The Purpose of Education
Education is supposedly meant to enlighten us. As we gain more knowledge, we are regarded as more valuable members of society, having worldly perspectives and exposure to all different bouts of life through what we have learned. It is important to note that I am writing about education as though it is synonymous with knowledge. The key here is that education often does not stress the knowledge necessary to become better human beings. This defeats the purpose of education in the first place-to become meaningful contributors to society.
In today’s world, the purpose of schooling is to provide students with an education. According to the unwritten laws of social conformity, one must engage in ten to twelve years of elementary and secondary schooling, attend a higher education institution, and obtain a degree. ultimately to land in a career path in which they will remain until retirement. The mere concept of obtaining a job that provides financial security has been ingrained in people’s minds for decades as if this so-called accomplishment is the only thing that makes a human valuable in the eyes of society.
To obtain a job, one must first pursue formal education to optimize their chances of acquiring one. When students are in school, they are trained, almost bred, to believe that their intrinsic value and identity comes from the prestige or nobility that their job holds. That is the reason why students want to do well in school-to get good grades so that they can get good jobs. There is nothing wrong with this; we live in an age where people must gain skills to contribute to the workforce. Educational institutions play a large role in this; they must equip students well with the pertinent skill sets. Ideally, if students are intellectually capable and show that they have a strong grasp on the content, they will perform better in their job. The problem, however, is whether students are content with how they are learning. When students are motivated to learn merely to get good grades, they often lose sight of what they are trying to achieve in the long run-pursuing a career path which makes them happy.
Everyone’s ultimate goal is to be happy. One’s career plays a large role in achieving that happiness which many of us vie for. If one is passionate about their career, they are, as we assume, more likely to be happy. That passion that draws us to a particular career path at a young age has turned out to be less and less alluring as we grow older. The intrinsic motivation we once had gradually fades. Why? Because of the way our success and level of comprehension is measured. By quantitatively grading students, we are reducing all their knowledge and what they have learned over a period of time to a mere number or letter. Naturally, our rationale will tell us to work for the grade. If we work for the grade, we will be regarded as smarter and more qualified at what we are learning. The smarter and more capable we are, the better job prospects we will receive. However, when we choose a career path, we choose it because of our desire to pursue it. Unfortunately, this zeal that we all once held towards our career has now been diminished, all because we started caring more about the grades. Sure, we can still land our dream job with the system we have now where we work only for grades, but will the journey have been worth it?
Rather than enriching our minds and liberating ourselves to think for ourselves, the quantitative grading approach forces us to complete work and learn only for the sake of receiving a good grade. By the time we get the job that we want, all that intrinsic motivation will have been diminished. This means that people, while qualified to successfully complete their jobs, will not be happy with their jobs. If students were assessed more qualitatively, we could preserve the intrinsic motivation they once held. This approach would encourage students to enrich their minds so that they can form vital, interdisciplinary connections between subjects. In the status quo, we often only assess students based on how well they know the content related to the subject they are studying; while this is a valid approach, it would be much more meaningful for a student to make connections across disciplines-a science class which also touches upon philosophical principles, for example. This would ensure that the next generation of our workforce not only possesses the subject knowledge needed for the job but also skill sets which will enhance their performance at their job. With this, our next generation of workers will be passionate contributors, and most importantly, happy.
