formal education tends to restrain our minds and spirits rather set them free.

[dicapino]

hello guys, i am finding  it hard to create points for this issue prompt, not as if i don't know what education has done for me, its putting them in words.

Could someone please assist me with ideas.

thank you

[juilletmercredi]

Here are some things I thought very quickly:

 

-I didn't even know what there was to think about before my formal higher education.  In other words, I didn't know about the variety of things out there in the world to actually think about.  Now that I know, my brain and spirit runs freely rampant over the many things I learned to care about during formal education.

 

-In a very practical sense, if you need formal education to do the work that you are passionate about, then formal education will set your mind and spirit free to do what it is you love.

 

-I've learned skills that have allowed me to hone my passions.  For example, I love to write fiction for fun.  Going to college (and HS, and MS) has helped me learn the conventions of writing and improve my skills so that I, and others, can read and enjoy my work.

 

And if you wanted to agree with the issue:

 

-Education does sometimes encourage rote memorization and learning, and with the rise of standardized testing people are more and more being taught a constrained set of information rather than to think freely.

 

-Studies show that students are rewarded by saying things that the teacher agrees with, and by obeying the teacher.  Girls, especially, are rewarded in the education system because they are socialized to sit still, play nice with others, and wait to be recognized.  It's been shown that more creative and out-of-the-box types - and smart kids with behavioral issues - don't do as well not because they aren't as smart, but because the environment constrains them.*

 

-Many schools are cutting interesting, free-thinking or creative/artistic programs in favor of math, science, and sometimes English.  Art and music are being shunted to the wayside, even though they've been shown to help kids think creatively and also been shown to improve learning in other areas (music helps math, for example).

 

*This has a little bs mixed in with some truth, but whatever, it's the GRE.  They don't care if your facts are right; they only care that you adequately defend your argument.

[dicapino]

thank you very much.....God i have been cracking my brain all day