Thoughts on Education Anyone?
Jun. 9th, 2004 02:25 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
pastfancyGWB: "...Is our children learning?"
That aside... here's a thought I'd love for comments on:
America's educational system is very Pro-Liberal Arts, or rather, it seems to gear itself toward creating well-rounded people. You MUST take your share of English, Math, History, art, GYM... sigh... of course, we all should know 2+2=4, and a basic understanding of history of our country and other basics...
But, we all know some people just aren't good, NOR enjoy certain subjects.
If we allowed children to specialize at an earlier age, would our children have a better education? Maybe if we even restructured colleges into "trade" schools? I mean, it's not mandatory for Chefs to go to college first (I suppose there are some schools that either recommend or do require it, but of the schools I know of, no degree is required), they go to Culinary school.
Let's say, either at HS graduation, or even before, a child wants to be a math professor... can they go to a college and JUST study math? Rather than drudge our 4-5 years of all the rest of the junk just to waste time and amass half your credits in stuff you don't care about?
What if you're desired to be an artist? Shouldn't you have more options? Maybe have more "magnet" schools... I don't know... Maybe a healthy mix of both types of schools? Ones for people to get a well rounded education And specialize in their profession? And ones for people who are only interested in their trade? Maybe make the need for degrees less, or differed?
What is more important to you? As a person and/or as a parent?
A rounded education?
A specialized education earlier than college?
Any and all thoughts welcome :)
Pardon me if this is a little disorganized in thought -- I think I am suffering from heat stroke... an hour walk in the city in non-walky clothes.
That aside... here's a thought I'd love for comments on:
America's educational system is very Pro-Liberal Arts, or rather, it seems to gear itself toward creating well-rounded people. You MUST take your share of English, Math, History, art, GYM... sigh... of course, we all should know 2+2=4, and a basic understanding of history of our country and other basics...
But, we all know some people just aren't good, NOR enjoy certain subjects.
If we allowed children to specialize at an earlier age, would our children have a better education? Maybe if we even restructured colleges into "trade" schools? I mean, it's not mandatory for Chefs to go to college first (I suppose there are some schools that either recommend or do require it, but of the schools I know of, no degree is required), they go to Culinary school.
Let's say, either at HS graduation, or even before, a child wants to be a math professor... can they go to a college and JUST study math? Rather than drudge our 4-5 years of all the rest of the junk just to waste time and amass half your credits in stuff you don't care about?
What if you're desired to be an artist? Shouldn't you have more options? Maybe have more "magnet" schools... I don't know... Maybe a healthy mix of both types of schools? Ones for people to get a well rounded education And specialize in their profession? And ones for people who are only interested in their trade? Maybe make the need for degrees less, or differed?
What is more important to you? As a person and/or as a parent?
A rounded education?
A specialized education earlier than college?
Any and all thoughts welcome :)
Pardon me if this is a little disorganized in thought -- I think I am suffering from heat stroke... an hour walk in the city in non-walky clothes.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2004-06-10 02:20 am (UTC)Even though I went to a high school for science and technology, I still had to take all the other stuff that you need to take to graduate from high school in Virginia: 4 years of English, 3 years of Social Studies/History, 2 years of Gym, etc. The Science and Tech part was on top of all of that... and as a result, I probably took fewer "electives" than other high school kids. The same is true when you follow a BS program instead of a BA in college (though maybe I had fewer group requirements... I can't remember).
Anyway, I think a well rounded education is important. It helps people get exposure to things they might ignore otherwise, and keeps people from living in a vacuum. You may be the most brilliant scientific researcher in the world but no one will know it if you can't write papers to be published. That same scientist is better able to understand the impact his research might have on the world if he has studied history. He will know how to keep his lab funded if he knows the basics of accounting. You get the idea.
Finally, specializing too early turns the specialization into the choice of the parent instead of the child/student. I think there are few even college-aged people who really know what they want to do with thier lives. Many people use college to figure out what it is that they want, and if they didn't have to take all those well-rounded classes, they might not ever figure it out.