Higher Ed updates

Quicksearch

Blog Administration

Open login screen

RSS Readers

Monday, October 20. 2014

Danielle Henderson spent six years and $60,000 on college and beyond. The effects of that education? Not as advertised.

What was advertised?

Walsh: My Fellow Americans, It’s Time to Boycott College:

Education, in the end, should be pursued for its own sake. We learn because we want to know, and knowledge is beautiful even if it isn’t ‘used.’ Now more than ever, a person can learn anything and acquire any knowledge without spending a dime or sitting for one minute in a college classroom. This is the miraculous reality of modern times. The potential for a person to educate him or herself is limitless — but we think knowledge must be strictly confined behind the walls of an official institution or it doesn’t count.

Posted by The Barrister in Education at 14:00 | Comments (5) | Trackbacks (0)

Trackbacks

Trackback specific URI for this entry

No Trackbacks

Comments

Display comments as (Linear | Threaded)

I recall reading of highly self-educated people before modern times. It is said they read books. e.g Mark Twain.

#1 BillH on 2014-10-20 16:43 (Reply)

Yeah, you shouldn't have to pay someone to tell you what books to read. Just read.

#1.1 OhBoy on 2014-10-20 16:50 (Reply)

Walsh is missing a key ingredient, we need employers to stop insisting on having the college degree.

HR departments must be told that all qualified candidates will be considered, and a degree is not a requisite, it's not a plus, heck, it might even be considered a minus.

This is hard when so many jobs are gov't jobs, where the credential is a key part of "fair hiring practices." So it's even more crucial for private employers to accept those w/o the degree.

#2 DrTorch on 2014-10-20 17:24 (Reply)

I spent 37 years as a college "teacher." I finally came to realize that I wasn't actually teaching, what I was doing was providing structure and discipline so the students could learn, i.e., teach themselves.

And that is the real value of any school. The vast majority of intelligent people cannot teach themselves without some help. So while it is good advice to tell people to read, they won't unless a "teacher" provides the motivation and direction.

#3 bob sykes on 2014-10-21 07:06 (Reply)

And THERE is the true value of a college education, at least in the hard sciences and math. While very few jobs will use much of the knowledge learned in getting the degree, the diploma shows that the student has the ability to learn applicable information independently, without anyone hovering over him to MAKE him learn. That ability is invaluable in many jobs. Can you have that ability WITHOUT a degree? Of course. But how else can an employer VERIFY that in advance of hiring WITHOUT running afoul of EOC laws and regulations?

By the way, degrees in the "social sciences" do NOT count.

#3.1 Mark Matis on 2014-10-22 20:12 (Reply)

Add Comment

Name
Email	(Your e-mail will not show in your comment)
Homepage
In reply to
Comment	By commenting on this site you agree to the site rules listed here. Email addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for email notifications. Quick reference guide: [i] italics [/i], [b] bold [/b], [u] underline [/u], [url] (web address) [/url]. More tips here. Enclosing asterisks marks text as bold (word), underscore are made via _word_. E-Mail addresses will not be displayed and will only be used for E-Mail notifications. To prevent automated Bots from commentspamming, please enter the string you see in the image below in the appropriate input box. Your comment will only be submitted if the strings match. Please ensure that your browser supports and accepts cookies, or your comment cannot be verified correctly. Enter the string from the spam-prevention image above: BBCode format allowed
	Remember Information? Subscribe to this entry

Maggie's Farm

Our Recent Essays Behind the Front Page

Categories

Quicksearch

Links

Blog Administration

RSS Readers

Monday, October 20. 2014

Higher Ed updates