Education and Empowerment Exist in America?
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Education and Empowerment Exist in America?
Introduction
The question of whether education and empowerment in America exists is a very pertinent one. This is especially so because at the moment many people have a lot of misgivings in regard to the education system. Many feel that the system is producing graduates who are illiterate. There is a general feeling that the education system in America is failing and is no longer what it used to be in the past.
In this paper, theref
ore, I am going to explore what the state of education in America is and how it is helping the Americans. I will base my argument on Moore’s book, Idiot Nation. I will categorically show that the education system should be overhauled if it is to be of any benefit to the American society.
The state of American Education System
Moore argues that the education system in America is producing more illiterates than it is empowering the citizens to know more about their world and their history. He claims that more people are interested in sports and entertainment than they are of current affairs. This has therefore presented a pitiful state of the educational standards in the nation (Moore 144). According to Moore, the leaders do not help the situation. They are as ignorant as the citizens when it comes to current affairs. When we have top ranking leaders in the greatest nation who cannot even tell whether Africa is a state or a continent, then there is a big problem that needs to be addressed.
Education empowerment can be a very powerful tool for the society to achieve its goals. Educational and cultural needs of Native Americans have been well addressed by the existence of Tribal Colleges. These have had a major impact on the lives of Native Americans. The Native Americans could not have been able to attend and graduate from a university without these institutions (Grob 1). This, although useful to the natives, points to a discriminative educational system. In my opinion, an education system of a nation should be able to address all the needs of its citizens regardless of race and colour. No citizen should miss an educational opportunity just because the system locks them out.
With this in mind, there is need to develop a curriculum that addresses all the needs of the people in the nation. Mike Rose, one of the graduates of the system who has against all odds risen to become a professor attributes part of the systems failure to teachers. Quite many able students who have the potential and skills to excel have been written off as failures because of this.
Anyon identifies a gap in delivering instructions to schools. He postulates that children from rich families are receiving an education that prepares them for desirable jobs. This is not so in the poor communities (Anyon 12).
When educational policies are left in the hands of politicians instead of the educationists themselves, then problems are going to arise. Moore argues that politicians, while addressing the problems affecting the education system lay blame on the entertainment industry, attacking media such as MTV. According to him the state of the infrastructure is wanting. He says that public schools are overcrowded; teachers are demoralized among other issues. These factors cannot allow empowerment in education to be achieved. The ordinary citizens are bound to get hurt in such a situation.
CONCLUSION
Education should meet the needs of all its citizens by giving them ability to attain levels they never had before. Such education should not be discriminatory but should rather be accessible by all. With this in mind a solution needs to be found to correct the education system in America so that it can be useful for all its citizens.
Works Cited
Anyon, J. Social class and the hidden curriculum of work. Journal of Education Vol. 162, no. 1 Fall 1980 12-30)
Grob, A. Educational empowerment of Native American Students: A tribally controlled College leads the way, (1-3) Retrieved, May 20th, 2014, http:// http://homepages.se.edu/nas/files/2013/03/NAS-2009-Proceedings-Grob.pdf
Moore, M. Idiot Nation. HarperCollins Publishers, 2002 (142-160)