The Role of Education in Modern Society Essay Example

What is education? Is education a system or an experience? Is it an identity? What truly defines education in the current society? Education has existed for many years, yet has only changed slightly. The same stigma still surrounds education, the same desire. Education is seen as the only path to success, perfection, and repetition. The American education system has not grown much from the one rule school houses where farm children learned their ABC’s. Now these one room school houses have become drill rooms where individuality is limited and a system is hammered into children’s minds. In the growing minds of society's children, individuality is seen as trivial to the ideas of creating the perfect way to form an intelligence in society’s eyes. Through the American school system. However that growing spark of individuality still burns somewhere. While the educational system exists as an unequal one path attempt at the perfected knowledge of society, hope for change is held in the belief of reliance on the desire to learn. 

Split by the conforming education system, the belief of an all-powerful education rose to command curriculums and lives as all other practices fall into a safety net part of society. The education system has stood the test of time. While evolving from the spoken teachings of the neanderthals to the factory system of today's classrooms, one thing has remained constant, the design of education in the schools today contains the same ideas of repetition and standardization as its earliest forms. While those forms of education were designed to repeat for survival, to be able to teach the young how to hunt and survive in the wild, the present education system is designed to achieve the most success. Ralph Waldo Emerson touches on this practice in his essay Self-Reliance by questioning “But a man postpones or remembers; he does not live in the present but with reverted eye laments the past or heedless if the riches that surround him, stands on tiptoe to foresee the future. He cannot be happy and strong until he too lives with nature in the present, above time” (Emerson 11) Emerson is arguing that someone is living a half life by the constant focus that has been taught to them by the education system on wealth and success. The education system has been based on standardization because that is what society requires for success. I believe that there is a cycle of power and wealth that spins round and round. Society even to this day believes that the only way to be successful is to gain wealth and power and so that is taught in the schools. There were certain jobs that were required for this accomplishment that the school system adapted to provide. I believe that the self-reliance that Emerson argues is inside all of us is that individuality. In my experience, this conformity has reigned supreme. In Dover-Sherborn the emphasis on a college path is crucial. Math and English curriculum are the guiding forces that contribute to the college path whereas language is not. Language falls short in education here. But why is language less important to one kid than English? What if one kid dreams of being an interpreter or translator and finds their passion in language? Their opportunity is restricted compared to those who want to attend college for a different path. This individuality is limited because the education system just assumes every kid's path is college. Emerson is arguing that the genius that we all possess is the power to divide from that system of conformity. However, that genius still is limited. Emerson and Wyman share a similar stance. Wyman states in his article that “In a situation where 70% of high school students do not go to college, nearly half of those who do go fail to graduate, and over half of the graduates are unemployed or underemployed, is vocational education really expendable? (Wyman 278) Wyman is questioning the fact that so many students do not want to pursue the college path yet are forced to by society and by their families. He is also touching upon Emerson’s point as well which questions how the toxic education system is centered around cloning what society views as success due to wealth and power. I agree with Wyman's point of view because I believe that he is touching on the blurred line between the differences of what a child wants to do versus what society and their parents tell them to do. The education system is designed around the desire to keep that success in the family and to do what society believes is to go to college. However not everyone wants that path yet they don't have other options that are available to them. The education system is not only limiting choices by this system, it is also limiting individuality. Those who seek different paths away from the traditional college path are shunned into believing that they are lesser than. However as Wyman points out they are probably making the best choice for themselves and their families. If someone chooses not to go to college to study a trade like plumbing or carpeting, they are saving their family hundreds of thousands of dollars rather than going and then dropping out after they realize that college is not the right path for them. However this experience is so rare as Wyman points out because those trades which may be the best option for some people are seen as lesser than and so people are pressured into doing something that is not right for them. The education system is not fair as it limits those ideas of what is the true path for someone. While some struggle with equality in their choice of profession however, many are still struggling to achieve that basic education that all people deserve. 

While some form of education is offered to all, the true gift of education is not dispersed equally and many fall under a false perception of knowledge. Education is something that most people believe should be offered to all. However the same education that one person may receive can differ from another. While many receive the basic forms of education, the education that is required to achieve the success that society desires, is not offered. This inequality has existed for years as Plato argues about his allegory that “The prison house is the world of sight, the light of the fire is the sun, and you will not misapprehension me if you interpret the journey upwards to be the ascent of the soul into the intellectual world according to my poor belief, which, at your desire I have expressed whether rightly or wrongly God knows.” (1084) Plato’s description of his allegory of ignorance is key to understanding how knowledge and education can be warped into untruths.  Plato's allegory, especially the descriptions of the fire being the same in the prisoners walls being the only world ever known and truly describes the education systems limitations. Plato then goes on to say how drinking out of the cave into the world of the enlightened, truly creates a world of freedom and liberty. However many people are not restricted to a cave and a fire is the only light source there are restrictions in their education. Education is divided based on class. Education is divided based on wealth. Education is divided based on race. On repeated accounts those who have more privilege and more power receive better education, even public education which is said to be an equalizer for all. This limitation causes education to fall farther from the idea of equality. Someone learning in an AP English class in a wealthy suburban school, has an extremely different view of education than someone learning in an AP English class in an inner city school. The people learning in the inner city school are not less intelligent than the ones learning in a wealthy suburban school, they just have less opportunities. The journey upwards into the light is not possible for many because they do not have access to the opportunities that others do. Because of this many are trapped inside the cave and only know their education system which is that of a fiery sun and dark walls. This restriction in the education system is shown as many schools are separated due to wealth and power. Many statistics prove this as a author by the name of Emma Garcia states “While less than 1 in 10 white students (8.4%) attend high-poverty schools with a high share of students of color, six in 10 black students (60.0%) do.” This divide by race and class continues a cycle of educational lack in society. Many people just have a simple “solution” for getting out of poverty which is to work hard in school, get good grades and then go from there. That may be college or another path. However the question is, is the education that you are receiving the same as the one these students are? Probably not. The public education system is based on taxes. Taxes pay for everything, teachers salaries, classroom materials, extracurricular activities and more. So if a high poverty area which can not afford to pay as much taxes as a wealthy area, the schools there are going to suffer. This causes people to not achieve the same results as wealthy kids do and so that cycle of poverty continues. But there is hope for the system of education in the individuality of those who seek change in the world. 

While it possesses flaws, at its core education harnesses the power to defeat adversity, through the commitment to equality for all.