Education for society or education for the individual - which is more important? [AJC 2000]
Education plays a big role in grooming the society’s next generation to be equipped with the ability to handle the responsibility of enabling a functioning economy. As a result, many countries placed much effort in planning their education system to suit their society. However, education for society will tend to overlook the individual needs of students and force them to become what the society needs them to become. It will not only compromise the real needs of individuals, it will also create a negative set of thinking that students with little academic achievements are deemed useless.
Education for society will force students to have the similar set of thinking and to excel in the same areas despite their different strengths and interests. In ‘Why education is bad for kids’ by Rachel Grobstein, it is said that education now teaches the student to ‘learn that to be confused or wrong is a crime.’ The school wants Right answers, and he learns countless ways to con the teacher into thinking he knows something he doesn’t; he learns to bluff and cheat. This is one of the possible outcomes due to education for society, where learning is not the most important. What is important becomes how to fit in and get results that is needed in order to get on with education. Every individual is different and needs a different style of education. By education for society, the system will group all the different individuals under the same category to undergo the same education. This not only handicaps the learning process of the individuals, it will also hinder them from exploring their real strengths.
Taken from School Daze, Timeasia, ‘Our education system,’ says Wang Jenn-wu, a former member of Taiwan’s Cabinet-level education reform committee, ‘was so focused on the country’s economic success that it ignored individual success.’ It further proves that education for individual will produce a finer batch of leaders and workers than education for society. Over focus on designing the education system to suit the country’s needs will prevent the individual to discover their inner talents and use them to maximize benefit the society. Hence education for society is a poorer choice compared to education for individual.
TIANHE[:
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Saturday, June 28, 2008
The main function of today's education is to enable peeple to gain employment?
I personally feel that the function of today's function is to provide a child with a learning system that will allow the child to gain information on his own. However, in today's society, the main function of education is to continuously push a child to try and attain higher levels of education. Parents and teachers blindly do so by making sure that their child does well through tuitions, and doing homework non-stop. Adults do all these to ensure a place for their child in a good university so that they will be able to graduate with a prestigious degree and enter the workforce to successfully secure a job with good prospects. And humans never get out of this rat race, continuously following this path of education that lacks of many.
The factors that leads to employment of today's employees is largely resulted by two factors, namely degree and social skills. The education does give a person the path to earning the 'correct' certificates to get a job but the education system fail to address the lack of social sills people have nowadays. Students go to school, finish their homework, study and go to bed. They follow these routines so much and in the result lose touch with people around them. Therefore, as much as a degree today earns a person a place in the workforce, he or she may lack the lack essential skills of handing people which is a important skill needed in whichever job. This is one large problem that most lack that is not taught in the education system which will not get you that job.
This is the result of today's education and children seldom get a glimpse of the real world and how to learn to gain information independently instead of being spoon-fed by others. The constant protection that adults have shielded children from the real world and caused many young adults these days to fail to handle people well and some end up failing in their career.
Hence, I feel that the main function of education should provide a child a self-learning system whereby they can find new things on their own and allow them to be well-versed in socialising as these are skills they inevitably pick up as they grow older and experience many new activities.
The factors that leads to employment of today's employees is largely resulted by two factors, namely degree and social skills. The education does give a person the path to earning the 'correct' certificates to get a job but the education system fail to address the lack of social sills people have nowadays. Students go to school, finish their homework, study and go to bed. They follow these routines so much and in the result lose touch with people around them. Therefore, as much as a degree today earns a person a place in the workforce, he or she may lack the lack essential skills of handing people which is a important skill needed in whichever job. This is one large problem that most lack that is not taught in the education system which will not get you that job.
This is the result of today's education and children seldom get a glimpse of the real world and how to learn to gain information independently instead of being spoon-fed by others. The constant protection that adults have shielded children from the real world and caused many young adults these days to fail to handle people well and some end up failing in their career.
Hence, I feel that the main function of education should provide a child a self-learning system whereby they can find new things on their own and allow them to be well-versed in socialising as these are skills they inevitably pick up as they grow older and experience many new activities.
Friday, June 27, 2008
KNOWLEDGEABLE OR EDUCATED?
‘Education has failed to make people educated’. Do u agree that this is true for people of your country?
An educated person is one who has undergone a process of learning that results in enhanced mental capability to function effectively in familiar and novel situations in personal and intellectual life. From the above definition, it is apparent that the people in Singapore are not educated even with the current effective education system. Our students today have still failed to apply their text-book based knowledge into real life situation and education in Singapore has only made them more knowledgeable, rather than educated. Therefore I agree that education has failed to make people of Singapore educated today.
Education in Singapore is still inflexible even with the various attempts of promoting interactive learning. Students are still behaving like ‘sponges’, with the only intention of listening and absorbing their teachers’ teachings without any form of contribution to the class with their own views and opinions. Students are too used to this learning style so much so that teachers find it hard to convert to the ‘teach less learn more’ method encouraged by the ministry. With such an education system that is hard to revamp, it is no doubt why students are unable to be educated, where they can have a chance to display their skills not only during examinations but during their everyday life.
Another reason why the education has failed to make people educated is due to the lack of opportunities to allow students to learn. A normal school curriculum does not allow students to have sufficient time to think out of the box or attempt to use their knowledge from textbooks to apply it into their daily life. The education has only allowed the people of Singapore to be good ‘memorizers’ and has failed in making them more flexible in their thinking. Students do not understand the importance of the application of knowledge and the examinations made them believe that being good ‘memorizers’ are good enough to cope for examinations.
From all these reasons, it is evident that there are more to be done in improving the education to make the people of Singapore more educated rather than being a more efficient ‘memorizer’.
An educated person is one who has undergone a process of learning that results in enhanced mental capability to function effectively in familiar and novel situations in personal and intellectual life. From the above definition, it is apparent that the people in Singapore are not educated even with the current effective education system. Our students today have still failed to apply their text-book based knowledge into real life situation and education in Singapore has only made them more knowledgeable, rather than educated. Therefore I agree that education has failed to make people of Singapore educated today.
Education in Singapore is still inflexible even with the various attempts of promoting interactive learning. Students are still behaving like ‘sponges’, with the only intention of listening and absorbing their teachers’ teachings without any form of contribution to the class with their own views and opinions. Students are too used to this learning style so much so that teachers find it hard to convert to the ‘teach less learn more’ method encouraged by the ministry. With such an education system that is hard to revamp, it is no doubt why students are unable to be educated, where they can have a chance to display their skills not only during examinations but during their everyday life.
Another reason why the education has failed to make people educated is due to the lack of opportunities to allow students to learn. A normal school curriculum does not allow students to have sufficient time to think out of the box or attempt to use their knowledge from textbooks to apply it into their daily life. The education has only allowed the people of Singapore to be good ‘memorizers’ and has failed in making them more flexible in their thinking. Students do not understand the importance of the application of knowledge and the examinations made them believe that being good ‘memorizers’ are good enough to cope for examinations.
From all these reasons, it is evident that there are more to be done in improving the education to make the people of Singapore more educated rather than being a more efficient ‘memorizer’.
Is formal education over valued?
Formal education is education from schools usually from state schools by professional teachers. The value of formal education is to instill a common set of values in the students. It also serves as recognition of being able to meet a certain level of competency in reading, writing and speaking.
Therefore, is formal education over valued?
In my opinion, formal education especially at the lower level is valuable. It serves as an equal platform for all students, regardless of wealth status to excel. Every student who attends school will achieve a basic set of skill including reading, writing, counting and socializing. All these skills are essential for survival in this world as it become increasingly knowledge based. With reading, writing and counting skills, information can easily be understood by all, even the poorest and least educated. School is also one of the first places where children leave there home to be with strangers who will become friends. It is also a place where students will realize that the world out there is large and that different people have different way of thinking and way of life. School eil;l help to increase their exposure to the world.
However, higher formal education is over valued by society, especially Asian society. A formal education is deemed as an important tool to improve the job prospects and therefore improve the family social standing. Yet, in the real world, prove of formal recognition serves only as a stepping stone to find a job. What determines the promotional prospects is based on individual competence in meeting the job requirements. Formal education no longer plays an important part of the person’s life. Besides the need to use basic math in our daily life, much of what we learn is irrelevant and non-applicable. On the other hand, education which is relevant to one’s job is needed to improve the productivity of the workers.
Therefore, formal education is valuable when at the basic level. However, when it comes to higher education, it is not necessary valuable. The value of education is not easily measured and it differs from person to person.
Chee Ying
Therefore, is formal education over valued?
In my opinion, formal education especially at the lower level is valuable. It serves as an equal platform for all students, regardless of wealth status to excel. Every student who attends school will achieve a basic set of skill including reading, writing, counting and socializing. All these skills are essential for survival in this world as it become increasingly knowledge based. With reading, writing and counting skills, information can easily be understood by all, even the poorest and least educated. School is also one of the first places where children leave there home to be with strangers who will become friends. It is also a place where students will realize that the world out there is large and that different people have different way of thinking and way of life. School eil;l help to increase their exposure to the world.
However, higher formal education is over valued by society, especially Asian society. A formal education is deemed as an important tool to improve the job prospects and therefore improve the family social standing. Yet, in the real world, prove of formal recognition serves only as a stepping stone to find a job. What determines the promotional prospects is based on individual competence in meeting the job requirements. Formal education no longer plays an important part of the person’s life. Besides the need to use basic math in our daily life, much of what we learn is irrelevant and non-applicable. On the other hand, education which is relevant to one’s job is needed to improve the productivity of the workers.
Therefore, formal education is valuable when at the basic level. However, when it comes to higher education, it is not necessary valuable. The value of education is not easily measured and it differs from person to person.
Chee Ying
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