A Generation of Conformists: How Things Have Changed
Sir Ken Robinson’s, “How Schools Kill Creativity,” and Roger Scruton’s, “The Idea of University” describe education from the past, how it is currently, and that it continues to evolve and change. I am sure by now, most have heard of the marshmallow study done in the 1960’s at a Stanford University campus nursery school. In a nutshell, a child is seated at a table with a marshmallow in front of them. The she is told if she waits fifteen minutes without eating it, she may have two marshmallows later. Researchers concluded that those children who were able to abstain would do well on tests and in college, whereas those who could not, would fail to be successful. Look to current times and note …show more content…
Newman, once rector of the 1854 newly formed Catholic University of Ireland (now University College Dublin.) In Newman’s time, universities were not just there to present knowledge, but to pursue truth and active discussion so to form a well-rounded gentleman. University was, “a place where work and leisure occurred side by side, shaping each other, each playing its part in producing well-formed and graceful personality” (Scruton). Imagine his surprise if he were to learn of how things have progressed. Robinson, on the other hand, reminds that before public education, children were taught, through living, the skills needed to operate a farm, a small business, and even a home. With the advent of the industrial revolution, education changed. It became something geared toward teaching the abilities needed to obtain a job in a factory setting. “Our education system is predicated on the idea of academic ability with a hierarchy rooted on two ideas: 1) the most useful subjects for work are at the top, and 2) academic ability” (Robinson). Teaching the skills required to obtain employment was a necessity, but we have lost something along the way. We continue to teach based upon what we perceive is needed when compared to children’s performance in other countries. We seek to no longer emulate the European model, or even create our own; we are trying to imitate the manner that children are tested and taught in Asian countries. In societies where populations are in the billions in a small amount of landscape, perhaps conformity is a necessity; our needs are not the same as
Sir Ken Robinson’s, “How Schools Kill Creativity,” and Roger Scruton’s, “The Idea of University” describe education from the past, how it is currently, and that it continues to evolve and change. I am sure by now, most have heard of the marshmallow study done in the 1960’s at a Stanford University campus nursery school. In a nutshell, a child is seated at a table with a marshmallow in front of them. The she is told if she waits fifteen minutes without eating it, she may have two marshmallows later. Researchers concluded that those children who were able to abstain would do well on tests and in college, whereas those who could not, would fail to be successful. Look to current times and note …show more content…
Newman, once rector of the 1854 newly formed Catholic University of Ireland (now University College Dublin.) In Newman’s time, universities were not just there to present knowledge, but to pursue truth and active discussion so to form a well-rounded gentleman. University was, “a place where work and leisure occurred side by side, shaping each other, each playing its part in producing well-formed and graceful personality” (Scruton). Imagine his surprise if he were to learn of how things have progressed. Robinson, on the other hand, reminds that before public education, children were taught, through living, the skills needed to operate a farm, a small business, and even a home. With the advent of the industrial revolution, education changed. It became something geared toward teaching the abilities needed to obtain a job in a factory setting. “Our education system is predicated on the idea of academic ability with a hierarchy rooted on two ideas: 1) the most useful subjects for work are at the top, and 2) academic ability” (Robinson). Teaching the skills required to obtain employment was a necessity, but we have lost something along the way. We continue to teach based upon what we perceive is needed when compared to children’s performance in other countries. We seek to no longer emulate the European model, or even create our own; we are trying to imitate the manner that children are tested and taught in Asian countries. In societies where populations are in the billions in a small amount of landscape, perhaps conformity is a necessity; our needs are not the same as