Response to Rothstein and Jacobsens The Goals of Education - Essay Example

English: Response to Rothstein and Jacobsen’s “The Goals of Education.” Education should provide knowledge and mold character Richard Rothstein and Rebecca Jacobsen, in their article “The Goals of Education,” argue, “When the Founders endorsed the need for public education, their motives were mostly political….. History instruction was thought to teach students good judgment, enabling them to learn from prior generations’ mistakes and successes and inspiring them to develop such character traits as honesty, integrity, and compassion.”(Rothstein, et.al.) Benjamin Franklin also highlighted the importance of teaching history and “in 1749 [he] proposed that Pennsylvania establish a public school that should, he said, place as much emphasis on physical as on intellectual fitness because “exercise invigorates the soul as well as the body.” (Rothstein, et. al.)George Washington went a step further. He argued that “goals for public schools were also political and moral.”(Rothstein, et. al.) The suggestions of Thomas Jefferson were purely political. He “most often linked with education in the public mind, thought universal public education needed primarily to prepare voters to exercise wise judgment.”(Rothstein, et.al.) So, the perspective about education changed, as time rolled by and change in the political leadership of the country. I am reminded of the parable of four visually challenged (blind) persons in argument about the shape of the elephant. One had the feel of its long tail and argued that the shape of the elephant is long. The second one, who touched one of its legs, said the shape is like the tree. The third one touched its trunk and said the shaped is like a rubber hose. The fourth one had the feel of the ear and said that the shape is like a giant leaf. An eye surgeon, who listened to their conversation, took them to his dispensary, operated upon their eyes and he was able to restore the eyesight. When he showed them the elephant, they realized that their judgment was wrong. Similar is position of the politicians, sociologists, academicians and the bureaucrats, when they tender opinions and try to frame the policy on the system of education that needs to be adopted in America. None has the comprehensive outlook about the genuine needs of the students in a multicultural, multi-ethnic society that suffered from the bane of racism for more than two centuries. The goal of education needs to be man making. Within this broad goal, all other subsidiary yet important goals are integrated. According to the authors, reading scores alone will not go to mold an individual into a responsible citizen with abilities in the area of work ethic, physical and mental health, social skills and appreciation of the arts and literature. I am in broad agreement with the observation of the authors. The schools need to accept the challenges in these areas to enable the students to pursue their diverse goals and a new accountability system needs to be formulated. I also agree with the well-researched conclusions of the authors. The social, economic and cultural life is impacted by the materialistic civilization. With women opting out for full time jobs in a big way and with less or no time at their disposal to devote to their home and children, the other influencing source to mold the character of students is the school environment. Proper conditions need to be created for the school administration and the teachers, by providing them with incentives to enable them to accept the challenges with a sense of responsibility. After churning the literature on educational initiatives over the past two hundred and fifty years, the authors have listed eight important outcomes that emerge, when the educational system is poised on the brink of change. Those are: “Basic academic skills and knowledge, Critical thinking and problem solving, Appreciation of the arts and literature, Preparation for skilled employment, Social skills and work ethic, Citizenship and community responsibility, Physical health, Emotional health.”(Rothstein et.al.) I think, though emotional health is listed last, it is of utmost importance, for if it is imbalanced or loses the equilibrium, the results of all other outcomes will be badly affected. And as for providing incentives, the real incentive to improve the lot of students has to sprout from within. Other incentives, like paying additional monetary compensation, may work well in the initial stages, but soon they will turn out to be bargaining and trade union issues. The process of inner change may sound spiritual, but I have no hesitation to put it on record, creating noble individuals through spirituality is the only solution for all types of ills in the educational system. In the current system of education, moral and spiritual values are undermined. I again emphasize, noble individuals, not alone noble projects are more important. Implementation of the projects is supreme than the contents of the projects. Unfortunately, in the present set-up in all the areas, including education, the container is given more importance than the contents. Countering one argument with another argument will lead us nowhere and will not give fructifying results. America has a unique history. Its pages are daubed in the bloodshed in the name of racism. Crimes of unmentionable magnitude have been inflicted on the native residents, the Indian Community. It is not easy for the children of such generations to forget the atrocities committed against their forefathers, and the environment in the educational institutions, is bound to be affected when such historical facts are recalled and explained. As such the authors have rightly raised the question of preparing students for democratic citizenship. This step has profound meaning and will have strong impact on the thinking process of the black students, when they study the history of the country from the era of the Founders until the dawn of the 21st century. Black students have been at the receiving end in more than one area identified by the authors and the resultant injustice to them is interconnected. Therefore, they warn that the efforts to close the achievement gap between students of color and Caucasian students by adoption of the standardized testing mandated by NCLB may backfire. The authorities are not sure what kind of citizenship the new educational regime is preparing the young people for. In the multicultural and multiracial society of America, educational institutions are like the intellectual battlegrounds. The set of goals needs to more expansive for the public schools as you are dealing with impressionable minds of the combustible younger generation at the formative stage of development of their personality. The leadership in each segment of the society has different expectations about the products (students emerging from educational institutions) from the educational system of America. At one stage, when the Founders addressed this issue, their main aim was political, to enable the citizens to make wise political decisions. Politics was the dominating issue then. They were also aware of the importance of teaching history to enable the students to learn appropriate lessons from the history, mistakes and reasons for success. Higher human values like compassion, integrity and honesty were sought to the achieved through the syllabus followed in educational institutions. This was a miscalculation then, and even now. The process of developing the inner world of an individual is entirely different when they mention ‘emotional health.’ I mean to say that the authors are unable to gauge the real depth of the phrase ‘emotional health.’ They argue, “Today, we are a long way from establishing an accountability system that is true to American traditions and to our contemporary goals for public schools.”(Rothstein et. al.) But they fail to articulate a perfect alternative system. The authors quote Friedman, “A stable and democratic society is impossible without widespread acceptance of some common set of values and without a minimum degree of literacy and knowledge on the part of most citizens.” (Rothstein et. al.)The training ground for molding such citizens is an educational institution. Conclusion: Accountability system is only the part of the truth, not the whole truth. Giving importance to a particular subject means treating other subjects as less important. In the ultimate analysis, a student has to decide which subject is good for him, and what are his career goals, and not the teacher. Another important thing is the politicians should stop meddling in the educational affairs. They should only help to implement, and make the financial resources available, for the plans envisaged by an expert committee consisting of educationalists and think tanks. Education is like the octopus; it has many faces, many values and each one of them is important. Moral purity and passion for truth needs to be the cornerstones of any educational system, and the issue is how to integrate these qualities in the prevailing set up in the educational institutions. Works Cited Rothstein, Richard (Author) Jacobsen, Rebecca (Author).The Goals of Education. Economic Policy Institute Web:Retrieved on November 1, 2012 et.al. Read More