Explain Why Is General Education An Issue For Institutions

Higher education has a vast history; beginning in the early colonial period and spanning ten generations. With its wide range of history, aspects of higher education have changed as the ideals and reforms of society adjusted. Albeit, the missions and purposes of college have remained the same. In this paper, I will clarify the three main missions and purposes of higher education. Then, I will shift the focus of the paper to the area I would like to pursue in higher education and how it reflects those purposes.

Higher education has become a staple of American society. With over 20 million students attending over 4,500 degree granting institutions, the role that higher education has played on larger society is paramount (Thelin, 2017). However, despite the popularity of higher education institutions, the exact purpose of higher education has changed from century to century and may serve different purposes depending on who is asked. Higher education today is arguably both a public and private good. While state and federal governments have invested in a variety of higher education initiatives, as well as assisted thousands of students with attending college through loans and scholarships in hopes that students use their acquired skills and

It may come as no surprise to some that a quality education has the power to provide, for those who seek it, the opportunity of personal and professional transformation. It can be said that a society which encourages higher education is more likely to yield a population of individuals who are civic minded and purposeful as opposed to a society which does not. In an article entitled “What Can College Mean? – Lessons from the Bard Prison Institute, author Ellen Condiffe Lagemann supports the importance of a liberal arts education but also presents the case that quality education in the United States is not available to all.

College, a universal, fundamental concept that the globe utilizes. Through a wide array of variations, countries across the world have developed their own meaning of what higher education is. However, the underlying tone of it all is the same, furthering one’s knowledge. With a vast number of schools from a broad range of locations trying to pull the population in, colleges compete with different tactics ranging from education relevance to evaluation. Consequently, problems have arisen from these approaches, addressed along the lines in an article called “A New Course” by Magdalena Kay, an associate professor of English at the University of Victoria and an educational film, “Ivory Tower” by Andrew Rossi, a graduate of Harvard and Yale University and a filmmaker. Furthermore, these problems change the meaning of college itself, no longer seen as an education, but as a commodity.

Students today have been raised to think that college is just the next step in life after high school. Decades ago,going to college was a huge achievement and not many people enrolled. Today, however it is almost expected that you go to college. The purpose of college has been changing over the years. Students and professors have lost sight of what to get out a college education. Gary Gutting explains in his article, “What is College for?” that students are losing passion for higher education. He also believes that professors are not realizing what their true job really is, and are not doing the necessary procedures to help their students succeed. “In On the Uses of a Liberal Education”, Mark Edmundson shares similar ideas, and gives a first person point of view of Gutting’s ideas about the quality of the college experience. Mark Edmundson would agree with Gary Gutting’s claims that the quality of colleges is declining and is negatively affecting the students and faculty members.

Jacqueline Novogratz once said, “I believe the government should ensure all children are provided with a good education.” When Luis Valdez wrote No Saco Nada de la Escuela in 1969, many hispanics were migrating into the United States to look for better job opportunities. As different people were moving to the United States, they were being discriminated against and did not receive the same opportunities as the white families. No Saco Nada de la Escuela is the plot of many children of different races attending the same schools and the white students get much better treatment than the students of other races. The multicultural students find out that they face many inequalities and that they have to fight to receive their education. This essay will examine determination, inequalities and education with the teacher, Monty, and Francisco.

One way or another, all agree that a graduate of the liberal arts will be far better equipped for the uncertainties through the influence of a liberal arts education; however, they do not share similar views concerning how that outcome is acquired. Ungar holds the view that a liberal arts education is receiving more scrutiny than necessary while Hacker and Dreifus scrutinize the structure of current college education. Meanwhile, Wallace does not suggest that a problem exists in education, but rather, the problem is the misconception of what results. Of course, it is impossible to create a perfect form of education; not every person can be satisfied with the current state regardless of what changes are made, and in my view, it is best to acknowledge this reality and shift the focus of scrutiny elsewhere—such as the views of Ungar and Wallace. Although Hacker and Dreifus offer wonderful advice, I still maintain that the focus of scrutiny should be on the education itself; however, structural improvements of education should never stop. In sum, I support Hacker and Dreifus in their concern to improve the quality of higher education; however, to me, satisfaction will always be the unattainable

“The term general education, which was used originally to describe this concept, was corrupted as the academic disciplines became the defining element in college teaching; now, general education is used almost exclusively as a name for distribution

Furthermore, it provides copious evidence to support and develop the central idea of the film. Four primary components that are meticulously addressed in the film are the social, economic, political, and technological trends, conflicts, and issues that have constructed a new concept of college education in the United States. There are ample social trends, changes, and arising issues that have affected the integral meaning and cost of a higher education. One critical trend that has prevailed over the years is the fact that a higher education serves as a social stratification medium. For instance, in the first years of American history a higher level of education was a privilege of the rich.

The General Education program at University of South Carolina Upstate is a program of study that provides students majoring in a different array of programs with a common academic experience. A set of general education requirements is included in each baccalaureate program includes a core curriculum with university requirements and courses. The purpose of such requirements is to provide a broadly based intellectual foundation for students in the area of specialization development. For this reason, students are encouraged to select various courses outside their major area of study for a successful undergraduate educational experience. The mission of the General Education Program is to prepare creative and constructive skills. Offer students

The general education is taught to student in the begin of their academic journey is something still used today. Many of the core curriculum courses are general education courses for students. General education students should educate the student for intelligent action. This can happen from practical wisdom selects the means toward the ends that we desire (Hutchins,

I would have to say that I am for general education core classes. My opinion is based on what I have done while in high school. I chose to go to a two year technical school for automotive repair. My career path has change in so many ways. So that for me the majority of general education courses and new to me.

In The Curriculum and College Life: Confronting Unfulfilled Promises, Leon Botstein discusses the movement of the focus of higher education from the curricular to extracurricular. He states that lack of emphasis on some curricular based things, such as faculty involvement, has been detrimental to students and their development. Grainger, on the other hand, begs to differ. He attacks Botstein’s argument, as he believes that the extracurricular aspect of higher education is in fact more important to the maturation of the college student than the curricular.

However, is general educational succeeding in its goals in UM? Unfortunately, the answer is not. General education is not as effective as we image in our university. One phenomenon we can observe is that there are some students who are absent-minded or sleepy in class. When asked about the important content in textbooks, many students’ answers are far from satisfaction and they even complain that they gain almost nothing meaningful in their general education courses. This discounted situation is a long-standing problem and it should be improved without doubt.

These findings are beneficial for the educational field for various reasons. First, each individual works in a particular field to fulfill a personal sense of fulfillment. Teachers especially must have desire and job satisfaction since the educational system, as a whole does not offer great monetary or societal achievement. According to Bandura (1997) a teacher who has a strong belief in her or his teacher efficacy, the degree to which teachers feel that their own efforts determine the success of students, is more likely to put forth a greater effort and support towards student achievement. Second, if the student’s feel neglected or not supported then they will be more then likely to develop a learned helplessness or self-defeated outlook on life. Many times a school environment may be the only place where a child feels consistency and support. When the child is placed in a particular room for more then five hours a day with a role model individual the relationship becomes even more influential. When taken into account that many parents can only spend a few hours each evening with their children due to work schedules or other complications, then it is easy to see that the most influential individual in that child’s life is their teacher.