Free Custom «Who Am I in a College Classroom» Essay Paper

Out of the works we have learned in the class, the closest to my way of thinking are the “Do Schools Kill Creativity?” by Sir Ken Robinson and the article by W. J. Reeves“College Isn’t for Everyone”.

On one hand, their ideas differ quite a lot, however, in my opinion, they can be considered complementary to each other, shedding a great deal of light on what really goes on in the modern world’s educational institutions.

Unfortunately, the overwhelming majority of the colleges and universities do not pay enough attention (if at all) to the personal preferences of the students. Education gives practically the same knowledge, according to the chosen subjects to all students; however, their own thoughts on different problems are not taken into consideration. Students are not encouraged to have personal opinions on historical problems, mathematical issues, or philosophical methods. They are encouraged to read the book and answer questions in the correct way using the words of the author.

Supporting the point of view of Sir Robinson, I would like to state that contemporary education does not help to develop students’ creativity. It may be surprising to some people, but creativity should be developed. Sometimes people cannot come up with a simple story about anything, or, in case of emergency, it is more difficult for them to find an effective solution to the problem than for those with more creative minds. After graduation life for such people usually becomes very monotonous: Work, home – home, work. They flow with the current and are afraid of any changes. These people do not think about having their own businesses as businesses usually mean a great deal of risk and the need to make serious decisions.

The point I am trying to outline is that the educational system should be more personality-oriented and not job-oriented. When a person goes to the educational institution, he or she must be sure to obtain some good life lessons which will help him or her to deal with practical situations and also develop the ability to reach success in different spheres of life, beginning with family and ending with outstanding career. Our colleges and universities give too much information about things which are often not important or not applicable to real life situations. Students are not taught how to have affectionate and caring families where everyone is happy, how to maintain love in the relationship during the lifetime, or how to build your own business, avoid all possible problems, and become a leading entrepreneur who can work little but have great profits.

Creativity is not fostered as it is also very inconvenient for the government: Who will work at the plants and factories, and who will do the monotonous office work then? When people get over-creative, they may decide that the governmental leaders should also be changed as the creative individuals have come up with some bright ideas about having different people in the government or that the governmental system should be changed to the core.

Continuing the discussion about decrease of students in the universities, I would like to say that it also happens due to the fact that many students simply do not want to study, either at a certain college, or a certain discipline they are taking, or just in general. Education is a burden for them. As Reeves states, students are not ready to study at higher educational institutions where the studying is more self-driven, and not compulsory; where the students choose their own paths which lead them directly into their future life.

Most of students with the lack of enthusiasm about studying cannot really say why they are doing it, what are the real motives, how this education will help them to build a successful life in all aspects after graduation. This is a big problem, and the universities, as Sir Robinson could probably say, should teach students to form strong and motivating goals that would lead them through the whole life with their eyes wide open out of curiosity and pleasure from having the opportunity to enjoy each moment they are given.

I would like to reformulate the idea of Reeves a little bit and add that if our universities could try to motivate and inspire students at the beginning of their educational path in higher educational institutions, then soon it would be easy to reveal which of students do not have a desire to work on getting qualifications and, therefore, can be dismissed from the university in order not to undermine the creative spirit of other people.

For me, having the opportunity to receive education is very important. However, its importance lies not in the grades I get, but in the lessons which will help me to make the right choices in future which starts already today. Education plays a role of a good advisor in my life; despite this, it does not have to make me do things which I do not like. It shows me several options, but the decision which of them to choose has to be mine.

Class represents for me the place where people can share their experiences and their mistakes, so others can learn from them and avoid these mistakes, too. I want to see the class as the arena where I can find myself, develop my interests and work out good habits and strong sides of my personality.

Unfortunately, in order to succeed in the college, students need to behave according to the rules. Rarely, someone who stands out and speaks out earns an approval. Mistakes are not approved in our educational system, however, they are vital on the way of personality formation. The more mistakes we make while we are young, the easier it will be for us to succeed in future if we take good lessons from those mistakes.

Education is very important. However, it must be more about self-development and not about “the smartest are those who learned the largest amount of poems or wrote the most essays”.