely in the name of self-exploration. The college experience is indeed different from what it once was, much to Perlstein's chagrin. No longer are students going to college for the college experience that was once known by past generations, instead, they are going for the opportunities promised by attending college.
In Frank Bruni’s New York Time’s article, “The Imperiled Promise of College,” he argues that college is no longer a guarantee of success because students are not being properly motivated and guided into the programs that will provide them with jobs.
Dale Stephens argues that college isn’t right for everyone. He acknowledges that he left college because he believed that higher education isn’t everything. Dale clarifies that college is expensive. He refers to College Board Policy Center because tuition is about 3.6 times higher today than it was 30 years ago. He brings up good points but bases his ideas off his own opinions not facts. This is a strong argument because when the tuition is higher, it will be harder for and more people to pay for it. This encourages others to look for an alternative path to follow.
Edmundson at first, describes college as just go to class and you will be ready for life. But he then goes on to say that the education system is not about following in line. He continues on by saying, “To get an education, you’re probably going to have to fight against the institution that you find yourself in” (Edmundson 115). He often repeats himself by recommending students fight the education system. He points out higher education is often seen as a chance to study something
Today in American society, one feels pressured and obligated to seek higher levels of education. In the article “College prepare people for life” written by Freeman Hrabowski, he expresses his views on the many aspects in which college prepares one for their life; especially, financially. Having a college degree increases ones ability to get a job in comparison to somebody who has solely a high school diploma. However, many are faced with the irony of having to go into to debt, in order to work towards financial independence and security. In terms of socio economics, those who are stuck by poverty often cannot afford going into debt to exit their current ranking in the qazi caste system of poverty. Many argues that college prepares people for life, however one can disagree due to
The right and privilege to higher education in today’s society teeters like the scales of justice. In reading Andrew Delbanco’s, “College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be, it is apparent that Delbanco believes that the main role of college is to accommodate that needs of all students in providing opportunities to discover individual passions and dreams while furthering and enhancing the economic strength of the nation. Additionally, Delbanco also views college as more than just a time to prepare for a job in the future but a way in which students and young adults can prepare for their future lives so they are meaningful and purposeful. Even more important is the role that college will play in helping and guiding students to learn how to accept alternate point of views and the importance that differing views play in a democratic society. With that said, the issue is not the importance that higher education plays in society, but exactly who should pay the costly price tag of higher education is a raging debate in all social classes, cultures, socioeconomic groups and races.
In recent years, many have debated whether or not a college education is a necessary requirement to succeed in the field of a persons’ choice and become an outstanding person in society. On one hand, some say college is very important because one must contribute to society. The essay Three Reasons College Still Matters by Andrew Delbanco shows three main reasons that students should receive their bachelor’s degree. On the other hand, many question the point of wasting millions of dollars on four years or maybe more to fight for highly competitive jobs that one might not get. Louis Menand wrote an article based on education titled Re-Imagining Liberal Education. This article challenges the main thought many americans have after receiving a secondary education. Louis Menand better illustrates the reasons why a student should rethink receiving a post secondary education better than Andrew Delbanco’s three reasons to continue a person’s education.
How imperative is it that one pursues a traditional college experience? Although it might appear that Charles Murray and Liz Addison are in agreement that the traditional college experience is not necessary for everyone, Addison provides a more convincing argument that higher education is necessary in some form. This is seen through Addison’s arguments that college is essential to growing up, that education is proportional to the life one lives, and that community college reinvents the traditional college experience. Not only does Addison have her own opinions about college, but Murray does as well.
William Zinsser’s essay “College Pressures” emphasizes the struggles students have in trying to conquer the college milestone in life. Zinsser believes that college has lost the authenticity of the overall goal of gaining knowledge for one’s own interest, rather than the overall need of going. He sympathizes with struggles college kids go through and hopes to provide insight on the overall situation. One of his major points are that succeeding the first time is not always the best way in learning, and that sometimes students need to fail in order to properly learn. The author mentions the “Four pressures, economic pressure, parental pressure, peer pressure, and self-induced pressure” and how there are “No villains; only victims” that fall
He says that it is hard to get students to learn because they have more freedom than they had when they were in school. Students do not have their parents with them to motivate them. Students are more focused on having fun than they are with learning. If students do not learn then they will struggle when it’s time to actually get a job. The author says that they will exhibit the same lack of motivation in their careers. If students do not go to college to learn, then it will actually be a waste of time and money, and they will not get anything out of their career.
What is the social value of college? The answer to this question is quite different when it is asked to multiple people. Some people believe that the social values that are learned in college can be learned outside of college, and others believe that college provides students with an environment to learn and practices social values in a controlled environment. One person that believes that people can learn social values outside of college is Dale Stephens. When it comes to people, who believe that college gives students a controlled environment to learn and practices social values are Michael S. Roth and Zac Bissonnette. In my opinion Stephens, Roth, and Bissonnette all have important points on the social value of college.
Students go to college in search of knowledge, a new lifestyle, and the hope of a job after graduation. For many young adults, college is a rite of passage into an independent, mature new lifestyle. Not only is higher education a rite of passage, for some, it is also an opportunity to have a better life. Overall, college is a wonderful part of many people’s lives, yet the way the college education system is conducted wastes students time and money. College is basically composed of two parts: general education classes and major specific classes. General education courses are the source of wasted time and money, and should not be required of students. A few of the problems associated with general education classes are that they are basically a repeat of high school, unfortunately they can be the demise of students, they are costly, and they waste time.
The purpose of a high school education is to prepare one for college and ultimately, the workforce. By the end of freshman year, in high school, the average student has learned a sufficient amount of material in enough subjects , that he or she can be considered "well-rounded" in his or her studies. This is because the rate at which material is covered in schools, across the nation has increased dramatically compared to the past. Students now learn more advanced curriculum at a younger age, and this continues to become more evident year after year. High school has now become more focused on teaching students a small amount of information on several essential subjects, rather than having them focus deeply on the subjects they seek to pursue in career. Unfortunately, this shift in focus has caused the overall high school experience to stray away from its intended purpose. If students are not prepared for their career, what purpose does a high school education have? If High Schools inserted more elective course opportunities into their standard set of curriculum, it would further prepare students for the career of their choice, allow them to truly master a subject, build their confidence, and refine their talents so that they may grow and succeed their future occupations.
Attending the brick-and-mortar traditional university, my traditional learning environment fostered any and everything but a setting for the mature. I had just completed a hitch with the military, and I was unstable already from such, and college campus life was no encouragement to change at the time. Knowles as to his six assumptions stating “[a]s a person matures, his or her self-concept moves from that of a dependent personality toward one of a self-directing human being (Mirriam, Caffarella, and Baumgartner 2007, p...
College is where people go to discover themselves, and at times people just need a little nudge to get them going in the right direction. Philosophy introduces students to