I read an article on Twitter by Jared Bernstein titled Thinking About Education, Skills, and Work: Part 1. This was an interesting article and Jared made some points that has already made me rethink a few of my personal beliefs. The article discussed a few different areas in education, but the area that caught my attention discussed why students getting a college education regardless of their job is better. As an instructional leader this statement has a powerful effect.
Jared's main point that all students should go to college was interesting to me. Prior to reading this article, my beliefs about all students going to college were solid. I believed that there were certain positions that didn't need a college education and that college wasn't perhaps for everyone. However, I do believe that the attaining the best possible education is still the best option for everyone. One of Jared's examples was that even if someone is running a daycare, the more schooling they have on early child education, the better they will be equipped to help the children succeed. Another example he used was the more education that someone has in technology, they will be more able to run an MRI machine.
I think Jared brings up many great points. He also discusses that the better the education, the more likely a family is to not live in poverty. One area that Jared did not bring up is drop out rate. Currently, there are high school students who drop out of school because they don't "fit" the current school model. Without careful consideration of this fact, we could actually be pushing more kids out by pushing high education. However, I don't believe Jared is encouraging this. In fact I believe he is really proposing that we nurture all areas that students desire to learn and show them the possibilities of learning beyond high school.
Joe-
ReplyDeleteWhereas I agree with some of what you mentioned in agreement with the author, I do not agree that college or even post high school education is the best place for everyone. I think a lot of what we, even as educators, learned the most was through practicums and student teaching. Even then, the experience was not totally authentic until we had 100% control of our own classroom. I believe that we are encouraging so many students into post high school learning, that we are "watering down" the value of a college diploma. Our economic system depends on a variety of workers, from the McDonald's worker, who for practical purposes really doesn't need more education, to the doctor who requires many years of it.