What Does Education Mean?
Over the last few months, I have been contemplating what education means. A few things prompted this thinking:
- My daughter is going enter middle school next year (YIKES!);
- I have started my master's degree;
- My wife is an educator (department head of Pre-Curriculum at a nearby community college);
- I teach in the Developmental Studies Department, at a different community college.
I deal with students who are not ready for regular college-level classes, at least mathematically. (Some are completely unprepared.) I have students who are right out of high school up through students who complete high school before I was born. Some have been in college, some only have a GED. I am always fascinated to observe how students spend their education. Some show up when it is convenient for them and do the absolute minimum. Others go all out, taking notes, doing extra homework, asking for help, etc. Most are somewhere in between. (My wife deals with the same range of students.)
As my daughter prepares for middle school, thoughts turn toward he college education. (She does not have a choice. She will go to college.) In looking toward that goal, I want to prepare her to be a student who is not a minimalist ("What do I need to get by?")
I am approaching my master's studies with the question, "What can I do to get the most out of this?" I will admit that I was not always the best student in college, although my grades were very good (3.83, not to brag or anything). I am taking this much more seriously. Perhaps it is a function of my age. I have been in the real world.
That is one thing I notice about my students. The so-called non-traditional students (i.e. those who have been in the real world, as opposed to those jumping in from high school) are much more serious and motivated.
If we value our education--if we ask, "What can I get out of this?"--we are more likely to receive a better education.
1 comment:
Never underestimate the effect that spending your own money has on motivation. Many younger folks are spending their parent's money. Non-traditional students are usually spending their own money, and that makes a difference.
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