School as a means to an end (only)

[jmc_bks]

Sarah S. G. Frantz posted about a request to substitute readings in her class on genre romance over at Teach Me Tonight. I thought her response to the student was very well reasoned and tactful. The comments that followed, ranging from a discussion on reason vs. belief to NCLB were interesting as well. One thing really caught my attention though. At one point, Azteclady (quoting Marianne McA in a response to AgTigress) wrote:

Marianne McA, replying to AgTigress, said in part:
Perhaps they might want a particular degree or career requiring that qualification.

That is the attitude that bothers me the most. People who think like that about any particular bit of their college experience are not there to learn, they are there to get a piece of paper in order to move on to make money.

Later in the thread, Sarah noted that

Of course students go to college for that extra piece of paper and the money at the end of it. I imagine most Masters of all varieties are pursued for the same reason. Only the very wealthy or those who just don't care about money can afford to go to college for the sheer joy of learning.

I find that observation about learning as a means to an end only to be depressing, even though I understand the impetus. Even though I went to college to get a degree and obtain a better paying job than would have been available to me with only a high school diploma, I love(d) learning. I spent most of my primary and secondary school years unchallenged and frustrated, bored by classes taught to the lowest common denominator.* The classes that suited me best were the ones where I was left to my own devices or ones that were designed to promote learning independently. When it came time for college, I knew what I wanted to do and that it would require education beyond a four year degree. So I spent those four years learning all kinds of things that were not specifically related to my chosen profession. Languages, literature, mythology, political science, comparative international studies, statistics, math. My degree is what my engineer friends call a Useless Liberal Arts degree, which I followed by a “professional” degree. But I spent four years studying things just because I wanted to, unlike my friends who spent four years taking classes they merely endured in order to qualify for a particular job. Of course, I then spent three more years qualifying for my chosen profession, three years that nearly killed my love of learning because of the rote torture that was inflicted. But even now, I take night classes. They don’t contribute anything to my day job; they aren’t “continuing education” in the sense of a professional requirement (tho’ I do have to take that, too) and although my employer will pay for some advanced degrees, my classes don’t qualify. Why take them, then? Because I can. Because I want to know more.

Learning as a means to an end is okay with me. But education as a piece of paper only concerns me. The disconnect between "education" and learning scares me even more. What does it say about us as a culture that we're intellectually uncurious, interested in learning as a means to an end only? I'm not sure but it scares me a little. 

Of course, this entire post may just be maudlin indulgent bs engendered by lack of sleep and caffeine.

*The only class that I can think of that wasn’t taught to the LCD was “Advanced Math” (Algebra II/Trig). After the first exam, which most of the class tanked, the teacher split us into two sections, one with 6 students who moved on, and one with 20 students who were re-taught the first quarter and went at a slower pace. Only in retrospect do I realize how much extra work that teacher created for herself by letting the six of us advance while going slower with the others. Of course, she was rewarded the next year when we all went on to take calculus, which was normally a class with minimal demand – usually students wanting it had to take AP Calculus elsewhere. Which is another thing I find curious in retrospect – physics was offered every year and had higher demand, but not calculus? In my mind (perhaps erroneously), the two are linked.

 

Comments

I think you're looking at it wrong (wrongly?)

[(Anonymous)]

The problem is that in this country, higher education cost money. Lots n lots n lots n lots n LOTS of money. Many of us go into debt just to get that degree - the kind of debt that takes us into our 40s to pay off. So deciding to do that if there is no monetary reward is, well, dumb. I mean spending 4 years traveling around the world and living in various cultures is ALSO an invaluable & insanely expensive learning experience. And I'm sure a ton of people would do it, but they don't get a piece of paper that guarantees them a higher salary at the end of the trip.

A college degree is an increasingly necessary ticket into the middle class. Not the upper middle class, but the any-level middle class. We've made education more of a commodity and less of a deep life experience. I think hard money realities take the luxury out of learning; it's not necessarily a naturally occurring cultural trait.

~Beth

Re: I think you're looking at it wrong (wrongly?)

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

Seeing as I'm still carrying a whopper-load of student debt, I get what you're saying, Beth. But I still feel uncomfortable with the idea (pervasive in Am, IMO) that being educated is about a piece of paper, albeit one that will get you a higher salary. I think the commoditization (is that a word?) of education creates a society of people who are disinterested in learning outside of the box, who are incurious about things that don't relate specifically to their future employment. Which is why there are so many Americans who couldn't locate Pakistan on a map to save their lives, or who don't know there are three branches of government, etc.

But I'm often accused of being a "glass half empty" person, so maybe I'm just broadcasting pessimism.

[(Anonymous)]

I was pondering this last week. My 16 year old just got a D in her Additional Maths mock, a subject that I had made her take much against her better judgement.
And I was sort of kicking myself, because she could have done another option and got an easy A.
Which led me to wonder at what point I'd stopped worrying about her education, and started worrying about her qualifications.


Marianne McA

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

This is it, exactly!

Except I wonder if some colleges are interested is not only the grades received but what kinds of classes were taken. Better to get a C in an advanced class than to skate through on all intro levels?

[dogzzz2002.livejournal.com]

I also took 'useless liberal arts' in university. My problem is I didn't know what I wanted to do and even though my love of history was indulged, I was mocked by the business world when I went to get a job. Cracks about 'huh, guess you were going to be a teacher' to 'so getting a real job didn't enter into the equation' were painfully common and probably ate at any self-esteem I had while trying to pursue a career.

I'm not a genius or above average intelligence but learning something new is always a delight. If it didn't cost money for classes I probably would have done many more since university. Seeing as how I don't work (lucky me) I find it hard to ask hubby if he wants to take a photography class or a cooking class with me. I have told him we will be taking dance at some point ;)

On that note, I do wish I had majored in business. Business is something so obscure to me and I didn't know what it was they would teach me so I didn't bother. Meanwhile, I took chemistry, geography, plagues and viruses class (seriously, way too fun and every time something happens in the world I'm usually thinking 'we're screwed' cause no one has proper quaranteen procedures), statistics which people were so afraid of and yet I somehow aced the class (still don't know how), psychology which again, seemed to click in my brain so top honours in that one, and way too much English. But I loved, loved, loved my history classes. Loved them!

Okay, I've probably broke your comment box with my rambling.

CindyS

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

Plagues and viruses class? That sounds very cool. And I agree, we're totally screwed if there's another pandemic.