Education =/= (just) job training

[jmc_bks]

In follow up to last week's post:

Check out this article in the Post, which touches on the education/learning/job training dilemma. In the comments, check out SeaTigr's entry. Which I agree with and was trying to get to when I posted last week.

Comments

[(Anonymous)]

Going off at a tangent, but do most undergrads really have to take a 'History of Western Civilisation' class? And if so, what history does that cover?

Marianne McA

[jmc-bks.livejournal.com]

I took a Western Civilization class in high school. It was required, and it covered from the Roman empire through present day. Well, it did so in theory. We ran out of time around WWII and the modern stuff was all covered on the exam but supposed to be learned by self-study.

At the university level it varies. I had an email conversation with my sister about this today. Both of our universities had "general education" requirements, but they were handled differently. She was required to take "History of Western Civilization", among other things. I was required only to take X number of credits in the area of Social Studies, and chose to take "History of Western Civilization" as one of them. Of course, it was an introductory survey class, but it was required for anyone wishing to take any other "advanced" history classes. Which is to say, any other history classes at all. The college version ran from the Greco-Roman empires through the Enlightenment.

[(Anonymous)]

It isn't just the attitudes of the universities that need to be addressed. As my husband has said on many occasions - some men hire those who took the same kind of course load they did. Thinking that that would mean the person is somehow a better candidate for the job than anyone with a different degree. Afterall, it's the degree they chose so why would anyone choose differently?

My hubby, being older than I am, came out of high school and started working right away. He is extremely intelligent and has achieved success that many 'grads' would love to have. (Hell, I would love it!) He says that today he wouldn't even be considered for many of the jobs that he held previously because he didn't have the education. I've told him that the education today (and I'm talking around the 90s cause that's when I was in) is so focused that people who are trained like that don't know how to look outside of the box.

That's why I'd like to see a broader focus in education. I would argue that someone with a liberal arts background would come at a challenge differently than someone with a business degree. I think the arts to us to question everything - to look at source material and not take someone else's word for things. Meanwhile, I think (and I can't say for sure) business is more about facts and knowing this, this and this. There is no real room for interpretation and individual thought.

Then again, I'm simplify the problem.

And yep to the World History course - it's basically an overview of the last 2000 years - with some ancient Rome and Greece thrown in. We also had what we called 'electives' - they could be any course you wanted thus, many people took history as their 'easy' elective. It was a shock when almost all of us failed the first exam.

CindyS