To seek higher education

After being in and out of school, since I was 5 years old, and working as a teacher in some capacity or other for most of the last decade, I assert;

Education will benefit you; A particular college diploma, not so much. What's the difference?
If you are willing to work and really want to know, if you are truly curious about what you are studying and like spending time with other people who 'geek on' your area of study, you will benefit from the opportunities. If you have those qualities, your success will reflect on your efforts, regardless of your educational credentials.

"Most college courses teach few useful job skills; their main function is to signal to employers that students are smart, hard-working, and conformist. The upshot: Going to college is a lot like standing up at a concert to see better. Selfishly speaking, it works, but from a social point of view, we shouldn't encourage it."
-Bryan Caplan, associate professor of economics at George Mason University

When BA's were rare, and demanding, they signaled a useful set of liberal arts skills; reading, writing, critical thinking. They also typically involved a high degree of collegiality- team building- as well as intellectual discipline and motivation. However, the calibre of students is declining because those qualities are assumed, institutionally, and not intrinsically developed. However, anyone who reads a large number of student essays knows those qualities are lacking in about half of the students.

"Research shows that there generally is a negative relationship between state support for higher education and economic growth. Sending marginal students to four-year degree programs, only to drop out, is a waste of human and financial resources, and lowers the quality of life for those involved".
- Richard K. Vedder, director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity and professor of economics at Ohio University

Skilled trades pay as well or better than all but a few jobs supplied by a BA education. A BA is, after all, really preparation for grad school. It was supposed to mark a stage in education, that would lead to the holder to write books that would be read by high school graduates, so they could learn something without having to devote the time to research. Of course those were the days when public high schools imposed discipline, and their graduates could perform higher maths, read Latin, speak intelligently about history and geography in both their own language and another modern language. The article that got me blogging this morning, "Are Too Many Students Going To College?" seems to overemphasise the necessity of a college education and assume that high school would achieve little.

"Rather than proclaiming College for All, we should be stressing High School Completion for All, emphasizing that such completion requires either college readiness or readiness for sustained employment—or for the combination of the two that has become so common."
- W. Norton Grubb, professor of policy, organization, measurement, and evaluation at the University of California at Berkeley's Graduate School of Education

I am happy to have sacrificed the money, time and energy I have into my education. Probably in the same way as in Buddhist countries, people leave their jobs for a time, don the robes of a monk, and walk around begging, praying and meditating. It may benefit their minds and souls, but it is not a good way to make money.

"Employers are accelerating their offshoring, part-timing, and temping of as many white-collar jobs as possible. That results in ever more unemployed and underemployed B.A.'s. Meanwhile, there's a shortage of tradespeople to take the Obama infrastructure-rebuilding jobs. And you and I have a hard time getting a reliable plumber even if we're willing to pay $80 an hour—more than many professors make."
-Marty Nemko, career counselor based in Oakland, Calif.

I guess much of the problem in framing this debate is that educators, social scientists and policy analysts are typically college educated, so it is difficult for them to conceive that trades people, small business owners and those educated other than in four year colleges could be happy and/or prosperous.

Making a declining grade; Academic freedom and grade schemes

So why bother going to University? You can outsource your education and probably get better results. Supposedly fifty percent of Business students cheat.

The raises the question of how valuable a higher education really is.

Some responses, like that of Denis Rancourt, challenge and contest the bums- in- seats approach to mass education. Listening to The Current this morning, its clear that most people like having a clear metric, whether or not it is a useful metric. Giving all A+ upsets some people because the whole debate threatens the perceived reputation of a given University. For Frank Appleyard, a student at the University of Ottawa, was also interviewed by The Current that seemed to be his main concern. Prof Rancourt's point was that the grading system impedes learning, so giving all A+s to his students was a way around that problem. The truth is, fourth year physics students probably like learning about physics, so an automatic A+ probably doesn't encourage laziness. Rancourt argues it opens up a spirit of inquiry, rather than grade chasing.

Stanley Fish, noted this approach to grading constitutes irresponsibility. The counter-arguments  to Prof. Fish's argument are historical(totalitarian and authoritarian states impose limits on how to answer certain questions) and a practical one- a professors job is not to be right, but to be clever. They have to ask questions nobody else has the time or inclination to try and answer. When their research is fruitful, for example, we get new approaches to medicine, as from basic research on genetics. When the freedom to ask these questions is curtailed, answers are imposed, as with Lysenkoism in the former Soviet Union. In a climate of academic freedom the dead ends have been explored and put to rest as with Lamarckism, which was the legitimate but erroneous hypothesis that acquired traits could be passed on genetically.

The university used to provide a place for scholars to ask and explore questions. The answers subsequently were available to who ever wanted them. Students followed along this path. Those who didn't want to become professors didn't bother with University.

Now the BA seems to have replaced the high school diploma. And research is looked upon by government and business as requiring a guaranteed outcome, which misses the point of academic freedom to follow research questions and train future scholars. This education reflects the broadest possible concerns in a given discipline. How could this education but include a political element, even if that politics is of tacit compliance, which is what Anna Maria Tremonte and Stanley fish seem to favour, judging by her interview of Prof's Fish and Rancourt.

Poor schools spur parents to flee the island

"Two statistics tell the story. A first-year teacher makes $38,411. A first-year Montreal bus driver makes $44,336."- Henry Aubin

I'm dead tired about people praising education, then failing to either pay for or commit themselves to it.