A Closer Look to Higher Educational Learning in the United States - Essay Example

 Adult Education: A Closer Look to Higher Educational Learning in the United States Name University Course Date Abstract This paper examines five articles regarding educated adult learners in the United States (US). The five articles are basically about the present situations of the US educational system especially among young adults. In general, all the articles’ basic points revolve from the concept of higher educational learning as well as with its general effect towards the society. Pierce (1993) had said that higher education performs certain functions that cannot be done by any other segment of the society. Higher education may provide the society the ability in order to adapt and be flexible to change. This paper also inspects the different problems in relation to current status quo of higher learning institutions in the United States. Adult Education: A Closer Look to Higher Educational Learning in the United States Higher learning in its truest sense symbolizes the appreciation, interpretation and understanding of knowledge beyond what is discernible and distinguishable by the human senses. Its forms vary in functions and have different effects in shaping the society we are budging and living right in. Also, besides those stated above, higher education allows the feeding off of utmost desire, imagination and compassion toward the people’s psyche in order to conquer the realms of ignorance, lack of knowledge and unawareness regarding relevant issues which continuously affect present circumstances. As stated in an article by Peirce (1993) entitled What Does Society Need from Higher Education? educational learning has been considered as a primary resource which mainly supports other institutions, such as the government and the business sector, in various vital ways. Having said these facts, it could be assumed that higher form of learning addresses the necessity of providing a holistic approach in order to influence the mindset of the people, especially the working adult populace, and eventually exert efforts for the common good of the majority. But how could these be all possible, given that there are too many problems and conflicts involved in the formation of the correct curriculum so as to implement effective adult learning schemes and practices? If perfected, does finishing a degree program following any of these designed curricula would mean being truly educated in the end? Do the universities and colleges which offer various programs and other basic courses really know what their exact functions are? Or, are they missing these functions entirely all these years? In all fairness, I believe that it is very essential to answer and tackle these questions before we could completely discuss and expound the intricate details concerning higher formal education among adult citizens. For they serve as bases of what education and being educated should be about. According to Ritt (2008), a college degree is considered by most people as a prerequisite towards a better living condition in the future. Generally, a college diploma promises and grants the bearer greener pasture, a secured career and an improved quality of existence. That is why, many dream of obtaining one; but, few have the means to get through. Meanwhile, in the same article wrote by Ritt (2008), U.S. only ranks tenth among the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries when it comes to the percentage of young adults , aging from 25-34, having postsecondary credentials and education --- that is about 34 million people in summary having no college experience. This information is quite alarming in a way, since fast growing technologies and jobs in the market require at least postsecondary certifications. Moreover, it has been considered as apprehensive by most experts, since there have been cases of severe decrease in work productivity and professional discipline around the nation. The facts stated above constitute a big fraction of the pie which shows the meaning and the present situation of educated adult learners. These realities raise the question of whether or not the government has been doing its job of addressing the needs of these people. These facts simply prove that there are definite problems which the government should clearly delve upon in order to somehow uplift them in any way. On the other hand, the said realities also post inquiries which deal mainly with what should be “being educated” about. Knowing from the previous statements that education, college education in particular, is considered by most people as merely a tangible proof of a secured way of living, it brings us to question ourselves whether having a diploma equates to being called as an educated person as a whole. For these two concepts are contradicting in many ways. This leads to the question, does one’s academic accomplishment parallels to being educated? In an article by Pellegrino (2002), he had stated that to equate having a degree to being educated is an illusion. He further stated that one’s academic accomplishments only give the bearer the self-confidence and satisfaction, but not an education to the fullest extent. Well, I guess it somehow adds up and makes sense. For in a society living in the midst of great technological discoveries, education has been always tied up with technical apprenticeship. This proposition is further interjected by Pellegrino (2002) in one of his statements from the article. He said that the society intermingles and associates education to training, and liberal with professional studies, so intimately that they are hard to separate from each other. Having this notion, we have fallen to the illusion of education. This is same as saying that in order to become the educated person you want to be, you need to become a skilled person, a professional whom is entitled to earn money in order to satisfy his own living standards. However, it is very impetuous to think like that. It is very imprudent and insipid to think in these ways. For learning, according to Cameron, is not always about consuming the chunks of knowledge just to do a job. As he was claiming, learning is all about broadening the mind and its horizons, giving the people the self-esteem for them to be able to believe in themselves and strengthen the bindings of the community and work for the common good. Yes, having only the proper workplace training for labor purposes does not entitle someone to being called a learned adult individual. One should realize that being educated means exercising your own freedom in order to express your thoughts and make up yourself in order to have an authentic identity. To become educated requires more than a trained brain ready for employment and occupation. To be considered as a learned adult, an informed mind is of great necessity. An informed mind as defined by Pelligrino (2002) is a mind which does not parrot other men’s opinions, values or thoughts but has its own frameworks. It is the kind of thinking that can resist the tyrannical attributes of experts, a mind that can read, write, speak, manipulate symbols, argue and judge and whose imagination is as free as its reasons. Thus, to have an informed mind actually means to break free from the common stream of knowledge and being able to mend a concept on your own. In many ways, to become educated means experiencing freedom while also feeding your imagination to the fullest. From the previous paragraph we have been able to widen the concept of having a free thinking as associated to being learned or to being educated --- that is framing an own way of thinking and way of life governed by rationale. But aside from freedom, one who is learned and truly educated enjoys to have imagination. As stated by Whitehead (1929) in an article entitled Universities and their Function, the justification for the existence of a university is that it preserves the connection between the knowledge and zest of life. He further said that the university should in its own way unite the imaginations of learning of the young and old generations. That is, existing for the primary reason of not only imparting knowledge and information, but imparting it imaginatively. Carefully examining this statement, it means that the university’s function is not only limited and bounded to instruct. Universities do not exist for the mere conveyance of knowledge among its students. Having said that, we are now in the evaluation of whether these universities offering degree programs designed for adult learners have been effective in doing their very own function. Have they been able to efficiently inculcate in their students the importance of imaginative consideration? Posting that question, we go back again to why there is a need for imagination. Why imagine? Why idealize? Why not just be static? It is because, as according to Whitehead (1929), imagination enables the people to construct an intellectual vision for a new world. Meaning, it is like having an educated mind free to dream and work for an ideal society. Imagination gives them the hope to somehow preserve and aim for a way of living which is most satisfying. But imagination alone is dangerous, right? Without action, even the greatest and the noblest imagination is nothing but an idealization written in the air. Conferring to the same article written by Whitehead (1929), it has been stated in there that the tragedy of the world lies within the fact that knowledge as well as imagination and experience have not been successfully welded by the universities offering degree programs to adult learners. Quoting an excerpt from the article, the problem is that those who are imaginative have but slight experience, and those who are experienced have feeble imaginations. This means that people, especially so the foolish ones, act on imagination without the proper knowledge. On one hand, those who are bookish and nerds act on their own knowledge without even the slightest imagination. This is so problematic, since without the knowledge, imagination is nothing and vice versa. To effectively create a society having educated adult individuals, universities should do their proper function – that is to combine both imagination and experience while acquiring knowledge for the purpose maintaining a zest of life. Talking about a zestful life, we shall delve on now unto why there is a need for education to have such. Is education all about studying and in a way being civilized? Why being educated is so important? Is it just for the personal gain or for the benefit of the whole? In the article written by Pierce (1993), he had said that higher education performs certain functions that cannot be done by any other segment of the society. Higher education may provide the society the ability in order to adapt and be flexible to change. This is since higher education addresses the need for new skills especially in an industrialized societal set-up. We know for a fact that as technological change accelerates its phase, skilled workers are now needed more than ever. Higher education provides a formation of more advanced schemes and practices in order for the workers, mostly adults, to acclimatize themselves with the changing situations. But is it enough that higher education only addresses the need for more skilled workers and for a more creative workforce? Is it enough that the education we are aiming for the majority of the people only revolves around their training in order to cope up with difficulties and improve their life situations? The answer is no, it isn’t enough; mainly because, society needs more than adaptability and flexibility. Society is so much so and is entirely affected by the pressing problems and issues concerning higher education -----mainly funds. Again, as was discussed and discoursed before, having studied is not the same with being educated. Therefore, higher educational programs should have a way of strengthening knowledge while imbibing and sustaining a living culture among the people; mainly because, a society does not survive with just food and money alone. Higher education has its own way of sustaining a living culture while preserving some old ideas and abandoning the others, and selecting and incorporating some new ideas while rejecting others (Pierce, 1993). These ideas have been very well connected with change. In summary, having learned and being educated is a concept which is much more complex than expected. As it seems, there are many problems concerning education, especially among the adults. Barriers such as financial constraints, anxiety, fear and many others inhibit most of the people to not being able to be educated. Again, higher way of learning does not only entail the acquisition of knowledge ready to become an occupation. Being educated is much more than training, it involves mainly learning new skills and being flexible to adapt with change. Higher education, as a whole, is more concern with affecting the people’s spirit and being in order to promote awareness and eliminate ignorance especially with the pressing issues that directly affect the society. Being educated, learning, in general, in its highest form has a main goal of affecting each and everyone, especially the adult population, to work not only for their personal accounts but also for the societal good. References Cameron, D. Academic Search Premier Ritt, E. (2008). Redefining tradition: adult learners and higher education. Adult Learning: Winter/Spring 2008, Vol.19 Issue 1/2, 12-16. Pellegrino, E. (2002). Having a degree and being educated. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth. Pierce, D. (1993). What does society need from higher education?. Racine, WI: The Johnson Foundation Whitehead, A.N. (1929). Universities and their function. 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