Education for Homelessness or Homemaking? Assignment

This week's reading, by Steven Bouma-Predigre and Brian Walsh discussed the largely American problem of homelessness.  Although in some cases this did refer to literally being without a home, the passage used a more figurative sense of the word, describing the growing issue that many people are not investing in the places they live, but only wish to live in the places they do until they can move "up" in the world.  This search for success causes many to jump from place to place, and never have a place to call home.  In effect, they do not care about the land anywhere or the people anywhere.  The authors state that this explains why people do not care about the environment.  The goal is instead to go from one house to another, exploiting as much as possible on the way.  This all really makes sense to me, but I feel it has strong points on both sides, so while I agree with most of it, I believe I need to elaborate.

First, I don't really want to pursue the "upward mobility success ladder" and all, but I want to see new places and find one that fits me.  I think there is definitely a time in life where it is important to stretch out and see the world from another viewpoint, rather than a closed-up small-town ideology that can get stuck in traditions.
But I also believe there is a point when people need to settle down and invest themselves into a community.  A town is nothing more than buildings; a community is a group of people walking together in life.

Second, I don't think loyalty is something that needs to be placed on anything in this earth.  You can be dependable and put a lot of effort into one thing, but any human institution can be corrupted, and fierce loyalty to a corrupted institution can lead people astray.  Instead of being proud of a place, one should be humble.  Instead of placing your faith in a place, you should place your faith in God.  Again, this is not to say you shouldn't invest yourself into people, places or organizations.  I merely mean that your main loyalty should be to God, then to people.  This is similar to the two greatest commandments: Love the Lord your God...and love your neighbor as yourself.

This article didn't really change any of my opinions on the matter of the purpose of education, since I have for quite some time been upset by the whole "success" language used to motivate students to be selfish and try to get on top, but it has given several great points and a new set of vocabulary for discussing the issue.

Why Learn? Assignment

This composition by John Tagg examined the difference between qualitative- and quantitative-oriented learning.  Quantitative-oriented learning basically means just going to class with the goal of getting a good grade to post on your transcript.  Thus, the student aims to please the teacher and store the information until the end of the semester, when the grades are due and the benefits or losses are calculated.  Qualitative-oriented learning, on the other hand, focuses on what is gained from the class.  It sees learning as an intrinsic value and the concepts that are carried out of the classroom are considered more important than grades, tuition costs or course credits.

I do love learning, so I think I understand its intrinsic value, but I do tend to place huge importance on my grades, and there have certainly been some classes that I was glad to see the end of, granted I had an 'A.'  I do not believe this was entirely my fault.  In the information age, statistics are extremely important and number crunching and quantitative data is considered almost priceless.  Our society stresses paperwork and how one person's numbers (grades in this case) compare to another's.  Success is measured in A's, and B's, and C's and F's are considered failures.  As a result, students often fail to apply the knowledge to their life.

My one problem with the qualitative-oriented learning concept is that it insinuates that every class ought to make you view your world in a new way.  I don't believe I could handle it if all seven of my courses turned my world-view upside-down.  I would feel a loss of identity end up feeling very sick and dizzy.  Tagg maybe didn't mean that every class ought to cause a total renewal of the mind, but I just wanted to clarify my opinion on the matter.

In my own education, I believe that quality is demonstrated by how much it provokes thought outside of the classroom (and homework).  When I begin having original thoughts about that subject and relating and applying the concepts learned to other aspects of life, then I know I have gained knowledge and have succeeded in a qualitative sense.  And while I don't believe all my classes will bring life-altering changes, as a whole, they can shape my world-view and make the little aspects of life more intriguing and the bigger aspects less confusing.