Throughout the course of our class we have read about many scholars and their thoughts on the schooling system. Our first author we read about was Rebecca Cox, a professor who thinks not only schooling should be improved but our entire political system as well, and her book The College Fear Factor explains exactly that. The second author discussed was Hsun Tzu who thinks that the goal of education should be to make a person who is truly consistent, but says that this takes time and comes with the experience of truly learning rather than relying just on memory. Freire was next and his thoughts on the schooling ystem are similar to Cox’s.
He thinks students are seen more as objects rather than the subject and this is holding back our next generations greatly rather than pushing them. Lastly, there’s John Dewey, most famous for his progressive learning theory, states that students must learn by doing and until they have done what they need to do they will not properly learn. I think that the authors are trying to say that education helps us become developed humans and that our education system doesn’t cater to our real human needs. In my opinion education in the US fails to connect to students and make real life onnections.
Rebecca Cox explains all throughout her book The College Fear Factor that “American higher education is due for a renovation”. She argues that the system can make students look down upon themselves and create a separation between student and professor. This separation is bad but coupled with the fear and anxiety that students already feel while transitioning into college can cause many students to fail and dropout. Students get the sense that their professors are so much smarter than them that if they ask any question they will come across as stupid.
So instead of taking the time to learn and etter themselves they let that anxiety come over them and they drop out or fail the class. The system should not only encourage but see each student as an individual instead of another object in the room. She writes about students who are so scared of their professors evaluations that instead of turning in assignments they fail the class and try it again next semester. But she also says that while some students are turned off completely by this others feel the same way and just work through and overcome their anxiety.
She goes on to say “In other words, students who acknowledged their fears did so in ast tense; they had felt that way at the start of the semester but had progressed over the course of it toward feeling less afraid and more confident. I suspect that had they still harbored those shameful feelings of inadequacy, the instinct to avoid being evaluated would have prevented them from admitting their fears, perhaps even to themselves. “(39). These ideas are similar to my next author Freire. Like Rebecca Cox Freire sees an issue with the student-teacher relationship.
He think that students are also seen as just objects when in fact they should be seen as the main subject. Professors re given a certain education to teach and they are expected to teach everything on the list by the end of the class. He sees a big problem with this because it oppresses students creativity and their ideas instead of encouraging them. He is most known for his “Banking method” idea which suggests students are seen as empty tanks and the teachers are supposed to “fill” their heads with their ideas.
Education thus becomes an act of depositing, in which students are the depositories and the teacher is the depositor. Instead of communicating, the teacher issues communiques and makes deposits which the students patiently eceive, memorize, and repeat. This is the “banking” concept of education. “. This blocks real human interactions and results to teachers teaching off a list instead of out of their hearts. Also, this creates a tear in the student-teacher relationship imposing that students are much inferior to their smart professors.
John Dewey’s approach on how to fix the education system is a more hand on approach. He believes in “Progressive Learning”. Progressive learning is a view on education that students learn best by doing not by sitting in a class and being told facts. He goes on to say that reality must be experienced before you truly earn anything. That basically means that students must interact with their environment before they can learn. His view of the classroom setting was very democratic allowing students to freely express their opinions which makes them comfortable and establishes a bond between the student and the teacher.
This form of education is very positive and encourages students to reach out to their professors and ask questions without the fear of making themselves look stupid to their highly intelligent teacher. The teacher and student should not learn independently but learn together and form a tight bond to nsure success. The last author is Hsun Tzu and his thought on education is that it should lead you to becoming a gentleman. He’s a believer in the thought that all humans are born evil and that can only be changed by a few things.
He believes that humans can only be changed through rigorous study and dedication. One must earn these virtues one step at a time and once you have completed all of these you will be able to see right from wrong and develop an eagerness to learn at all times. This means someone who is pure of heart and sees the value in education. And to give up on education means to become a beast. Throughout his teachings he is directing this towards not only students but teachers to never give up learning so you can teach your best. I connect the most to Freire and Cox out of all the authors.
I believe in most of everything they same with the student teacher bond. But, while i think teachers have a role in that you must also know that not every teacher will make that effort to create that bond. And that where Cox says that you must never give up and push through the fear and anxiety if you truly wish to succeed. I think reforms are needed about teachers teaching a certain rhetoric and nothing else. It greatly hurts the students natural creativity and takes away a lot of real human interaction. The classes i’ve had the most success in with college are the ones where it is very open.
No one is afraid to share opinions and our professors are seen as the same level as us. They not only teach us but learn with us on our way to successfully passing their class. I am very grateful in the opportunity to learn and talk about this subject especially in a class. I think it’s not only good for the students but also the teacher. It gives them a chance to see how their classes feel and what works best with them. I agree with ome aspects of all the authors but i think students must put in the work and power through and fear and anxiety they have.
I think there is definitely a problem with our higher education system but in the near future our generation will help break some of those boundaries and further more push the U. S. education system into a much better oiled machine. I think we must make those real life connections and connect our students and teachers to create that bond. We have all the tools to do it we just need to really push ourselves into making this education the best it can be not only for us but for the generations to come.
