07.22.04
Posted in education at 12:01 am by
Where we left our largely undereducated and underprepared college students yesterday was with a mostly meaningless bachelor’s degree. So, where are these completely unprepared graduates to go? Graduate school.
Of course the above is an oversimplification. Graduate education in the states today has quite a number of pitfalls, underprepared students are merely one of a cornucopia of reasons that graduate education is quickly heading to hell in a handbasket.
Underprepared graduate students, though, are a problem for the same reason that underprepared undergraduates are a problem. Their expectations of what they should be able to accomplish has been largely shaped by their undergraduate education–in which their professors lived up to their own woefully sub-par expectations.
Another part of the entitlement to a graduate degree (particularly the Master’s) is that often these degrees are required by one’s employer. For example in the state of Michigan, teachers are required in many school districts to make satisfactory progress toward a Masters degree and attain that degree within a reasonable amount of time. For many teachers this is a fair expectation. They’re the kind of people that thrive on discovery, on not just becoming better teachers–but shaping the discipline of education for educators everywhere. However, there’s another kind of teacher.
This kind of teacher may be one of the best teachers ever known. It’s just that they’re not cut out of the “grad school cloth.” I must stress that these may well be some of the best teachers around–being right for grad school really isn’t a good judge of one’s success as an educator. But when these teachers get to school they feel entitled to be able to receive a degree from the institution they’ve chosen.
For whatever reason, and the degredation of undergraduate and graduate education seems plausible, it is no longer really acceptable to have “just a bachelor’s degree.” Once upon a time, your bachelor’s degree was your passport to the working world. It opened up jobs at most every rung of the ladder. This is simply no longer true.
Thus far, at least in most cases, the Ph.D. has remained the sacred cow of academia. But if the current trend continues, there’s no telling how long the highest degree currently attainable in our higher educational system becomes merely another speed bump in the highway of academia.
Why the concern? I mean in all honesty, who cares. Well, obviously I do, or I wouldn’t be writing, and here’s why. For those of us who truly care about academia, this influx of under prepared graduates cloud the air with half assed theories, under supported data, poorly designed experiments, and these same people will eventually go on to be the next generation of college professors. My concern is that if this cancer goes unchecked it could infect our society for years to come.
What do we do? I think we need to start at the beginning. Let’s start teaching elementary students the truth…that they can be whatever they want. Whether a carpenter, a mortician, or a firewoman, there’s no greater profession to be involved in. Let’s help them to learn the things that they need to be successful middle and high school students. In middle and high school students need to learn to love to learn…and regardless of where they go from that our society–above all–must learn to respect all kinds of people equally, regardless of whether they shower before or after work.
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Posted in education at 12:01 am by
Where we left our largely undereducated and underprepared college students yesterday was with a mostly meaningless bachelor’s degree. So, where are these completely unprepared graduates to go? Graduate school.
Of course the above is an oversimplification. Graduate education in the states today has quite a number of pitfalls, underprepared students are merely one of a cornucopia of reasons that graduate education is quickly heading to hell in a handbasket.
Underprepared graduate students, though, are a problem for the same reason that underprepared undergraduates are a problem. Their expectations of what they should be able to accomplish has been largely shaped by their undergraduate education–in which their professors lived up to their own woefully sub-par expectations.
Another part of the entitlement to a graduate degree (particularly the Master’s) is that often these degrees are required by one’s employer. For example in the state of Michigan, teachers are required in many school districts to make satisfactory progress toward a Masters degree and attain that degree within a reasonable amount of time. For many teachers this is a fair expectation. They’re the kind of people that thrive on discovery, on not just becoming better teachers–but shaping the discipline of education for educators everywhere. However, there’s another kind of teacher.
This kind of teacher may be one of the best teachers ever known. It’s just that they’re not cut out of the “grad school cloth.” I must stress that these may well be some of the best teachers around–being right for grad school really isn’t a good judge of one’s success as an educator. But when these teachers get to school they feel entitled to be able to receive a degree from the institution they’ve chosen.
For whatever reason, and the degredation of undergraduate and graduate education seems plausible, it is no longer really acceptable to have “just a bachelor’s degree.” Once upon a time, your bachelor’s degree was your passport to the working world. It opened up jobs at most every rung of the ladder. This is simply no longer true.
Thus far, at least in most cases, the Ph.D. has remained the sacred cow of academia. But if the current trend continues, there’s no telling how long the highest degree currently attainable in our higher educational system becomes merely another speed bump in the highway of academia.
Why the concern? I mean in all honesty, who cares. Well, obviously I do, or I wouldn’t be writing, and here’s why. For those of us who truly care about academia, this influx of under prepared graduates cloud the air with half assed theories, under supported data, poorly designed experiments, and these same people will eventually go on to be the next generation of college professors. My concern is that if this cancer goes unchecked it could infect our society for years to come.
What do we do? I think we need to start at the beginning. Let’s start teaching elementary students the truth…that they can be whatever they want. Whether a carpenter, a mortician, or a firewoman, there’s no greater profession to be involved in. Let’s help them to learn the things that they need to be successful middle and high school students. In middle and high school students need to learn to love to learn…and regardless of where they go from that our society–above all–must learn to respect all kinds of people equally, regardless of whether they shower before or after work.
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