Bilingual Education Essay

Now, it seems to be universally accepted that increased education is a good thing. Thousands of colleges and millions of students spend vast amounts of time and money chasing pieces of paper. But what is the value of these qualifications? This essay will discuss whether education has been devalued. Supporters of education (usually teachers or educators, or those who have an interest in stopping people thinking for themselves) say that increased levels of education will open doors for students. Certificates, diplomas, and degrees are held up as a status symbol, a passport to a private club of money and power. However, the truly powerful are not those who have taken degrees, but people who have stood back and looked at what is really important in life. They have seen opportunity and followed dreams. These people are found in every part of society. Like many brilliant people, Einstein was a weak student at math. Like many successful businessmen, Bill Gates never completed college. Like many inventive and creative people, Edison never went to school. The greatest religious teachers do not have letters after their name, but have looked into their hearts for meaning. Similarly, the world’s political leaders do not have master’s degrees or doctorates. These are the people who shaped our century, and they are too busy with real life to spend time in the paper chase. Students in college are being sold an illusion. They are made to believe that self-understanding and society approval will come with the acquisition of a piece of paper. Instead of thinking for themselves, and finding their own personality and strengths, they are fitted like square pegs into round holes. The role of education is to prepare masses of people to operate at low levels of ability in a very limited and restricted range of activities. Some of these activities are more challenging than perhaps the assembly lines of the past, but still the ultimate purpose is equally uninteresting. More worryingly, despite the increased level of education, people are still not genuinely expected to think for themselves. In fact, the longer years of schooling make the job of brainwashing even easier. There is still a role for study, research, and education. However, we need to examine our emphasis on education for the sake of a piece of paper, and to learn the real meaning and revolutionary challenge of knowledge. mean by education from the outset. That might make it easier for you to sharpen your arguments against it. You need to better deal with the opposing arguments. It is true of course that some people become millionaires by dropping out of school to become entrepreneurs. But, if one looks at the average income of dropouts compared to the average income of people who graduate high school, and then compare those rates to the average income of people who graduate from university, we see quite clearly that better education leads, on average, to greater career success (you could even do research and cite sources, using empirical evidence to back up your points! ) Also, education, especially liberal arts (or even liberal science) tends to improve people, giving them a capacity for critical thought that makes them more interesting and worth listening to. You even seem to acknowledge, in your conclusion, that people who do well without formal education may yet be considered self-educated. So, perhaps you should define what you mean by education from the outset. That might make it easier for you to sharpen your arguments against it. I am not sure that I am following your argument here. Education is devalued because it is akin to brainwashing and drains people of the ability to think for themselves. Truly powerful people have never been to college. The role of education is to transform people into automatons performing a limited range of activities. As an argumentative essay, you’ll need to back up those opinions. Your examples can help, but Einstein did attend university and had a doctorate degree from the school of mathematics and natural sciences at Zurich University. I don’t think you can make the claim that Einstein had difficulty with math he was studying calculus at the age of twelve but he did have trouble with speech. Edison did not attend university, but at that time a mere 1% of the population attended college so the example loses impact. Bill Gates attended Harvard. He didn’t graduate, but he still considers his Harvard experience valuable (it is where he learned that there are people smarter than he is and met business partner Steve Ballmer). Besides, Harvard gave Gates an Honorary Degree in 2007. Gates also blows the theory that brilliant people struggle with math he scored near perfect on the SAT. Steve Jobs quite college after a semester (I know that you didn’t use him as an example, but I thought it was interesting Michael Dell is another computer guru who never finished college). Who are the world’s religious teachers and political leaders that you are referring to?. Here’s an article that I found interesting: http://www. msnbc. msn. com/id/29445201/ It talks about different things than your essay, but I can see where everyone getting a college degree would devalue those degrees . . . forty is the new thirty and a college degree is the new high diploma, blah, blah, blah. With 68% of high school graduates in the US enrolling in collage (2008), do we have a future with an over-educated, under-employed workforce? I could also see the argument that not everyone is suited for college life and we, as a society, need auto mechanics, plumbers, and grocery store clerks.