“Go
to college so you can get a good job.” I heard this throughout my childhood and
adolescence. Many college students have
believed this, however when they leave college they are not employed. No one could have predicted the recent dip in
the economy so the falsehood of the statement is not the complaint. No, a much graver,
subtle, problem has arisen from these words: the idea that we go to college to
get a job. Not an education, not to learn
something, but to achieve employment .
This was not the intention of society but it has taken hold
none-the-less. Students have an attitude
that they will go to school for four years in order to receive a piece of paper
that says, “Hey, I am valuable. Hire me.” All this while learning gets left by
the wayside.
The
conventional university arose in medieval Europe with the belief that
intellectualism could help Europe as a whole. In 1200 A.D. France outside of
Paris several students were having a party one evening. Running low on wine, the German student
hosting sent his ten year old servant to get some wine from a local pub. Upon receiving the wine the boy noticed it
was sour and asked the bar-keep for good wine.
The bar-keep then beat the boy and broke the German’s jar. When the boy
returned to the party the students were outraged. They went to the bar and
assaulted the bar-keep. Hurt and
insulted, the local bar-keep went to the authorities to complain. Upon hearing
his story the Provost of the town responded by barricading the quarter of the
city in which the school was located and raided in search of the German student. After killing five men, including the German,
the authorities left. Students and
professors realized they had no defense against such threats so they organized a
union called, Universitas. They appealed to King Philip of France who,
realizing the income that Paris would lose if the academics left Paris, agreed
to protect the members of this new union (Nelson). Over the next hundred years these Universitas began to sprout up
throughout Europe.
The
current American college student is a far cry from those early French and
Germans who sought to preserve intellectualism.
Few would stand against an oppressive government for their intellectual
freedom; however, we cannot place all the blame on the students.
Three
hundred plus students are taught at once at many larger universities (Sperber). How can a professor be expected to
effectively teach that many? As a result, many professors do not try. Students then
become disinterested. Creating an endless cycle of students who have not regard
for what they are in school to learn. This is a quote from a Michigan State
student,
“…at Michigan
State, I have had exactly four classes with under twenty-five students and a
real professor in charge. All the rest of my courses have been jumbo lectures
with hundreds of students… with TAs… Very few of the TAs … know squat about how
to teach, some of them don’t even know anything about their subjects.” (Sperber)
At a conference I was able to
attend on Millennials, I was able to see first-hand how frustrated some
professors are with this generation’s disrespect for learning.
The
intent of people praising college as a means of employment was so students
would learn information that would land them an enjoyable job, the result has
been an apathetic stance on learning. Let
us take responsibility for the education system we have created. University is not a place for those who simply
wish to find a job so do not tell children that it is. Students, on whatever educational level you
may be, ask your teachers questions even if they become annoyed. Perhaps this will awaken a passion to share
their vast amounts of information with the next generation. Teachers, ask
questions that will require students to think. Perhaps they will develop a love for learning
if you do not bore them with simply writing on a white board and talking at
them. Together we can protect our educational system just as the early French Univeristas did.
Nelson, Larry H.,
Ph.D. "The Rise of the Universities." | Lectures in Medieval History.
N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Mar. 2013.
<http://www.vlib.us/medieval/lectures/universities.html>.
Sperber, Murray A.
Beer and Circus: How Big-time College Sports Is Crippling Undergraduate
Education. New York: H. Holt, 2000. Print.
