Advanced Essay No. 2 (Limitations of Education) - Majo Bostani

Limitations of “Education” INTRODUCTION: In "Limitations of Education", I explore why students fail classes and are resultantly labeled as dumb. I'm really proud of all of the ideas that I had while writing this piece. However, I did feel like I tried to put too many ideas into 750 words, which made my writing and connections seem a bit sloppy. Enjoy! Education is something that everybody has had. Even if it is learning how to walk. While education is a really wide-ranged subject matter, there is indeed a misconception that the only education one could receive is in school. As a matter of fact, colleges usually only accept people that have been formally educated through some kind of a traditional school system. This creates a stigma that makes people believe that you can only get an education from a traditional, formal school. For the most part, the American education system has been the same throughout the entire 20th, and 21st century. The school day of a child having to be able to sit in rows for numerous hours, and listen to a teacher lecture on subjects such as Calculus, French, and History to be successful has been around for longer than the telephone. This has limited many students’ passion for learning, by zapping the enjoyability of learning. People have been lead to assume that if that a person can’t learn good in an old-fashioned, classroom setting, then they aren’t smart. It doesn’t really matter whether that person could build a house, or fly an airplane to most people. If the person that they are looking at doesn’t get all A’s on their report cards, then that makes that person “slow” in most people’s eyes. This has caused there to be a lack of skilled labor in the 21st century. People are trying hard to get the jobs that people associate with “smart” people, such as engineering, medical studies, and the arts. This is due to the fact that they have become symbols of good cultural capital. Being able to understand the human body, highly advanced forms of math, and being able to analyze literature are looked upon as more challenging to master, rather than how to work with one’s hands. This apathy is also created by the fact that most of our educational choices are made for us. I remember every thought that I had on my first day of high school. I tiptoed into my advisory room, being observed by the twenty or so other students who I’ll be spending the next four years of my life with. My advisor, whom also happens to be the college counselor walks up to me with a smile the size of Alaska and hands me my roster. Feeling confident about my placement tests, I expected to be placed into Algebra 2 to start out, with some Physics and Engineering courses to be added in. But when I glanced at my roster, a look of disbelief struck my eyes - And not the good kind. “Algebra 1, Honors Biochemistry, African-American History, English 1, Art, Tech, Engineering, and Drama.” Right off of the bat, a good half of those courses sounded either easy or useless to me. How would an aspiring pilot benefit from learning about Art and Drama? Algebra 1 and English 1 sounded like two courses that I have done for three years, with African-American History, Honors Biochemistry, and Engineering sounding somewhat interesting to me. I then started talking to a fellow advisee, who revealed to me that he has to take Geometry, although he passed Algebra 2 at his old school. I inquired about what his old school is, and he proudly stated: “Julia R. Masterman” That explains it well. I figured that it was unfair that students that attend certain middle schools are considered to be less smart, compared to students that attend others. While I see that certain middle schools offer higher qualities of education than others, I still don’t believe that a student’s potential should be limited by which high school they attend. If a student excels at a certain course, then they should be pushed ahead of everyone else. If they are repeatedly failing a course, then a new plan of action should be taken, as there is an underlying reason why that is. In 1990, an education program called Vocational Education was designed to assist students who don’t learn best in a classroom. It taught students trades, as opposed to academic subjects. While this program did gain popularity throughout the nation, it did pick up a stigma. As vocational education student Mike Ross stated in his essay, I Just Want to Be Average, “Vocational education has aimed at increasing the economic opportunities of students who do not do well in our schools.” (p. 2) While this program has its benefits to some students, I believe that other forms of education should be recognized. Just because one size doesn’t fit all, it doesn’t mean that two sizes do. Works Cited: Rose, Mike. "I Just Want to Be Average." Lives on the Boundary: The Struggles and Achievements of America's Underprepared. New York: Free Press, 1989. 162-67. Print.