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Higher education, to me, is meant for learning about what life truly entails. It is to teach the student, not to find every answer in life, but to create more questions that will eventually need to be answered. Ronald Barnett wrote The Idea of Higher Education, in which Barnett wrote about how higher education, “is not complete unless the student realizes that, no matter how much effort is put in, or how much library research, there are no final answers”. Ronald Barnett’s intended meaning in his selection is to explain that higher education is not supposed to be just like secondary education. Higher education is supposed to destroy the student’s “taken-for-granted world” in which they had been raised and taught to know. First world students have been raised in a place where education is offered to almost everyone, where most people live with roofs over their heads, and have food in their bellies every night. Higher education reveals life and its hardships, and how it affects us and the people we are surrounded by. It shows the truth about the world, and uncovers the information that …show more content…
secondary education covers with a blanket. The world we are born into has several different outcomes and routes to take, which is what higher education tries prove to its students. The knowledge and experience that I have obtained so far in a higher education relates to Barnett’s ideas to a degree, but not indefinitely.
Barnett believed that higher education is only meant to show students how different life can be, which is mostly true. In my eyes, higher education has the power to allow the student to make the world almost exactly how they want it to be. Higher education does not just show how different life can be when compared to what had been taught while growing up, but it allows the student to understand the world that we live in through real world experience. Martha Nussbaum wrote an excerpt from Reading the World called, “Education for profit, Education for Democracy”. In Nussbaum’s excerpt, she points out that education is not only about being taught facts and absorbing the facts, but allowing the mind to act, think, and perceive the world as it
is. Barnett and Nussbaum have similar ideas when it comes to higher education in the sense that they both believe the world has more to offer than what is taught in the secondary level of education. Both Nussbaum and Barnett believe the world is extremely complex, and has no true answers. Some of the views and ideas from both Nussbaum and Barnett represent higher education well. Higher education can be troubling when it comes to learning all of the different ways life can be lived and taught, which is what Barnett believes. I also agree with Nussbaum’s idea of higher education being used to prepare the “informed, independent, and sympathetic democratic citizens” of what life involves. The education received after secondary level is important to learning the truth about the real world. Life isn’t as perfect as it may seem in secondary education. Learning through experience is very beneficial to fully understanding the challenges that the world, and twenty first century learning, faces today. Challenges that face twenty-first century learning include, increase in cost of tuition, and the rise in the economy. An increase in cost for higher education has started to drive possible students away from school and towards jobs that don’t require post-secondary learning. Many people cannot afford a higher education due to the rate of unemployment and minimum wage. This is also related to the rise in the economy and how that affects higher education. The cost of attendance at a college or university and the value of the degree obtained at said college could be interrogated as to how necessary it is to earn a degree. Since more jobs are being created that don’t actually require higher education, people question whether a degree is actually worth the cost of tuition.
David Bartholomae’s “Inventing the University” represents the process of writing a student must undergo every time they composite a new piece of work. In order to properly fulfill expectations, students must interpret, pretend and assemble the language of the desired community they wish to hold as their audience. Bartholomae blames the confusion that most students undergo has to deal with the authority; the teacher assigning the writing is asking the student to take on an authority in denying the classroom setting of which they are in, while the teacher is still a higher authority present. He blames the teachers and the curriculum of which they teach for making students see writing as a tool in referral to the mode of learning in their view
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
In the article “College is Not a Commodity. Stop treating it like one,” Hunter Rawlings explains how people today believe that college is a commodity, but he argues that it’s the student’s efforts; which gives value to their education. Rawlings states that in recent years college has been looked at in economic terms, lowering its worth to something people must have instead of earn. As a professor Rawlings has learned that the quality of education has nothing to do with the school or the curriculum, but rather the student’s efforts and work ethic. Rawlings explains the idea that the student is in charge of the success of his or her own education, and the professor or school isn’t the main reason why a student performs poorly in a class. Rawlings
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.
Louis Menand, a professor of English and American literature at Harvard University presented three different theories for higher education in an article for The New Yorker named, Live and Learn: Why We Have College. Menand (2011) claims that the reasons for college are meritocratic, democratic, and vocational. These theories are great models for the purpose of higher education in our culture, at different points in our history. As a nation, there are definite intentions behind the way that instruction is conducted in our colleges and universities. The techniques adopted by institutions of higher education are no mistake and they are designed to serve a purpose. These methods evolve with time and shape the way that generations think and reason. In our generation, the purpose of higher education in our culture is to sustain the nation atop of the worldwide economy.
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.
In this article Nemko is illuminating the issues that our modern society is facing involving higher education. Students are starting off college with bare minimum requirements for next level learning and feeling disappointed when they are not succeeding in their courses. The author acknowledges that the courses being taken by students are sometimes not beneficial to life after college. Nemko states, “A 2006 study supported by the Pew Charitable Trusts found that 50 percent of college seniors scored below ‘proficient’ levels on a test that required them to do such basic tasks…”(525). Students are specializing in areas of learning to in turn be denied to working in that field and stuck with unnecessary skills. “Many college graduates are forced to take some very nonprofessional positions, such as driving a truck or tending bar”( ...
Murray believes that students should receive a liberal education, yet they should not have to wait until college to do so (Murray 225). Murray states that a person should not be forced to obtain a college-level liberal education, simply because they are capable of doing so (Murray 228). On higher education, Murray says, “A large proportion of people who are theoretically able to absorb a liberal education have no interest in doing so.” (Murray 228). Regardless of the fact that a person fits the criteria enabling them to pursue a college degree, does not necessarily mean that they should, if they are not interested. It is more logical to teach students extensively before the time of college, instead of leaving out information and forcing them to attend a school (Murray 225). However, Addison disagrees with this ideology, and believes that a college education is essential to growing up.
...ege might not be for everyone, for one reason or another- college does benefit its students. It gives young adults a place to transition into adulthood, to have a support system of friends and professors, and balance responsibility. The value of this, to a certain extent, is more than that of the actual education. Though colleges aren’t perfect, they do benefit students, and in turn satisfy the ever changing economic needs. A degree does not equal success, and college is not perfect for everyone- but all college students’ benefit from their education one way or another, creating worldly, accomplished young adults.
Studying a university degree is one of the biggest achievements of many individuals around the world. But, according to Mark Edmunson, a diploma in America does not mean necessarily studying and working hard. Getting a diploma in the United States implies managing with external factors that go in the opposite direction with the real purpose of education. The welcome speech that most of us listen to when we started college, is the initial prank used by the author to state the American education system is not converging in a well-shaped society. Relating events in a sarcastic way is the tone that the author uses to explain many of his arguments. Mark Edmunson uses emotional appeals to deliver an essay to the people that have attended College any time in their life or those who have been involved with the American education system.
Robert Harris, a renowned writer and experienced professor, published “On the Purpose of a Liberal Art Education” in 1991. He was astounded by how many students mumbled about a generalized education plan; therefore, he need to explain why a general education not only gives a first-year student a foundation for later learning but also improves a student’s life. Before Harris could write his paper, he investigated the claim; thus, Newman’s The Idea of University shaped Harris's opinion on a liberal education. Newman and Harris both agree that a generalized education helps train the mind to see culture in every situation. Moreover, this article states that a liberal arts education will teach students how to think, how to learn, how to see the world as a whole, how to become good teachers, and how to be happier.
These eighteen year olds who had virtually no say in what they wanted to study in high school are now ask “ what is your major?” or better yet “what do you want to do for the rest of your life?” This is a big question, and most have no idea what they want to do. So, in a state of confusion they instinctively choose to study in a field that will benefit them economically when they graduate. Is this what a higher education means, to go through college fixed on the money? Or, is there a deeper meaning to it all, if so how can it be obtained? These are the sort of questions that need to be asked when considering going to college.
Is a college education enough to prepare and teach you about life? A college education is important to prepare you for a career in a specialized field, but it cannot prepare you for the real world. Through my experience as a 23 year-old woman, I can say that I have learned more outside of school to prepare me for my future life. I have had to learn more through outside resources, family, friends, and love-interest relationships to be able to survive as a strong-minded female in today's society. As I read articles on education I was able to find two authors that shared my views about education in today's society: Adrienne Rich and Jon Spayde. In the article "What Does a Woman Need to Know?" by Adrienne Rich, Rich delivers a commencement address to female college graduates about the condition of women's education. As a writer and teacher, Rich states that "there is no women's college today which is providing young women with the education they need for survival as whole persons in a world which denies women wholenesss" (qtd. in Lunsford and Ruszkiewicz 66). According to interviewer and editor Jon Spayde in the article "Learning in the Key of Life," Spayde's essay reflects that education should take place throughout a lifetime and not just through formal schooling. Both Rich and Spayde believe that education should be taken to a farther extent than just what we learn in school.
The idea of education has been a big part of each and every culture on earth. However, as we all know, there are many questions on what it means to be educated in the form of higher education: questions we, as students, must face sooner or later. Here I am, my junior year in college. In a couple of years, I will be either prolonging my education or out in the real world trying to make a living. I must ask myself these questions: What is the purpose of my higher education? What exactly am I learning? Is the education I am receiving here at the University of Arkansas going to be good enough for a future employer? If I am educated does that mean I am trained to do only one thing? Am I one-dimensional?