Journal AB3A's Journal: Education, Degrees, and Universities 1
Yes, it's true, I'm the son of two teachers. My father is a University Professor, and my mother taught high school. Thus I've been peturbed recently when I noted several right wing columnists describe the institution of the University as a mostly useless edifice.
In fact, there are many in the halls of educational institutions who truly love teaching and who do it well despite incompetent, micro managing administrations, and unions with callous disregard for their members. The problem is not merely the teachers, however. The problem is our pursuit of certificates. We have confused the possession of an educational certificate for the ability to apply knowledge.
Many seek to certify knowledge. I wish that were possible. I'm at a loss to devise a standardized test which can demonstrate knowledge. You see, schools are inadvertently teaching students something awfully toxic: Instead of learning the subject, we study for the next test. And the test is merely a platform for parroting back that which was presented to us, while sounding incomprehensibly sophisticated.
Anyone who goes to a bookstore these days can find text books designed exclusively to prepare for the SAT, the GRE, the LSAT and so forth. That's right, it's all specifically about these tests, not the field of study or, heaven forbid, the profession we seek after school.
There are many in our society who are good at passing tests, although I wouldn't trust them to apply one thing they've "learned." Some even collect degrees as if they were scouting badges. This all comes about because Universities attempt to teach knowledge for knowledge's sake. Practicality is not an issue for them.
We need some distance from this academic mindset. In academia we seek knowledge regardless of application; in business we seek knowledge to apply so we can make a profit. Naturally, these are two extreme ends of a philosophical continuum. I think we've been pushing the academic extreme for far too long now. Maybe it's time we introduced some performance based projects in to schools.
We could teach kids how to be curious, creative, cooperative, and productive. To do that, we'd need a context to these seemingly endless classes on rote or theory. Why not use this learning to build something, sell something, or discover something? Teachers should resort to coaching instead of recitation. Learning will come about as a process of doing instead of teaching theory and then leaving applications as an exercise for the reader.
Don't misunderstand, it's okay to seek knowledge independent of application. That is where the truly stupendous discoveries come from. However, we have a much more mundane need at hand, having little to do with discovery: We need technical writers who can write coherently. We need artists who can create effective advertising. We need chefs who understand the biological effects of diet, and the chemistry in food preparation. We need engineers who can build safe and reliable products. We need Politicians who understand why the laws of physics are not negotiable, and what Return on Investment is. These are but a few examples. But most of all, we need teachers who evangelize the subjects they teach, not education theory. And we need business managers who understand what makes their businesses run; not high priced MBA graduates with their heads in the clouds.
In real life, most professions aren't taught in Universities. They're learned on the job by motivated, intelligent people. This is why, even though European schools are probably far better at imparting abstract knowledge than those in the US usually are, they can't seem to translate that good schooling in to a more productive society.
No, the problem with universities is that we as a society don't commonly recognize any alternatives to an academic degree. And when the only tool you know how to use is a hammer, everything, even a screw, looks like a nail.
Thank you! (Score:2)