I miss being an undergrad. I miss it so much that I’m crashing classroom web logs attempting to engage in some kind of intellectual discourse. I heard that either you use it or lose it, and I would rather be shot in the head than be caught sitting around with the office barbies chit-chatting about American Idol or gossiping about Tom Cruise’s weird-looking baby.
Today I crashed a poli-sci class site and responded to a student who thought we all ought to be weighed against the same measure:
“I wanted to pose an idea this week, apart from the discussions we currently have going regarding education. Jacks and I were discussing the trend of education the other day and how it seems to lack structure.
For example, some schools and institutions rely heavily on the idea of "higher thought"; grades do not matter-the ideas you have are what matters. Other schools emphasize testing and preparation for one main goal in which you receive a steep grade.
Before i continue, this is not a complaint about any experience thus far at school, it really is something that makes me concerned. Education is what it implies....education. You take a course to learn. I am taking this course, for example, to gain knowledge and perspective on world politics. And yet, somewhere in the process, many students fall into the track of learning for grades. It is merely a repercussion of the pressures to succeed in this generation.
The entire idea of learning to learn has somehow vanished and it is falling on this generation and those that follow us to determine how we perceive education and its uses. If we are teaching to simply receive a score or performance review, then maybe every person should attend a vocational school where they can perform tasks they are simply good at. But, if we want to go and learn things we are interested in and do not already contain knowledge for, we must figure out how to administer a general performance analysis. Does anyone have thoughts on this? I have just been thinking about it and it really interests me.”
So I said, “As good-natured as it may sound, developing and implementing one ‘general performance analysis’ is just another way of attempting to homogenize curricula and the process of learning. What you and your acquaintance noted is not a ‘lack’ of structure or anything else, but actually is the result of the diversification of education that encompasses different ways of teaching, thinking, and learning.
Redundant though it may sound, we are all different. We all have different motives in seeking an education, and we are motivated by different kinds of rewards.
To deconstruct your concept, you have said that ‘Education’ (with a capital E) has some specific set of implications, and that the term itself reflects those implications. Sort of a closed loop of coded language that becomes meaningless without context.
I think your suggestion is treading along dangerous waters, as is any suggestion that there should be but one way to experience a thing for consistency's sake or "the greater good."
Certainly none of us has experienced all that there is to see, feel, taste, hear, or touch, which is what makes life so rich. Maybe you don't like the sensation of chewing scrambled eggs, but surely you wouldn't campaign to keep others from enjoying their scrambles eggs. I'm sure you are sincere about your concerns for the state of ‘Education,’ but I think it wise to stick with creating and participating in your own educational experience, without sacrificing or diminishing the value of the educational experiences that others are fostering for themselves or for their students.”
A little rusty, but not too bad, I don’t think.
As many of you know, I like to write. I have been journaling and writing bad cathartic poetry and short non-fiction bits for years and years. One day I would like to be paid for it, but for now I am answering the phone at an advertising agency. My online journal is my only lifeline to myself right now. When I was at the University, I looked forward to graduating and the opportunities that were supposed to be waiting for me as a college graduate.
But alas, you all know the story. The mall, the temp service, the 200 jobs I applied for, the poverty level income, the one interview I went on. I recently read no less than three articles describing this phenomenon as a growing trend in the job market; the devaluation of the Bachelor of Liberal Arts degree. But as a graduate from the Women’s Studies department, I am determined to not let The Man keep me down. I WILL get a job where I can use my degree AND my intellect (before it evaporates like so much Chicken Soup for the Soul), mark my words!
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