Monday, February 15, 2010

free

I don’t know if I should say this, but I really think there is something really wrong with our education system. I mean, I like education and I like our system (for the most part), I just think there is some things that are inherently wrong with education. And no, I am not saying that we should abolish education or even reform education in that matter, I am just seeing if you are aware of some things that I am aware of (though it would be totally fine if you dismiss this as just me thinking too much).
There are a few things wrong. First and the most important I think are the things that the education system is deciding to teach us. I know that educators want everyone to be well-rounded, but do you think a future lawyer need extensive knowledge about finding mathematical algorithms or calculating the electronegativity of bromine? Or would a Chemist need to know the name of the person who shot Archduke Ferdinand or whether this sentence is grammatically correct? Though we cannot dismiss extra education as useless (I am pretty sure that even a chemist should know who the first president of the United States is), I am talking about detailed studies (AP courses if you really want to narrow it). I am just confused on why we need to learn so much, when, in the end, only a fraction of what we learn is used.
My second concern answers the argument that people can choose to go into harder courses. The simple answer is no, some people can’t. The reason that they can’t just choose to not take high level courses is because these courses are revered in our society. Our society has adapted a mindset that not taking any AP classes could be deemed as foolish and stupid. Colleges have emphasized on their desire to see people “challenge” themselves with rather useless courses. Our hands are tied; there is really no other way but to take courses such as AP US history along side with AP chemistry (although I highly doubt that in the end anyone would be using both to the extent of the course). The fact that students are lead to believe that they have no choice but to take these rather challenging but not really beneficial courses bothers me.
My other concern about education might not be so prevalent here as other countries. I worry about the contents that are being taught. I am strongly against bias in education (I scorn at the idea that education could be used to brainwash a population). Since this might be a pretty controversial argument, I guess I should use an example that we are pretty much all on the same page on: Nazi Germany. When Hitler took over, he did a lot to reform the education system in that it brainwashed the children to believe that their country is the best and the preservation of the Aryan race is of topmost priority. This in turn lead to, well, a lot of bad things.

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