Originally the purpose of education was focused on social, academic and intellectual development so that students could grow to be considered an engaged citizen, but over the last couple of years, the idea of education has adapted to people needing an education to prepare themselves to enter the workforce. Due to higher need of education, and the narrow focus of the current curriculum in schools, we are teaching students based on intellectualism instead of the concepts outside a basic education. Students are led to believe that the education you receive in school is to prepare themselves and succeed in the modern-day workplace. Using the works of Gary Gutting, “What is college for”, and Gerald Graff, “Hidden Intellectualism”, both writings
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In Graff’s text, “Hidden Intellectualism” he starts to explain the many cases in which book smarts can take a variety of forms that are not always present in the school setting. These “hidden” intellectualisms are often not able to make itself know in the student, and to their peers because of the focus of what is being taught in the general education classrooms. “Everyone knows some young person who is impressively ‘street smart’ but does poorly in school…one who is so intelligent about so many things in life but unable to apply that to academic work” (435). Focusing on the level of education taught in college, it is hard for a student to find themselves successful in an area where they are not considered smart, but have to pass the classes in able to get a degree, just to maintain a job. This aspect causes many college students stress about topics that are required by the college in order to reach the classes where a student might find passion in, mainly including their chosen major. A key aspect of the hidden intellectualism being written about, is where a person has a passion about a specific topic, and has a high level of intelligence about that topic, whether they are mentally aware of it or not. While all colleges have the idea that general education leads to making the student have a well-rounded education regardless of the major, most students do not make it past this stage because of the specific classes they are forced to take leading up to that. As a result, classrooms that engage in these practices are characterized by collaboration, reflectiveness and openness to alternative
In Graff’s text, “Hidden Intellectualism” he starts to explain the many cases in which book smarts can take a variety of forms that are not always present in the school setting. These “hidden” intellectualisms are often not able to make itself know in the student, and to their peers because of the focus of what is being taught in the general education classrooms. “Everyone knows some young person who is impressively ‘street smart’ but does poorly in school…one who is so intelligent about so many things in life but unable to apply that to academic work” (435). Focusing on the level of education taught in college, it is hard for a student to find themselves successful in an area where they are not considered smart, but have to pass the classes in able to get a degree, just to maintain a job. This aspect causes many college students stress about topics that are required by the college in order to reach the classes where a student might find passion in, mainly including their chosen major. A key aspect of the hidden intellectualism being written about, is where a person has a passion about a specific topic, and has a high level of intelligence about that topic, whether they are mentally aware of it or not. While all colleges have the idea that general education leads to making the student have a well-rounded education regardless of the major, most students do not make it past this stage because of the specific classes they are forced to take leading up to that. As a result, classrooms that engage in these practices are characterized by collaboration, reflectiveness and openness to alternative