I'm glad I found your post via @thesteemengine. I'm a recent college grad. Last May I completed a BA with a 4.0 and cum laude. I'm tunring 44 this month. I dropped out of school after 8th grade and resported to Raves, Drugs and Life. I now have 2 kids and run a business and can;t wait to get my ass into grad school next fall. Having said that, the education system in Amerikkka is BROKEN. My wife and I unuschool our kids. I give far more weight to kids learning arts and sustainability before the three R's, which most average kids can totally learn on their own, especially nowadays with the internet being what it is. My 7 year old is a math wiz, she taught her self algebra a couple of years ago without even knowing it exists. My 5 year old is teaching herself the ukulele and learning how to sing and freestyle rap. And she's good! I do love academia. But I'm glad I went at it as a grownup. I made some lifelong friends and I learned how to learn. I learned more about being myself among the ebb and flow of mainstream society rather than thinking that I have to self-zombify. I would love to see my kids take classes from well-meaning intelligent and talented individuals passionate about teaching their trade/craft/skill/talent. I would love to see my children immersed in an intellectually stimulating environment surrounded and engaged in stimulating relationships. That is the sort of environment that promotes learning and growth as a group rather than in competition for an arbitrary and insignificant socioeconomic status. We're growing food, foraging, learning to build and live sustainable. And we want our form of higher education to be one that facilitates sharing what we've learned with others. I'll be honest, I sped read your article once I got the gist of it. You seem the sort of professor in whose office I would wear out my welcome by the 3rd semester. LOL. Thanks for this, I'm bookmarking it for suture ref. I've been posting my best papers under the tag #academia. There are 2 on my blog now if you scroll. Funny, both articles I chose from @thesteemengine today were related to academia, the other is from @cygon. I guess today is a good day to post another paper. I'll dig up the one I got a $2000 scholarship for. Thanks for some seriously meaningful content. Keep it up!
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Thank you for the detailed and thought-full post! I think what jumps out at me first about your comment is that you did the formal higher thing as an adult. This is partly why it is a little tricky to dissect the problem. Most of the problems I see with higher ed are not nearly that big of deal when the consumer is an adult who is motivated to learn (for any multitude of reasons) and willing to engage. I saw your last comment first when I was on my phone and didn't realize it came after this one. I agree, the system is not (necessarily) outdated, as it works quite well for many people. I would equate this loosely to the idea that public education is not failing, since around 85% of high school students do graduate, but that doesn't mean it can't be improved, sometimes greatly.
I appreciate what my kids are learning in their somewhat traditional elementary school. Although my son will get is school-issued ipad next year, which I hate. The only reason they have them is to facilitate the standardized tests, but then the teachers are pressured to make use of them in other ways. That's a digression, but my point is that I recognize that school serves a certain set of purposes, and I see my role as filling in all the gaps. You better believe my kids learning to sow seeds indoors and then put them out in the garden. We raise chickens for the primary purpose of teaching them about how food gets to our plates. We go on outdoor adventures where we learn about we can go a couple of hours without a snack and juice box (smh :). They are also by our sides as my wife and do things like run a town track club, participate in the pta, etc, etc. Everything is a learning possibility.
My one thought about your own kids finding those well-meaning teachers is that we do have to accept that there are always going to be people in professions that are less skilled than others, and sometimes are just out of place. My wife is a high school counselor, and she fights a lot of kids and parents who want to switch classes the moment they have an issue with a teacher. What is a kid like that going to do when they don't like a boss? All colleges have good and bad teachers, but a fully engaged student will seek out the better teachers. For example, I learned early in college that I should register to take classes from the exact teachers my peers complained about (within reason). In most cases they were complaining because the teacher cared enough about their job to challenge their students. Don't get me wrong, I am hoping for all sorts of evolution in education, but even today college does provide a wonderful experience -- it can just be lost on people who really don't want to be there, or simply don't understand what its even about. You should read the comment here from @derosnec as it has some overlap with what you wrote.
I will definitely check out your posts. Thanks fro dropping the links. I know some consider that taboo, but I think if we are honestly connecting on ideas it is not only appropriate but also just helpful.
I would love to stay in touch as our own kids grow up. Its going to be fun to see where we are in ten years.
Where are you planning to go to graduate school, and what is your area of study?
Cheers!
Post #2 in the series is now up. In case you are interested following along:
https://steemit.com/life/@cstrimel/what-is-college-actually-for-2nd-post-in-the-series-why-college-an-honest-insider-s-guide-for-students-and-parents