Higher Education

[geezer-also.livejournal.com]

I would submit that for the vast majority of people a college degree is a waste of time, and a way to put off real life. Go thru a college catalog sometime and check out the plethora of degrees. How many really lead to meaningful employment? Seriously, how many job openings are there compared to graduates, for people with degrees in Woman's studies, Chicano studies, and the like? Heck, even technical stuff like sound engineering have a limited job market.

Part of the problem (as I see it) lies in the whole federal subsidy/student loan structure. The main reason many college students have any kind of job at all is for extra spending money; the actual cost of their education is either deferred or non-existent. I believe the old adage that when you actually earn something, you appreciate it more.

I do believe Community Colleges are a good thing. It can give people the opportunity to learn how to do things they didn't learn in High School; like how to read, write, and fill out welfare forms.

X-posted to my journal.

Comments

[kinvore.livejournal.com]

It's a trollish/hyperbolic comment, but what I mean is it's not about teaching you anything. College students pretty much have to teach themselves and then report back what they have learned. In addition, much of what is "taught" isn't very applicable to the intended career. This becomes more evident with the bigger schools, I think smaller colleges are far more concerned with making sure you learn something.

There's exceptions, of course. I'd say in the medical field, for instance, they 1.) actually teach and 2.) they teach applicable concepts at that.

Otherwise it's a just a bunch of obstacles, hoops you jump through while you start a networking base.

[pastorlenny.livejournal.com]

College students pretty much have to teach themselves and then report back what they have learned.

I strongly disagree with this statement. My professors certainly transmitted knowledge to me via lectures. They also directed my research and reading so that it would actually be productive. Perhaps most importantly in my case, their critique of my work was instrumental in my development of an ability to make strong arguments that are both reasoned and fact-based.

[montanaisaleg.livejournal.com]

Yeah, this. Students always have to make the effort to learn what's being taught, but a good teacher makes it much easier to make the mental leaps necessary when learning new, often complex, concepts. I had professors whose ability to explain hard-to-explain things was truly astonishing. I also had some professors who were horrible at teaching, but they were the exception.

[harry-beast.livejournal.com]

I agree that post secondary institutions don't give people an education. I think it's fair to say, however, that for students who are reasonably smart and motivated to learn, colleges and universities provide fantastic opportunities for students to educate themselves, through access to well stocked libraries, experts in the field, fellow students, the academic environment as well as lectures, seminars, etc. Anyone who isn't extremely wealthy would have a hard time getting this kind of experience in the "real world".

[allhatnocattle.livejournal.com]

All trades are directly applicable to specific and broad professions. Carpentrs, plumbers, steamfitters and electrians are some of the obvious learned/taught trades. However medicine is a trade as much as engineering and artchitecture.

This is opposed to arts degrees which do not teach towards a specific job or industry. Philosophy, english, history, geography and the sciences are arts, not trades, because there isn't a specific industry or job waiting for them at the end.

Still, a education in the trades is a rather broad education. Someone taking medicine can work as a surgeon or as a dentist. Somebody taking carpentry can build houses, or furniture, or circular stairs.

As a plumber my field is extremely broad. Construction is very different then service. Designing boiler systems is different then forced air heating. Sprinkler fitting is different then medical air systems which is different then water treatment. Each specialty requiring additional education to gain and prove compentency.