The Elements Of Education In Horace's Compromise By Theodore Sizer

Elements of Education Is everyone enrolled in an elementary or secondary school getting a quality education? How much of what students are learning even stays with them into adulthood? In fact, the things that do stay with us and help us in our everyday lives, no matter what we choose as our career path, are seldom taught in most schools. Classes can become monotonous bore where only those with great memories and rigorous study habits succeed. It can be argued, that in our years of learning, our education system only provides us with some of what is necessary to achieve a “thorough and efficient education”. In an article by Theodore Sizer taken from What High School Is, the opening chapter of a book called Horace’s Compromise; The Dilemma …show more content…
These are “self-knowledge and knowledge of his or her total environment to allow the child to intelligently choose life work” and “work training and advanced education as the child may intelligently choose”. My school has yet to provide me with a certain class dedicated to discovering career paths and informing me about all of my options as an adult. Most of what I have based my decisions on what I want to do with the rest of my life has come from sources other than my school. Although classes of “work training” are provided at places like a tech center, I cannot say that I can “intelligently choose” which course to participate in.
The last goal that our elementary and secondary schools could equally and especially focus more on is “Social ethics, both behavioral and abstract, to facilitate compatibly with others in this society.” Students of all ages should be taught these skills because they are imperative to excel in almost any aspect of life. Students are rarely taught in school how to properly shake someone’s hand, how to prepare for a job interview, or how work harmoniously with others. Our education system should require a course dedicated to teaching “social ethics” and “soft