Big Expectations for School [HW #44]

Obama made his point very clear when he said, "That's what I want to focus on today: the responsibility each of you has for your education." Education is viewed as a "responsibility." It's something we are bound to because as the children of America, it our duty to succeed and thus rid this country of all of its problems. Obama's point of view on education is clearly education as an escape route. But it's not just an escape route for each individual, it's one for the entire country. Obama, as a functionalist believes that if we succeed, so will the country. And "if you don't do that -- if you quit on school -- you're not just quitting on yourself, you're quitting on your country."

To Obama, education is what we, the seeds need to grow. It is clear that he has a trascendent point of view. He repeatedly emphasized on the future, and how if we worked hard it will all towards the greater good. And the only times he mentions the present is the amount of work we need to put into our education now. He didn't once talk about education as something we can enjoy. Of course, this point of view is a bit harsh. It makes it seems like we're all just growing to become tools of society. But Obama does a good job in softening that up. He tells them that: "No one's written your destiny for you, because here in America, you write your own destiny. You make your own future." Despite the overall theme of his speech being about responsibility, he's telling us that we choose our paths, and that no one else has control. This is true to some extent, but our paths are right along side with the mainstream road. In his speech he also uses the terms "you" and "each of you," as opposed to "you all" (disregarding "I’m glad you all could join us today."), he places a sense of self-significance to each person, making each student seem like they are the hero of this story. Also, by using himself as an example and relating to the students through himself, he makes it seem possible that all of those students have potential in becoming the president- the greatest hero of all.

Kiyosaki's New Mission, in my opinion, will not work. To split the schooling system into "two different public school programs: one for employees and one for entrepreneurs" would be like asking people to choose whether they want to be the star actors or to be an extra. Most people would want to be the star. They would want to transcend rather settle down for a mediocre life. Even disregarding the issue, people would rather be listened to than to listen. Although I do not think this method will work, I do think that considering alternatives is important; and it's not just considering alternatives to solve the crisis, but it's to consider alternatives with that in mind, in addition to making school more enjoyable. So that we aren't learning out of commitment, and instead out of desire. Kiyosaki says, "we need to pledge ourselves to this New Mission: job creation by those who are true job creators" and "it was drummed into our souls that our mission was more important than our lives." Although, it is important to have a mission, and think of the end results, it should not dictate how you view any aspect of one thing, especially not education. In his case, Kiyosaki seems to only be looking at education as a way to solve society's issues, which is important, but it is also important to look at it in a much smaller scale- not just think about the future, and how education may future issues, but also think about the present, and how we can shape the experience.

More Research and More Thinking [HW #42: Part B- Significance]

Focus: For the school unit I was, still am interested in schooling alternatives. Based on my interviews, it seems like a huge majority of the people has accepted the education system, as it is. We all follow this straight, two-dimensional path. This path has become our way of life, and our approach towards, as well as our definition of "success." Schools are, of course just an organization interpreted by man. It is only the method that our ancestors chose, and we follow. So what if that choice was never made, or if we made another choice- to discontinue and change courses? What are our options? What have people living on the sidelines of the mainstream road been doing?

Being a student for 13 years, awaiting an additional 4+ years, I feel like school, as it is, is extremely dreadful. Between the lag of the curriculum, and inability to change the things we're doing on a daily basis, there's not much to look forward to in school. However, I thought that it really didn't help to mourn and whine about this again and again (but that didn't stop me from doing it). So I decided to look up alternatives to our orthodox education system. Although, it is a bit too late for me to apply any of these alternatives to my life, being that I'm already in too deep, it is still important to know what are the options given to us... Well not "given to us," but are there and neglected.

In terms of how this topic matter functionally, I think just the fact that there are all these alternatives, and we're only aware of maybe four of them shows a lot about the situation we are put in. And by that I mean: we are trapped in a room, with the door open. It's almost like our society is structured so that we are guided- maybe even pushed to go in one direction. However, there are these options that we have, but are unaware of, to escape that path; but rarely does anyone embrace those options. Most of us move along with the push, and. It is much easier to go with the current, than to go against.

Similar to myself, many others constantly whine about school, and constantly return to school. For the most part, none of us particularly enjoy school or look forward to school, and yet we go to it 5 days a week, for 6+ hours. As of right now, with the people in my life, school seems to just be an obligation to all of us. We're here to fulfill those obligations, and play the role we are given. With that, none of us have tried to break out of those obligations or those roles. All of us have remained stationary, just living the life that was given. And until, last week I didn't even know about majority of the other paths that are there for us. Even so, I only discovered them due to another obligation, that was a part of school. It's not only that this topic- alternative paths show insight about what else we can do to feed our minds, but it also shows us how we are as a society. It's just the fact that we're not embracing this chance to escape that we dread, that shows us how trapped we truly are.