Fighting Your University? The article, "Who Are You and What Are You Doing Here? A Word to the Incoming Class", is written by Mark Edmundson who is an English professor at the University of Virginia. Edmundson's article is, as mentioned in the article title, a word to the incoming class. In this article, he reflects on what it means to get a proper or "real" education at a university or college. I will be focusing on what Edmundson means by getting a "real education" as this relates to me as a college student. In this reflection, I will be finding out why in order to get this type of education, you have to fight the university itself and why the university itself is a target for this fight. The examples that I picked to support this involve …show more content…
What does he mean by this? Perhaps confronting your professors? Edmundson states, "The students and the professors have made a deal: Neither of them has to throw himself heart and soul into what happens in the classroom" (Edmundson 408). This is one idea of Edmonson's that I disagree with. Not all students and professors act as if they don't care about the curriculum, sometimes both students and professors actually care and want to learn or teach to the best of their ability. The author emphasizes this idea of fighting a lot throughout the article and I believe that is him trying to prove that point. Some examples are when he constantly brings up the idea of professors not teaching to the best of their ability or even students not doing the best that they can to learn. As a college student, I can relate a bit to this idea of having to fight. In the beginning of my first semester of college, my classes along with the professors were not the best. I think that Edmundson means that when you fight, you are not targeting the whole institute which you attend, but more specifically, the …show more content…
Edmundson states, "professors don't pay full-bore attention to teaching, they don't have to work very hard-they've created a massive feather bed for themselves and called it a university" (Edmundson 408). I think by this, Edmundson means that professors feel like once their job is secure at their institute, they do not truly focus on the essential purpose of their job; to educate others. This is one problem that I have faced personally and another reason why I relate to this article. In the beginning of my first semester, I took a course where the professor would show up, lecture for the full duration, then dismiss us. The problem with this is that professors do not engage with their students, they lecture about the information but do not help us to understand the information that they are telling us. As Edmundson further explains, these types of professors are not ambitious, they secure their job at a university and feel as if they do not have to fully apply their teaching ability, just assign the coursework on the syllabus and expect the students to get it done. If we, as students, were to "fight" our school, we would target those select teachers who feel that just lecturing in class would suffice as
In her article, “Lecture Me. Really”, Molly Worthen addresses the issue college students know all too well: how to lecture properly. Published in the New York Times, Worthen writes a passionate article about lecturing but from the perspective of a professor. Worthen presents the idea that lecturing, although some may think ineffective in the classroom, is a way to truly challenge and engage students into critically thinking. Worth dictates this idea with an excellent build up logical argument but lacks the proper evidence to support her claims creating a faulty argument.
In the essay, “Other Voices, Other Rooms” from Inquiry to Academic Writing, Gerald Graff argues that students learn things differently from class to class and are not taught to use information from one class in another. This is a problem especially in higher education today because there is such a large gap from professor to professor. Although the disagreement from one subject to the next may seem like a problem to some, if there were no disagreements, nothing would be worth learning. While these problems may occur, they are essential in the evolvement of education. Without these disagreements there would not be any search for more information to solve the problems. Also, students would not be motivated to continue to learn. The disagreements between the two are what seem to confuse students, but what confuses them more is how the education system is set up. Students must learn to make
Many people would go as far as to say that a professor’s job is to deliver knowledge to students, and a student’s job is to absorb it, without reservation. Pirsig emphasizes how this relationship can fail through his description of Phaedrus’ time in the interdisciplinary Ph.D. program at the University of Chicago. One student in Phaedrus’ philosophy class questions Aristotle’s views of rhetoric stating that within the text, “‘There are some dubious statements,’” and the professor responds, “‘We are not here to learn what you think…We are here to learn what Aristotle thinks,’” (Pirsig 371). Basically, Pirsig is saying that there is a problem with the conventional professor-student relationship. This is because when a professor begins to feel vulnerable, like in the situation above, the professor transforms into a sovereign leader. When students live under an oppressive regime in the classroom they find themselves incapable to learn on their own terms. I agree that this relationship does need to change, a point that needs emphasizing since so many believe that if the system has operated this long, it can continue to work. I think Phaedrus is mistaken because he overlooks the real reason why the student is struggling with the professor. The issue that this lone student and Phaedrus both experience is that they are confronting the knowledge that the Professor has avowed individually. Instead, to gain more use out of the knowledge John Henry Newman would argue that these students should work with others. This will enable them to, “to adjust together the claims and relations of their subjects of investigation,” (Newman 77). Newman would surely extend this same argument that collaboration must take place between opinions on a certain subject matter, such as Aristotle. The adjustment of claims, which Newman discusses, improves education for the student. Their
“Intellectuals and Democracy” by Mark Kingwell (2012) captures the essence of the commonality between higher education and philosophy and democracy. The author, who is a philosopher expresses his notion of the connection between the democratic system and that of the education system. Often, as the article expresses there is a preconception regarding the validation of careers promised with certain university degrees where other programs result in uncertainty or questioning from others. The use of rhetorical appeals used by the author throughout the article works towards building his article. I argue that through rhetorical appeals the author works his audience to grasp his personal stance of the education system as he attempts to persuade
College is not for everyone, although, everyone should have some form of higher education. "Should everyone go to college?" is an essay meant to inform students of the pros and cons of going to college. Owens and Sawhill state that the cost of a college degree may not be worth the money that students put into furthering their education. In their article, Owens and Sawhill use three different rhetorical appeals; egos, logos, and pathos; to persuade the readers to think consciously about attending college. Their argument was effective because it forces the readers to look at the overall college experience in different aspects.
In the article “College is Not a Commodity. Stop treating it like one,” Hunter Rawlings explains how people today believe that college is a commodity, but he argues that it’s the student’s efforts; which gives value to their education. Rawlings states that in recent years college has been looked at in economic terms, lowering its worth to something people must have instead of earn. As a professor Rawlings has learned that the quality of education has nothing to do with the school or the curriculum, but rather the student’s efforts and work ethic. Rawlings explains the idea that the student is in charge of the success of his or her own education, and the professor or school isn’t the main reason why a student performs poorly in a class. Rawlings
The right and privilege to higher education in today’s society teeters like the scales of justice. In reading Andrew Delbanco’s, “College: What It Was, Is, and Should Be, it is apparent that Delbanco believes that the main role of college is to accommodate that needs of all students in providing opportunities to discover individual passions and dreams while furthering and enhancing the economic strength of the nation. Additionally, Delbanco also views college as more than just a time to prepare for a job in the future but a way in which students and young adults can prepare for their future lives so they are meaningful and purposeful. Even more important is the role that college will play in helping and guiding students to learn how to accept alternate point of views and the importance that differing views play in a democratic society. With that said, the issue is not the importance that higher education plays in society, but exactly who should pay the costly price tag of higher education is a raging debate in all social classes, cultures, socioeconomic groups and races.
(Owen and Sawhill 208) After all, if our country’s leader is preaching about college being a good thing, it should reflect the views of a majority of people in this country. They then continue to try to make connections with the audience by emphasizing that this is a “we” problem and by recognizing that the decision to go off to college is not an easy one for everybody. These first words in the essay demonstrate a call to the ethos of President Obama and clear cut pathos to bring the authors down to the same level as their audience; However, the rest of the essay is absolutely dominated by
...s that you develop a way of regarding the information that you receive to the society that you are living in. He also believes that a quality education develops a students moral views and ability to think. And that these qualities are best developed in the traditional classroom setting by interaction between the student and their professors, and the student’s social life on campus, that is, their interaction with fellow students.
Linda Lee, the author of “The Case against college”, uses rhetorical devices to sway the readers opinions. Most people can agree college is very important, while others have different opinions. Lee believes not everyone needs a higher education. She is forgetting the reason college is so important and why so many people receive a college education. Everyone should attend college, college graduates make more money, have more job opportunities, become more independent, and have more stability.
He essentially is saying that Corporate America is taking the students and teachers out of the education system, just like they take the people out of business. In other words, big business is convoluting the system so that the nuances of the teaching and learning process are practically eliminated. Creating students who understand and can apply the material should be the goal of the education system, not creating mindless drones to fulfill the roles corporations wish to force people into. Hedges makes a strong point to say that our nation today does not reflect what our forefathers set out to establish. They wanted informed citizens who could get a strong job that provides both financial and emotional stability and happiness. However, Hedges points out that Corporate America will push a person aside if they don’t accommodate the corporations requests by saying “Those who don’t are pushed aside”
Studying a university degree is one of the biggest achievements of many individuals around the world. But, according to Mark Edmunson, a diploma in America does not mean necessarily studying and working hard. Getting a diploma in the United States implies managing with external factors that go in the opposite direction with the real purpose of education. The welcome speech that most of us listen to when we started college, is the initial prank used by the author to state the American education system is not converging in a well-shaped society. Relating events in a sarcastic way is the tone that the author uses to explain many of his arguments. Mark Edmunson uses emotional appeals to deliver an essay to the people that have attended College any time in their life or those who have been involved with the American education system.
As a college freshmen student, my instructor started the class on the first day with her motto written in red chalk on the board “Students must be taught responsibility and the reinforcement and pleasure of success in learning and achievement is your tuition.” Secondly, the instructor provided a handwritten handout that could barely be read on how to set up a notebook for the course, how to use the course textbook and how to complete the weekly assignments. During class sessions the instructor never explained the illegible handwritten note even after several students said they could not read it. Next, she read the entire generic syllabus that assumed that we knew the content already. To add insult, the instructor, quizzes and tests were not consistent and lesson sequencing and grading scales changed consistently due to her cancelling class. It was too much content, too fast! To make matters worse the instructor consistently...
The importance and worth of education is first conveyed at the beginning of the film through the conflicts and differences between Erin, several of the other teachers and members of the school board. An extract from one of the first dialogues between Erin and Margaret, is the first sign of how education is going to be perceived throughout the film. The quote, “By the time you’re defending a kid in a courtroom, the battle’s already lost. I think the real fighting should happen here, in the classroom,” said by Erin to Margaret, evidently displays her view that acquiring an education is vital to secure a sound and prosperous future. By “fighting” I believe Erin is trying to indicate her belief that guiding some students along the correct path can ...
...at previously, sometimes in the midst of a discussion, people forget that there are two sides of a story and not everyone has to agree to yours. What we learn from our books or our studies is not what is necessarily important. What we learn from our peers and our professors is what’s important. Learning is more than absorbing fact, it is acquiring understanding, and it is being passionate about the material you are given. Each piece that we have read in class, and each comment that we make impacts a person no matter how little it seems. The education systems focuses too much about effective methods of teaching and not enough about effective methods of learning. However, this course felt like we were learning something instead trying to finish the curriculum. As Albert Einstein once said, “education is not the learning of facts, but the training of the mind to think”.