An examination of the Western education system
As most who know me already know, I am in the middle of my third year of an undergraduate degree in science, specializing in astrophysics. As those who know me will also attest, I've always been a bit of a high achiever. Education is something that I take very seriously. I genuinely do enjoy learning; if I didn't, I most certainly wouldn't still be here. Over the years, however, I've come to the conclusion that the current system of education is flawed on some deeply fundamental levels. Mainly, stressing the value of grades rather than actual learning is not at all conducive to actually learning.In grade school, perhaps, one might say that learning is for its own sake; you do not have to get "good grades" to go on to high school, as it's publically funded and available to all (indeed, it's mandatory until a certain age!). Of course, at the elementary level, nearly no one appreciates learning for its own sake. You're in school because you have to be, and that's the way it is.
By the time you get to high school, those who have realized that they truly want to learn are under an enormous amount of pressure. In order to be eligible to go on to further education, you must first attain good results in high school (and, indeed, for those who cannot otherwise afford to go to university, competitive scholarships are a very tasty dangling carrot). I feel, however, that the actual "learning" aspect is pushed aside in favour of rote memorization and "cramming."
This is exacerbated at the university level. At this point in the game, you really are here because you want to learn the material. However, shouldered with five courses, I find there is very little time to actually sit down and learn. We are rushed from assignment to assignment, and getting the good grade is the bottom line (because, after all, now that we are in university we want to go on to graduate school, and they, of course, look mostly at marks yet again).
Come time for finals, we are given a mere day to study. Often students have two exams in one day, or exams each a day after another, with no time left in between to study or "shift gears" in the brain. Essentially we must cram enough knowledge into our brains to get a good mark on an exam... but is that really what learning should be about?
I feel that there could be so much more to education than this. I truly do like what I am doing; I find physics to be inherently interesting and beautiful. But I rarely have enough time to sift through my thoughts on the subject matter, to find where my misconceptions lie and to sort them out. Instead, I, as with most others in my program, are rushed, always having to complete an assignment or study for a midterm or finish a project.
It is also incredibly hard on a person's self-esteem (this is worst, I have found, for those who are high achievers). It is difficult, when marking schemes are often arbitrary or unknown, to reconcile getting a 75% when one could have gotten an 80%, or a 90% when one could have gotten 95%, etc. Nothing is ever good enough in this system. High acheivers often pour everything they have into their work; to put in 100% of your effort and get back a grade significantly less than that is often quite defeating.
I don't argue that there is a need for a system of ranking. There seems to be no way around the grading system. However, couple that with the fact that often exams are not fair, that students are bereft of sleep and exercise and proper nutrition, and this is a recipe for disaster (or, at least, a number of very depressed students).
I don't like the system, there's no secret about that. I think it's one of the most unhealthy lifestyles that one can adopt. I still accept that there isn't much of an alternative, but I wish that this was not the case.
Truly, in an ideal world, I would love nothing more than to take a professor, sit him or her down, and say "please teach me everything you know," and then learn for a year or three. To spend quality one-on-one time picking the brain of someone knowledgable in my area of interest would be simply priceless.
I am thankful, in any case, that professors often do make themselves available for individual consultation. It certainly makes this inevitable process much easier.
In any case, we do what we can, and that just has to be enough, I suppose.
posted by Steph @ 12:58 AM
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