What Is Education For? STEM or Liberal Arts by Eshan Mandalaywala

esm144 — 2025-02-20 15:51:54 UTC

STEM

esm144 — 2025-02-20 16:13:52 UTC

Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics

Liberal Arts

esm144 — 2025-02-20 16:16:36 UTC

Humanities, Fine Arts, Basic Math, Social Studies/Sciences

Vocational Paradigm

esm144 — 2025-02-20 16:22:54 UTC

This was a vocational program meant to prepare students for the workforce allowing them to obtain skills needed for STEM based jobs.

Civic Paradigm

esm144 — 2025-02-20 17:07:36 UTC

This was a civic program that was designed to equip students to be apart of the democratic society while prioritizing skills for ethical/critical reasoning and social awareness.

Shifting to STEM

esm144 — 2025-02-20 17:25:39 UTC

The change in the educational system shifting to STEM was sparked by the national competitiveness needed in the country for science and engineering skills. In 1957 the Soviet launched Sputnik which deemed the United States lacking with technological placement. In 1958, the government passed an act called "National Defense Education Act" which increased the funding for STEM subjects in schools.

Participatory Readiness

esm144 — 2025-02-20 17:40:52 UTC

This refers to the knowledge and competence that is needed to be engaged in the democratic society. This allows people to have an opinion and participate in political debates and issues, giving them the opportunity to change the way things work. Participatory readiness goes beyond preparing for jobs as it helps individuals ethically challenge societal norms and activism. Political inequality exists without this readiness because no one will have the civic skills from liberal arts and their influence in the political world will have no meaning.

Ideal Ordinary Citizen

esm144 — 2025-02-20 17:49:38 UTC

A citizen that has the skills and mindset to have a voice in democracy. This individual doesn't need to be a politician or a professional, but a smaller engaged member of the society. They need to be unbiased, vote responsibly, and fight for change and justice when needed. Allen believes that this is achieved to its max potential through civic and liberal education.

esm144 — 2025-02-20 17:56:31 UTC

"Education fosters participation because it prepares people for democratic engagement. Reading, writing, and collaboration are, after all, the basic instruments of political action." (Allen 10)

esm144 — 2025-02-20 17:58:01 UTC

"We have lost sight of the ideal ordinary citizen, who is not a professional politician but who has nonetheless developed all of the competencies described above and who is proud to be involved in politics." (Allen 11)

esm144 — 2025-02-20 17:59:00 UTC

"The response was the National Defense Education Act, signed into law in 1958, which increased funding for science and math education, as well as vocational training." (Allen 9)

Holistic View

esm144 — 2025-02-20 18:06:01 UTC

STEM is focused through by Liberal Arts. Liberal arts allows an individual to think critically on a STEM subject, therefore helping them focus more on STEM. Liberal dives deep into topics not only teaching an individual about the subject of a topic but the journey getting there. It combines both STEM and Liberal Arts. This paves a pathway of professional and personal success for students while requiring greater educational resources and investments.

Economic Inequality

esm144 — 2025-02-20 18:30:32 UTC

Allen talks bout how STEM would put an end to economic inequality because of the amount of jobs it creates, but it still fails to teach individuals the actual cause of these problems. Holistic education's also reduce the chance of inequality. Politics are the only other thing next to technological advancements that can change inequality and you will only get that from civic paradigm.

Affluent Areas

esm144 — 2025-02-20 18:34:49 UTC

These areas are better funded and the schools give out better opportunities to their students. This is a sign of inequality because there are less affluent areas out there which have less funding and imbalance between both areas and even level of education in civic and vocational paradigms.

esm144 — 2025-02-20 18:38:51 UTC

""Inequality," as Joseph Stiglitz argues in Rewriting the Rules of the American Economy (2015), “has been a choice.” Achieving an economy with more egalitarian outcomes will require different political choices and economic policies." ( Allen 9)

Why Do We Need Education?

esm144 — 2025-02-28 23:59:27 UTC

We need a good education for students to look forward to a successful career, personal growth, and an increase in societal accomplishments. Although, we need it to set students up for fairness, fighting inequality, and even taking part in democracy. Without education people won't have enough knowledge to participate in the democracy and make better choices for the country. It is also needed to give everyone a fresh start in earning their education no matter who it is. We need education to bring together liberal arts and STEM so student can gain be at their full potential in the future helping themselves and the world.

Distributive Questions

esm144 — 2025-03-01 00:08:37 UTC

Distributive questions are involving many people in debates about education. They allow people to expand their participation and critical thinking skills. These are questions that are unavoidable and have to be asked to the public so everyone find a common ground over the educational system.