To begin with, it is extremely important that our educational system stops promoting false confidence and allowing students to unlearn their current outlook on life. Both Davidson and Twenge touch upon the flaws in the current education system. As Davidson describes, “Confidence in your ability to learn is confidence in your ability to unlearn, to switch assumptions or methods or partnerships in order to do better. This is true not only for you, as an individual, but for whole institutions” (Davidson 67). Davidson believes true confidence, allows one to not only learn important ideas, but also forsake the ideas that may harm him or her from reaching a goal; she also mentions that this notion does not apply just to an individual person, but also applies
In his commencement speech at Kenyon College in 2005, David Foster Wallace was tasked with the responsibility of imparting some wisdom onto the graduating class. Wallace’s message to a room of full soon-to-be college graduates at the precipice of the of their impending true adulthood, he offers them a message that cuts through the mess and concisely delivers a message that many would ironically overlook, which is for the students to realize that at times, imperative life lessons are not only the ones that they cannot conceive or believe, but the ones that are obvious but hard to acknowledge let alone discuss. The lesson in this is that no matter how instinctive that cynicism is, it is imperative that people must try to more honest and open
Into the Wild by Jon Krakauer is a biography that follows Chris McCandless and his journey through the wilderness while finding himself along the way. Chris McCandless died in the August of 1992 after a four month journey through places like Mexico and Alaska. Krakauer investigates his actions and analyzes his identity after his death, trying to find meaning within his seemingly unnecessary expedition. Chris McCandless constructs his personal identity as a man who wanted to be challenged and inspired by his actions and interests with people he met on the road, and his beliefs and values as a stubborn person. Chris McCandless’s actions are unusual in many ways; for one, he graduates college with honors, but instead of pursuing a career,
In the short story "Hidden Intellectualism" by Gerald Graff, the main idea is to bring acknowledgment to the idea that educators of schools and colleges should incorporate students interest into their teaching. In other words, Graff believes schools and colleges are at fault for not taking the opportunity to use "street smarts" for good academic work (Graff,2010). If Gerald Graff is right about educators needing to incorporate "street smarts" into scholarly works, as I agree, then educators should reevaluate their teaching methods. Students are becoming negligent of gaining knowledge of social interest because it is not encouraged by instructors. Therefore, the only topics students can converse with are related to school work (Graff,2010).
Baldwin’s theory for education could not only improve an individual 's morality but also it could help someone figure out who they truly are. Finding yourself is important part in one 's life because it defines who you truly are not who you want to be or who you are when you’re around certain people. Also, Baldwin says, “It is your responsibility to change society if you think of yourself as an educated person.” Having been an educated person Baldwin believed it was
I think that the man was doing the right thing by going out and following his owns ways. The teacher could have been wrong and by listening to the teacher he has conformed to society and what they think instead of thinking about his own ideas and how he really feels about the topic. This would lead them all into the wrong path. If you keep doing the wrong thing you can never reach the peak in knowledge ,which is supposed to help a person strive to be unique and break out from that bubble of conformity. Why should people always the the same thing instead of keeping an open mind and expressing how they feel not how everyone feels and that topic?
“Grant’s daily interactions with his students result in feelings of displacement and disillusionment. Grant compares his students to some of the older uneducated townsfolk and finds that his hours in the classroom make a little difference.” (Lockhart 83). Even though Grant is unhappy with where he is at in his life he still realizes that he still is making a change in his students they are becoming more intelligent than some of the older people in their
What this essay is saying about students and education is there is no student who doesn’t want to learn or what’s to get an education. Everybody is capable of learning, but the problem is sometimes the education are given by people who don’t care if you are learning or not. In this essay, we learned that the author was put in classes where the teachers didn’t care too much about their students and because of this he become a mediocre student. Not because he didn’t like school or he was lazy, but because there was no inspiration in learning. Luckily, Mike Rose the author of I Just Wanna Be Average found someone that wants him to start learning someone that make him change his mind.
“Like, when I step outside myself kinda, and when I, when I look at myself, you know? And I see me and I don’t like what I see, I really don’t.” Anthony Michael Hall played the role of the brainiac, Brian Johnson, in The Breakfast Club. Likewise, Brian is portrayed as the typical “nerd” in high school; he strives to do his best and please his parent’s.
Sanders offers a new perspective of angle on the concept of learning. When thinking of learning, most jump to memorization or intelligence, but Sanders argues that is not actually learning. He views learning as improving one’s self-image and comprehension so that they can use those skills in the future. He also offers a new perspective on the questions to ask about a college education. One shouldn’t ask how can I get my degree, but rather how they can get the most out of their degree.
However, in the classroom I made assumptions about our students, such as believing college was the natural course for all of them after high school, and that is was always a destination, not an option. It was not until later that I realized how my identity as a White, upper-class individual contributed to my epistemologies and
Education has a cost, and that cost can be far greater to some achievers of it. Author, Rodriguez Richard talks about his idea of education in the essay “Achievement of Desire”. Richard, in the essay is a man who looks back into his childhood and his path into being an educated man. He is new to America and learning a new culture seemed really difficult to him. But his desire to learn more led him to his ambition to read and study about the culture of America, but slowly saw himself being separated from his own culture.
A recent study released by Pearson that questioned over 400,000 students in grades 6-12 shows that only “48% of students think their teachers care about them…and only 45% of students think teachers care if they are absent from school” (Hare, 2015). This shocking statistic demonstrates what American students think about their teachers. Most students are under the impression that their teachers don’t care about them. When teachers don’t care about their students and allow them to fail, many students with unrealized potential give up on education. Mike Rose’s “I Just Wanna Be Average” describes his journey through high school on the vocational track after the results of his “tests got confused with those of another student named Rose” (Rose, 1989, p. 2).
In David Foster Wallace’s “ Kenyon Commencement Speech,” he discusses the importance of liberal arts education in “teaching you how to think” (Wallace, 199). He mentions how education is beyond the knowledge we learn, but about simple awareness will impact the choices we make for better or worse. The real value of education cannot be found in a career (you may or may not be fired from), but it can be found in the way you view things through a different perspective and by considering how other factors can contribute to everyday life. This new approach in thinking will allow us to appreciate our lives and overcome our inner “default setting” towards the world (Wallace, 199). I agree with Wallace’s argument because the purpose of higher education should not be about having career-specific skills and obtaining a degree, but about intellectual and personal growth will help us survive in the real world.
The diversity of student backgrounds, abilities and learning styles makes each person unique in the way he or she reacts to information. The intersection of diverse student backgrounds and active learning needs a comfortable, positive environment in which to take root. Dr. King continues by explaining, “Education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals.” From back then to today’s society, kids are failing because they lack those morals that they need to succeed.