Quote:
Originally Posted by mikemover
I never took it that "personally"....
I just believe that the whole approach -- for instance, trying to force calculus upon a theater major, or art upon a finance major, merely to fill some arbitrary university credit-hour requirement-- is a flawed concept, and an inefficient use of the students' AND the school's time, money, and resources.
I'm not arguing that there is no value to be found in studying subjects that are vastly unrelated to one's field, because I feel that ALL knowledge is good knowledge....
But I don't think certain unrelated subjects should be FORCED upon students "just because". The time and energy would be much better spent elsewhere. That's all I'm saying...
Mike
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I mostly agree, Mike. To me the best solution is to change the way we look at advanced education. Up until fairly recently, most public high schools provided a rather uniform, basic education. The assumption was that the student would leave school and 1) go to work; 2) go to a trade school; or 3) go to a university. In the past dozen years or so high schools have been increasingly experimenting with different educational tracks for different students. The hope is that students will leave school with something close-akin to specialized knowledge that employers need. This model of education is radically different from the earlier model for public schools in which it was assumed that everybody needed the same basic education.
The university level is even more busted-up. There are people in universities who are so specialized that they wouldn't know a hammer dulcimer from an Erlenmeyer flask. To me, this is a fundamental abdication of what a university degree means. It is converting the university into a trade school where a universal education is looked upon as a hindrance rather than an accomplishment of the mind.
I'm in favor of strengthening trade schools and JuCos. More business colleges, etc. leave the universities for people who truly want a universal education.
B