What is good education - Essay Example

What Is Good Education? School Outline Good education: Definition Characteristics of good education Cost-effective Convenient means of transfer of knowledge Careful handling of controversial subjects Theory supplemented by practical demonstration Effects of good education Conceptual knowledge build-up Moral grooming Technological and social development What is good education? Good education is something that inculcates concepts in the students rather than making them cram a certain volume for a certain piece of time and then forget that after the exam.

In conventional practice, a lot of countries have such educational systems in place that heavily draw upon the students’ ability to cram. Thus, students who have greater ability to cram are more qualified to excel as compared to others whose short-term memory is not equally fine. In the long run, the fundamental purpose of education is acquainting people with knowledge. People cannot be expected to contribute to the development of knowledge unless they have robust concepts about the existing knowledge.

In order to be applicable upon a wider audience, it is imperative that education is cost effective. Education can be made cost effective by adopting cheap means of delivery. Quality education has become unattainable for many people simply because they cannot make it to the colleges. Either the colleges are too far away or else, renting a hostel makes the people go out of budget. Even if some manage to afford the hostel expenses, they may not be able to adjust in the hostel environment and consequentially, their academic performance may decline.

Hence, virtual education is a big step ahead in the way of improving the quality of education. Virtual education can also be considered as good education because it obviates the need for the educators to arrange rooms to teach the students in. When a tutor has a class of 50 or more students to manage, the quality of education greatly suffers. “At a freshman psychology lecture we attended, 300 students were still finding seats when the professor started talking” (Boyer, 1987). These days, virtual education is increasingly being adopted as a mode of education because it not only provides both the tutors and the students with the convenience of interacting while remaining in their respective places, but also saves the overhead costs associated with education that include but are not limited to the cost of transportation and food.

Good education supplements theoretical knowledge with practical demonstration. Although the delivery of theoretical knowledge is vital for laying the foundation of the students’ knowledge, yet the students can only be made to optimize upon their skills when they are provided with the opportunity to execute the knowledge they have formerly acquired from the theory. This is the fundamental reason why the amount and quality of lab equipments is held as one of the criteria in the international ranking of the schools in the contemporary age.

In conventional practice, educators place entire emphasis upon improving the students’ scores on standardized tests. “The more schools commit themselves to improving performance on these tests, the more that meaningful opportunities to learn are sacrificed. Thus, high scores are often a sign of lowered standards--a paradox rarely appreciated by those who make, or report on, education policy” (Kohn, 1999). The solution to this problem is practical work. In labs, students are able to do things the way they were taught.

This not only sets a solid base for the professional practice, but also enables the students to remember the concepts for a longer time than they would otherwise do. Good education prepares a more knowledgeable society. Being acquainted with firm foundations of knowledge, people are able to actively participate in the development of the society. These days, youtube is one of the best examples of virtual education. With the increase in the use of internet, there has occurred a revolution in the technical abilities of an average citizen.

People are now able to follow the diet plans that they used to retrieve from dieticians by paying them before. Nowadays, people are able to kill the virus in their computer for doing which, they had to visit the computer experts in the past. Internet provides guidance on every subject. People have become more technically competent over the years. Good education assists people in taking ethical decisions. “Today’s students are poorly equipped to deal with questions about ethics. I think they are unaccustomed to reasoning” (Spack, 2007, p. 87). But internet has done a lot to enhance the critical analysis skills of people.

In the past, authors used to brainwash the audiences by presenting biased opinions in their books. Nowadays, people specifically focus on the comments section that follows the articles or videos on the internet to read the views of critical analysts. This enables them to take unbiased information and take rational decisions accordingly. Good education is the reason why so many people today are against abortion and euthanasia. Concluding, good education is cost effective, convenient and time saving.

Good education sharpens the learners’ concepts so that they are able to optimize on their skills and play a constructive role in the society. Good education promotes creativity. References: Boyer, E. L. (1987). The Undergraduate Experience in America. New York: Harper. Kohn, A. (1999, Sep. 15). Confusing Harder With Better. Education Week. Retrieved from http://www.alfiekohn.org/teaching/edweek/chwb.htm. Spack, R. (2007). Guidelines: a cross-cultural reading/writing text. New York: Cambridge University Press.