First Draft:
Higher Education
In the passage The Idea of Higher Education by Ronald Barnett, Barnett tells readers that the main purpose of a higher education is to challenge the “taken for granted” world of knowledge that had been given to the youth. He expresses his belief that college is not meant to be an easy journey but a path you may choose to challenge the mind and to question the way one has always looked at the world. The choice of higher education is to choose a life of never ending curiosity, a journey of new ideas and new questions that may never be answered. In so many words Barnett expresses that a higher education is not supposed to be an easy achievement but an accomplishment that a student must work hard to achieve. Barnett further explains that a higher education is to challenge everything you have learned and to better your understanding, go deeper into the topic and explore all explanations. At the end of the passage Barnett declares that there is no final answer that there will always be conflicting factors that could challenge one’s findings.
Like Barnett, Martha Nussbaum expresses similar thoughts in the passage “Education for Profit, Education for democracy” in Reading the World. Alike Barnett, Nussbaum also conveys that to better one’s education they must challenge themselves. She further expresses that there is more to learning than just memorization. Nussbaum states “This tradition argues that education is not just about the passive assimilation of facts and cultural traditions, but about challenging the mind to become active, competent, and thoughtfully critical in a complex world.” Nussbaum points out that the U.S. Educational system strongly supports the idea of respectively challenging beliefs to better one’s understanding and knowledge. Nussbaum explains the liberal arts relationship with college education. It is explained that in the first two year of college, students are required to take variety of “humanity” courses instead of only studying a certain topic. This requirement prepares students to be a better democratic community.
Like Barnett I too believe that the educational opportunities given to America’s youth are taken for granted. I, like many other teenagers dreaded waking up early to attend class, and consistently procrastinated to do my studies and homework. I, a privileged American student took the U.S. public education system for granted and considered the work I had to do a burden. Some students dread going to school because they have such a hard time learning in the limited learning technique environment. My brother for instance hated school he always had a hard time learning in the basic school setting. It is a pressured belief that you must attend college to get a well-paying reliable job. So like many other young adults my brother attended college briefly before dropping out. Things had not changed since high school and had even become much more difficult for him. College was not the place for him. So instead he attended trade school and got a job as a full time electrical apprentice. After years of hands on training and weekly night classes he will became a master electrician. A higher education can be taught in many different formats. A lecture hall or science lab may not be the best fit for everyone, some may choose a trade. Equally as challenging, trades offer a world of knowledge that may accommodate students who learn better in a hands-on learning environment.
I, like Barnett and Nussbaum believe that if you want to achieve something you must be willing to put in all you effort to accomplish it. I believe that a higher education than what is required should be challenging and difficult. Like Nussbaum said in the passage “education… is about challenging the mind to become active, contempt, and thoughtfully critical in a complex world.” I do not believe you must go to college to succeed but a higher education can help someone to achieve more if that’s what one so desires.
https://docs.google.com/a/une.edu/document/d/1hTqGxGBs59AJXlWR-fA_kRx76iWhUPUObcEKgaCMV_4/edit?usp=sharing
Final Draft:
Higher Education
In the passage The Idea of Higher Education by Ronald Barnett, Barnett tells readers that the main purpose of a higher education is to challenge the “taken for granted” world of knowledge that had been given to the youth. He expresses his belief that college is not meant to be an easy journey but a path you may choose to challenge the mind and to question the way one has always looked at the world. The choice of higher education is to choose a life of never ending curiosity, a journey of new ideas and new questions that may never be answered. In so many words Barnett expresses that a higher education is not supposed to be an easy achievement but an accomplishment that a student must work hard to achieve. Barnett further explains that a higher education is to challenge everything you have learned and to better your understanding, go deeper into the topic and explore all explanations. At the end of the passage Barnett declares that there is no final answer that there will always be conflicting factors that could challenge one’s findings.
Like Barnett, Martha Nussbaum expresses similar thoughts in the passage “Education for Profit, Education for Democracy” in Reading the World. Alike Barnett, Nussbaum also conveys that to better one’s education they must challenge themselves. She further expresses that there is more to learning than just memorization. Nussbaum states, “This tradition argues that education is not just about the passive assimilation of facts and cultural traditions, but about challenging the mind to become active, competent, and thoughtfully critical in a complex world.” Nussbaum points out that the U.S. Educational system strongly supports the idea of respectively challenging beliefs to better one’s understanding and knowledge. Nussbaum explains the liberal arts relationship with college education. It is explained that in the first two year of college, students are required to take variety of “humanity” courses instead of only studying a certain topic. This requirement prepares students to be a better democratic community.
Like Barnett I too believe that the educational opportunities given to America’s youth are taken for granted. I, like many other teenagers dreaded waking up early to attend class, and consistently procrastinated to do my studies and homework. I, a privileged American student took the U.S. public education system for granted and considered the work I had to do a burden. Some students dread going to school because they have such a hard time learning in the limited learning technique environment. My brother for instance hated school he always had a hard time learning in the basic school setting. It is a pressured belief that you must attend college to get a well-paying reliable job. So like many other young adults my brother attended college briefly before dropping out. Things had not changed since high school and had even become much more difficult for him. College was not the place for him. So instead he attended trade school and got a job as a full time electrical apprentice. After years of hands on training and weekly night classes he will work his way up from an apprentice to a journeyman to a master electrician. A higher education can be taught in many different formats. A lecture hall or science lab may not be the best fit for everyone, some may choose a trade. Equally as challenging, trades offer a world of knowledge that may accommodate students who learn better in a hands-on learning environment.
I, like Barnett and Nussbaum believe that if you want to achieve something you must be willing to put in all you effort to accomplish it. I believe that a higher education than what is required should be challenging and difficult. Like Nussbaum said in the passage “education… is about challenging the mind to become active, contempt, and thoughtfully critical in a complex world.” I do not believe you must go to college to succeed but a higher education can help someone to achieve more if that’s what one so desires.
https://docs.google.com/a/une.edu/document/d/1XH23f88fosbn3InN59agVByCamGa0F9Q8IIxMqC835k/edit?usp=sharing
