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Unfortunately, as the years went by, the idea of "Education is the key to success" got more, and more enforced. People eventually started to believe that education was the single way to succeed, and the only thing needed for success. Despite the fact, many Americans believe a college degree will lead them to be successful, in reality, education is not the solitary way to succeed. Not everybody can receive an education, or even an excellent education from a "decent academic" college/university.
There are many students who have no desire to attend college and who would be much better off if they received training that would qualify them for a better- paid job with just a high school diploma" (Finneran, 22). Many students today that are receiving a secondary education are either doing it because they think it is the right thing to do, or because their parents told them that the only way to succeed in today's world was through a college degree.
Parents put a lot of pressure on their children when it comes to college, and receiving an education.
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Some students are so overly pressured that they believe that in order to be somebody n life, he/she must both attend college, and receive a college degree; if it is possible go beyond bachelors. What many students and parents fail to comprehend is that book learning is not the only thing needed to succeed. Success is made up of many skills; sure education is a building block of it, but it is not the key to it.
Success can be different for everybody. There are many careers out there that pay a good amount of money and do not require a college degree. Some examples of careers that do not require a college degree are: Police men, Dental Hygienist, Online Advertising Manager,
Web Developer, Insurance agent, Mechanic, hair stylist, construction, electrical technician, etc. If a person wants to be a police all he or she needs to do is obtain 60 credits in any courses and go on to learn the skills he or she really needs for his or her career. Education or book learning had nothing to do with the success of those people that chose to take another path rather than the typical one (education). People can be successful in any field with the right skills. Book learning has a lot to do with the knowledge a person has, but not with the skills a person has.
There are many A+ graduates out there that cannot get a job, or are stuck working at a place that had nothing to do with their degree. A numerous amount of students in college care more about grades than knowledge; some graduate having forgotten everything they ever learned. So there goes a college graduate with little knowledge and no skills. Can a person like that succeed? No. That's why education is not the key to success. People cannot just go to college and expect that passing classes will get them to succeed. The main thing a person needs in order to succeed is drive, motivation and passion.
He/she has to know what their end goal is and what they need to do to get it. "Commit to the achievement of the elusive goal in your life" (Arcement, 101). The person has to go about learning what skills will take her or him to be successful. One of the main skills a person should have is persistence. A person must always keep going after his or her goal even if it takes years to reach. "Persistence takes discipline. Discipline is doing what you need to do, even though you don't feel like doing it" (Lyman, 4). Two other skills a person needs, is to be friendly, and kind. Being nice and friendly is significant.
Like Lyman said, being kind is important because it will beothers that will help a person be successful. Other people will help a person get to where he or she wants to be. They will help the person envision what they want and obtain a job. They will also help a person gain opportunity. People like to help others, but only if the person is nice and friendly. Others want to have people with those qualities around them. Besides persistence and being nice and friendly a person also needs to have other life skills in order to succeed. One of the skills a person needs is public speaking.
A person needs to be able to express themselves clearly in front of a group of people. "People who are effective speakers come across as more comfortable with themselves, more confident, and more attractive to be around" (Wax, #1). Another skill is self-management, and the skills needed to obtain self-management are: strong sense of discipline, sturdy organizational skills, and impressive productivity habits. A person needs to keep him or herself on track. A third skill that a person needs is to know how to network. Knowing how to network can build relationships nd those relationships can help a person land a job or career and take them one step forward at being successful. These skills are really important to have.
There are more skills that are really important to have in order to be successful in life, in a job, or in a career. A person needs to know how to make effective decision making. "Being able to take over the scene and respond quickly and effectively is what separates the doers from the wannabes" (Wax, #6). Another skill that a person will need is time management. A person needs to show that he or she is hungry for success and that he or she wants to be where he or he is at. What employer would want to hire a person that will always be late? None. People should not be pressured to do something that they don't want to do; parents should not pressure their children into receiving a college education and obtaining a college degree. As it was shown and proved, having a college education and obtaining a college degree can help you succeed, but is not the key to success. In order for a person to succeed, he or she needs to have more than just book learning. A person needs to have skills to go with his or her career, job or education.
In the article “What Does It Mean to Be Well-Educated” Mr. Kohn point out 6 points on being educated. Point 1.The Point of Schooling. (Nel Noddings the professor emerita at Stanford University, urges us to reject “the deadly notion that the schools’ first priority should be intellectual development” and contends that “the main aim of education should be to produce competent, caring, loving, and lovable people.”) I like this quote on the purposes of education. I work in a Christian School the maine goal for us as teachers and coaches is to participate in the development of a well-rounded student so they can learn the knowledge and skills they need to be successful in life. The next point that I would like to discuss is the concept of evaluating people as a whole vs. someone’s education. In this point Mr. Kohn talks about the difference in being well educated and the difference from simply being provided with a poor education. Is there a difference?
I personally believe there are different types of education and not all people learn the same way. In the city that I live in there are many choices for schools from private to public. In some cases people move multiple times to keep their children in the district with the best schools. You must look at the person and where they came from in some families unfortunately education is not a main concern survival as a whole may be. Therefore we must look at the whole person not just the education someone may have. The next point is the absence of consensus, in this point Mr. Kohn discusses what a high school student should know or be able to do. He goes on to talk about the local and state and national standards. Should they all be the same? I believe it would be hard for every state to have the same standards across the board for education.
There are going to be obvious areas where education is valued and areas where simply surviving is important. The district in my area is too large and some of the same standards do not make sense and applied to each town and county. I think that having standards is a good thought but there should be a better way of measuring these standards than simply testing the students sometimes individuals are not very good at test taking. Another important point Kohn discusses is all the definitions used for accommodations and school terms that do not make sense. The concept of seat time, which is the idea of being in a seat for a specific amount of time dose not mean that you are well-educated. Just by setting in a lecture or listening to a new concept doesn’t always mean that you will retain that information that was being taught. The average person forgets or can’t remember what was said to them 48 hours ago.
Another term is the term job skills Kohn states that “It would be a mistake to reduce schooling to vocational preparation, if only because we can easily imagine graduates who are well-prepared for the workplace (or at least for some workplaces)” In this statement he is telling us that someone with just one skill will be at a disadvantage, throughout life because of the way the world is changing with new technology that is making everything move quicker. The idea of test score is a point that interests me as well, just because you scored well on tests does not necessarily mean that you will be able to retain information from what you read. I think that some people have anxiety when it comes to tests specifically those with time limits and the added pressure of scoring well. In some cases teachers are under so much pressure to teach what will be on the test more then the concepts formulas of the material of the class. They are not always teaching what the proper foundations are of the subject. They are required to have certain scores for their classrooms to be successful.
Another interesting point that is made is the Memorization of a bunch o’ facts. Kohn explains, “Familiarity with a list of words, names, books, and ideas is a uniquely poor way to judge who is well-educated.” Just because you can talk about great authors remember some quotes and tell some theories doesn’t mean you are well informed. Kohn also talks about the hierarchy of the graduation process and who is in charge of deciding who passes and fails because of a standardized test. It seams to be problem in multiple states. To be able to graduate you must fit in the required credits courses requirements. “This is disturbing not merely because of the inherent limits of the tests, but also because teaching becomes distorted when passing those tests becomes the paramount goal. Students arguably receive an inferior education when pressure is applied to raise their test scores, which means that high school exit exams may actually lower standards.”
With this statement you can see that Mr. Kohn feels that’s the test scores are not actually relevant to all. He goes on to tell us more about the “Pass this standardized test or you don’t graduate,” If we look at most states we see that they are using curriculum standards to help students graduate with the same standards as others students in other states. Students are learning facts, skills, and sub skills that they are expected to master at the grade level to continue on to the next grade level. The final point Kohn brings about talking about what it takes to be well-educated. Kohn, lists some qualities that are used to help you to succeed. “Schooling is organized around problems, projects, and questions – as opposed to facts, skills, and disciplines.” If teachers can focus on this and apply this to there classroom then knowledge and learning become exciting for the students. “Teachers are generalists first and specialists (in a given subject matter) second;”
With this statement you can see that if you can apply this to your class room that you can succeed and continue to have a great learning environment. Well-educated people have general knowledge of world needed for making rational decisions in personal and intellectual life and basic skills, which develops the analytical ability to order and adapt to the changing environment. With an open mind, which helps to set up new and different goals in life, and with experiences and the skill to analyze and value the others’ ideas or thoughts. In Proverbs 1:7–9. 7 the fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge, but fools despise wisdom and discipline. 8 Listen, my son, to your father's instruction and do not forsake your mother's teaching. 9 They will be a garland to grace your head and a chain to adorn your neck. This verse speaks to the lessons you have learned not only from your parents and the Bible but also from your time in school. Learning never ends to be well-educated you need to have the desire to learn and grow as the world continues to change.
Education Is Not the Key to Success. (2018, Sep 19). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/education-is-not-the-key-to-success-essay
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