What is Education For? by Susette Carrillo-Espichan

What is Education For?

asc309 — 2024-10-15 02:52:19 UTC

Education is defined as, "the process of receiving or giving systematic instruction, especially at a school or university"(Oxford Dictionary). In this article by Danielle Allen, she argues that education should not only be centered on vocational and STEM; instead, it should emphasize a civic education and participatory readiness.

Why has STEM and Vocational education received more attention?

asc309 — 2024-10-15 02:53:41 UTC

Allen wrote about how science and math education increased in importance in the United States. She explains in her article that it was because of the Soviet Union's launch of "Sputnik" that the United States felt like it was falling behind in a sort of Cold War scientific contest. As a result of this, the National Defense Education Act was signed in 1958 to increase the funding of math, science, and vocational education.

What is a civic education and what does it do for our society?

asc309 — 2024-10-15 03:15:49 UTC

A civic education provides an individual with the proper knowledge and skills to be an efficient member of our democracy. This means that a full-length education will ensure that every member of society is able to participate politically to contribute to their society as needed; more widely known as participatory readiness. This is a basic social requirement to be able to help make decisions about how the country is ran. This ranges anywhere from choosing a mayor of your county, to the president of the United States. It is a necessary tool that every American, and person in the world, should possess.

Why is participatory readiness?

asc309 — 2024-10-15 04:02:51 UTC

Participatory readiness is a key concept that allows all members of society to have the tools to participate in a democratic society proficiently. This is a process that is typically taught in schools, or at least should be, and is taught through many different subjects until twelfth grade. Participatory readiness has been lost in translation throughout the decades, and the current generation is one of the most and least involved in politics because of it. There is a large amount of people that are heavily involved in politics, and a large amount of people who are not even interested in knowing what is happening in their country. This is due to the lack of social skills that are being taught in schools and lack of emphasis on why we need to be prepared to act for our community.

What is civic agency?

asc309 — 2024-10-15 04:14:03 UTC

Civic agency is slightly different than the concept of participatory readiness. It is the ability that individuals possess once they have been conditioned and prepared to participate in our democracy. It is made up of three core tasks: disinterested deliberation about a public issue, frame shifting to advocate for equality, and fair fighting to strongly support something you deeply believe in. All three of these skills are crucial for newcoming members of society to join us, this being new high school graduates. These three tasks should be taught to all students who will soon be able to make decisions in our democracy. If misinformed and uneducated individuals who are only intelligent in their majors come into the world, there is a higher chance of the wrong representatives being elected to power. This is something we have fought hard to avoid, but it is evidently more difficult due to the last of a diverse schooling system being in place.

How does a full and diverse high school education apply to this?

asc309 — 2024-10-15 04:36:44 UTC

If you study up to an eighth-grade level with only an emphasis on STEM and vocational education, you will not be a functioning member of society. It is very often that people, especially in this upcoming generation, have not received the proper well-rounded education required to be a contributor to their community. It is imperative that students are able to secure a good job and maintain a livable wage; however, the decision to how much you are taxed or how high/low your rent is depending on your ability to choose representatives that will properly run our country.

What can a STEM/Vocational education do for you?

asc309 — 2024-10-15 04:59:32 UTC

As a result of a STEM/Vocational branch, you will have access to higher pay, better job opportunities, and a better ability to work in a job that will enhance the economy. You have to be very good in your field in order to achieve all of the benefits of being educated in STEM or a vocational major. It is very helpful to society since it helps to develop many things that benefit the overall quality of the country. Engineering and all of its branches allow for a big foundation in our production industry, such as building to the craft of baby formula. Science and mathematics aid in the creation of medicines and study of other things in order to further progress in our research and innovation. Technological advancement is a big part of our everyday lives and requires a lot of attention and people that know how to create it and repair it. Anywhere from the phones we use to make phone calls to the computers we use to turn in our big assignments.

Why are both concepts equally as important?

asc309 — 2024-10-15 05:15:42 UTC

No matter how different STEM and humanities are, when they are equally distributed in a person, they are much more effective. Someone having good problem-solving skills, technical ability, and great innovation will succeed in a workforce field. Someone having good interpersonal skills, good civic engagement, and possess participatory readiness you will be able to engage in public service to your community. One concept cannot function without the other, and the economy may ultimately fall if there is not a balance between all the possible jobs and careers that are being worked in the country. It is easy to put the pros and cons of each, but they need to work harmoneously in order to have a fully functioning democracy, as this country runs on capitalism. Equally funding both STEM and humanities/liberal arts will help bring both subjects the emphasis they deserve in a fair and equal manner, making it a broader spectrum of workforces in the United States.