Neoeducation Proposal

So, this is an idea that is not completely fleshed out, but the foundation and motive are in place.

College today still has a small portion of its original goal in that you do learn a bit when you pass a class. In many classes you have to take it upon yourself to go above and beyond the scope of the class to gain true understanding of the subject using the class only as a supplement to your studies. This is because the classes are hindered by the idea that we need to have busy work not for the purpose of practice, but rather for the determination of an insubstantial letter grade that determines your worth as a student. Whose stupid idea was it to pay someone to grade you in the first place? Oh, right… I forgot we need those letters to tell the world whether we are qualified for a specific degree, even though someone can graduate and still have no real idea what they are doing despite being able to regurgitate methods learned via the aforementioned busy-work.

Letter grades are only a side-effect of the problem. The root of the problem is a flawed philosophy of education that leads students to focus only on passing classes rather than actually learning the material and grasping the concepts. The drive is to be educated for economic gain instead of education for the sake of education. This has led the college environment to become some sort of retarded rat-race that only vaguely resembles what I imagine a real institution of learning to be. Being qualified for well-paying jobs should be a side-effect and secondary goal of becoming educated. Like I said before, in passing a class you WILL learn a bit, but it could be so much better.

I think if colleges had no grading system, and no degrees it would set the stage for classes based solely on learning. I am not saying we should get rid of the grading system entirely. After all, we need some way to show competence. It would certainly be bad to have someone who knows nothing about nuclear fission trying to run a power plant. I would instead have a branch of government in place to elect professionals from a given field to come together and make a competency test. These tests (if passed) would grant you a degree. Each test would be based on what you will need to do in a professional environment. For programming degrees, part of the test would be writing programs. For history, you might have to demonstrate simple knowledge of past events. For philosophy, you would have to write papers demonstrating your grasp of philosophical concepts. The tests would be free, or have a minor charge based upon staffing needed to administer the test. There might also need to be some limitations put into place to ration the tests so that completely unqualified people don’t repeatedly take the tests and waste testing resources.

Ok, back to how you learn what you need for the tests. There would always be the option of free self-education, but colleges would exist to guide the learning process. Tuition fees would remain the same, but you would be paying only for instruction, not a letter grade and a piece of paper. There would be guidelines or suggested classes for specific degree goals for those that have no idea where to start, as well as suggested prerequisites. Everything would be up to the student though. The student would determine what classes to take, his/her own requirements for those classes, and how much work to put forth.

Some might argue that certain students don’t have the discipline and responsibility to create their own goals and educational requirements; That they are not self-reflective enough to see their weaknesses and gaps in knowledge and need someone to tell them exactly what to learn. Some students might need that letter grade at the end to drive them to learn. My response is simply that those people don’t need to be in college just yet.

The basis of all this (granted that the student is actually interested in really learning the material) is that you should know what you don’t know far better than any instructor can and don’t need a grading system and busy-work getting in the way of your progress, only the guidance and expertise of an instructor whose sole purpose is to give you the understanding you lack.



So, what holes are there in this plan? Do you think it would actually work to change the focus of college away from simply getting the degree?

Motivated?

Bone and sinew; Muscle and blood sanguine. A simple creature of cells and mind, insignificant and traveling through a murky perception of life. Looking for clarity and answers. Every breath important, yet every action left unmeasured. Why move forward?

Once loved, and still in love. Motivated against the enemy. Poison tongue in darkness. Hidden by obscurity and anonymity. Reveling in the butcher of natural order. Does this creature, this destroyer of my world deserve life?

Once loved, and still in love. Motivated by care. Despair in the eyes of the family. Broken and cut off. Suffering the death of a loved one who is still alive. A cracked soul trying to find peace. Does happiness cradle her now?

Once loved, and still in love. Motivated by hope of healing. Now blind to the beauty of my peers. Searching for a way to see unhindered. Unhelpful knowledge coming freely. Ambition waning. Is this pain terminal?

Why move forward?

Tangential to Culture

Tangential to culture he looks inside before flying off, straight as an arrow, to the darkness of mind, internal. He sheds light as he goes, and wonders of his discoveries; which of them will make him whole. He finds the crow; his fear, and throws a stone. He misses as the crow tumbles to the ground; all of his detriments with it. He comes back outside to a now beautiful world.

On a Talkshow

So, I sometimes put myself into scenarios to invoke thought. Tonight I was thinking through what I would say if I were on some talkshow. It eventually led to these thoughts.

More than anything else right now I would like to talk about the education of man. The end goal is this: When I walk down the street, I don’t want to see people that I am wary of. People that might try to mug me or harm the people around me. I don’t want to hear about drugs as a thrill-ride or business, cheap meaningless sex, unjustified violence, hatred, or prejudice. I want to hear none of these things. Instead, I want to hear discussions of philosophy, physics, chemistry and biology. I want to hear people talking about art and culture, about the progress and glory that could be mankind on every street corner. Every single man and woman is capable of this, they only need be led to taste the fruit of knowledge. This, unfortunately has been proven to be easier said than done.

We have progressed SO far. As a species we have propagated across the planet. We have conquered many difficulties of life, and created much art and technology. The realm of space travel and many other wonderful things looms before us. In other words, we have done well for ourselves.

However, we are a flawed species. Anyone can see this. The most uneducated layman can easy deduce from simple wisdom many of these flaws off-hand. How is it then, that we have done so well as a species, with all these flaws chaining us down? It is because for every horrible flaw we must have some more amazing trait allowing us to continue forward. And we do. If we could systematically eliminate these flaws we would become truly beautiful.

If you were to ask me what these flaws are, I would have too many specific answers to tell you, though they can all be followed back to one root cause and it is SO simple. A lack of thought. Especially a lack of reflection on one’s actions and self.

How many people really think about their morality? How many really think of the consequences of their actions beyond themselves?

Education is the answer to this problem. I am not talking about what we see in universities today. I want to see an education based on wisdom come before an education based on knowledge. I want to see every possible resource focused on this.


P.S. I have what I believe to be a really kickass educational system worked out. I will post about it when I find time to write out the details.