Sydney Lang

English 110 C

09/01/17

 

What Is Higher Education To You?

 

To become an educated individual there are many components that go into achieving this. Especially when many people have differing opinions when it comes to education, whether it regards higher education as a whole, just for profit, or as a means of bettering the people of society. Such opinions are present in Ronald Barnett’s piece, The Idea of Higher Education, and Martha Nussbaum’s piece, “Education for Profit, Education for Democracy.” Throughout the two passages, the thematic trend at its core is based off of an ideal individual that is not afraid to question. Whether the individual is questioning normalities, questioning the facts provided to them, or continuously questioning and pushing themselves to think beyond the comfort boundaries. Personally, I agree with these authors because of how they emphasize the importance of the qualities needed to become an educated individual. They inform the reader that One needs to push themselves beyond the boundaries, and actively question all that is going on around them in order to become a truly educated individual. Schools should enforce this by nurturing student’s curiosity and feed their questions, rather than teaching children to just concern themselves with memorizing the material. In addition schools should teach their students to naturally question what they are learning, in a respectful manner, to resist “passive assimilation of facts” (Nussbaum). Similarly, Barnett’s article touched upon the importance of students realizing that education does not occur in one set way, which disturbs the concept of solid structured education. This concept of disturbing the norm, ties into Nussbaum’s piece as she talks about the U.S. educational system. Nussbaum emphasizes the traditions of the educational system and how it focusses on “active participation,” which is the act of avidly participating rather than being passive and just accepting facts as they are told to you. The concept of active participation has played a role in my education as I have had many teachers that instil the importance of being involved in the ‘action’ of class by playing a role in all activities that are going on, whether it is computing calculations on your calculator, looking up references in textbooks, or just participating by asking questions, all are valuable aspects to making a well rounded learner. This idea of being a well rounded student that challenges the norms correlates to Barnett’s idea that “a genuine higher education is unsettling; it is not meant to be a cozy experience.” This unsettling feeling is due to individuals pushing themselves outside of their comfort zone so that they can achieve a higher education, according to Barnett’s definition. While Nussbaum stresses the importance of well rounded learners as “students [that] are required to take a wide range of courses.” Enforcing a varied curriculum throughout  higher education, creates an increase in the population of well rounded and knowledgeable people. The importance of “inquiry and questioning” that Nussbaum mentions in the passage also correlates with my personal experiences as I have learned from many teachers that communicate the importance of asking all and any questions that you may have, and to be persistent when searching for the truth in whatever you are studying. With all of these qualities of curiosity, inquiry, persistence, and many others combined together, that will ultimately create an individual that is profiting from higher education.