Do we prepare kids for college or for life?

January 16, 2008

The College Question

Is our K-12 education system too focused on preparing all kids for college, at the expense of preparing them for life?  This basic question has been setting the edusphere ablaze recently.At A Place at the Table, Susan Graham’s blog at Teacher Magazine, Graham asks “Have we all been part of a collusion that promises our young people an Emperor’s New Education when we insist that success, fulfillment, security and happiness can only be cut and stitched from the fabric of a four-year college degree? ” Several recent posts explore various aspects of the issue: Are students choosing college for the right reasons – or any reason at all? How is the college choice affected by increasing global economic competition? Is the push to college robbing some students of other, more fulfilling options?

Over at the ed blog Principled Discovery, a hotly debated post noted the significant number of students who don’t go to college and asked, “could forcing college as the only path to the workforce actually be limiting real opportunities by not valuing other skills and turning a blind eye to the majority of Americans who do not earn a degree?”

We at InService couldn’t let this mini-meme pass by without throwing the issue out to our readers. Is there too much emphasis on college for all? Are we providing appropriate post-secondary options for all students? Check out the blog posts above and their lively comment threads, and then let us know what you think.For perspective from Educational Leadership, see the April 2007 issue, “The Prepared Graduate”, particularly the articles “The Challenge of College Readiness” and “What About Those Who Don’t Go?”

Posted by David Snyder in Education Policy | Permalink

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Comments

Too often I hear the reasoning for practice being “because they need to know this (or do this) in college”. The practice is seldom examined as to whether it is a sound pedagogy for teaching high school students. (In some cases, it is not a sound pedagogy for college students!) Often, we have only managed to further alienate our students who do not plan on college as an option. Certainly, we need to prepare students for post-secondary options, however, we should stop treating high school as only a stopgap between middle school and college with no purpose of its own in preparing students for life.

Posted by: Marlene | January 17, 2008 at 10:55 PM

I look forward to the day when high schools will brag about the number of graduates who DON’T have to go on to college. If high school were more useful fewer graduates would have to go on to college. The current college preparatory curriculum is useless in the work world. We can prepare kids for the work world in high school

Posted by: Larry Schlack, Kalamazoo, Michigan | January 18, 2008 at 03:37 PM

Of course college is important…….if you plan to become a teacher, a doctor, an engineer, an attorney, or enter into a profession that requires specific training at a level beyond high school. But not everyone wants to enter into one of these fields of endeavor. There are many who are talented in the arts, music and other fields that need post-secondary training, but not in a college/university setting.
With the current emphasis on testing we no longer have the time, let alone the energy to teach our students to be good citizens, to balance their checkbooks, to study geography so they know where in the world they are, or to learn about such things as the fabulous world of culinary arts or fashion design.
It is time we took a close look at the damage being done to our students by emphasizing that college=success. That is definitely not true. Look at Bill Gates and others who either did not attend college or dropped out prior to completing their studies. And, we certainly would not label them as failures. College is not the only pathway to success and it is time that politicians and educators acknowledged this fact!

Posted by: Janet | January 18, 2008 at 04:04 PM

Take a look at any high school’s course offerings. Are there any courses that are specifically designed to assist students with “real-life” challenges: writing resumes, determining the cost of financing a home, searching want ads for apartments, etc.? If these skills are embedded in college-prep courses, then students are getting the best of both worlds: preparation for college coursework and for the world outside of college.If the school doesn’t have these skills incorporated into the current curricular offerings, seek help. Ask a principal, guidance counselor, community leader, etc. to establish at least some electives in that school to help all students be ready to confront life head-on!

Posted by: Rusha | January 18, 2008 at 04:59 PM

At the risk of duplicating arguments already covered by others in the other comment threads linked above, I’d like to make two observations.First, it’s true that many kids don’t go to college. They should have the opportunity to pursue preparation for their post-high school lives that will be relevant to them and enhance their success in the field they actually choose, rather than a hypothetical future that involves a four-year college.

Second, though, the viable career options for adults without a college education are rapidly decreasing in number. I’m not convinced that pushing all kids to pursue higher education – whether two-year or four-year – is a bad idea.

The strength of vocational programs, of course, is that it links these two concerns, connecting kids who won’t go to college with careers that will make it OK for them to have not gone to college. This means living-wage, skilled work, which does require training and apprenticeship, in most cases.

But I don’t think it will work to just offer “career” education without a specific skilled trade in mind, because of the decreasing job prospects in (what’s classified as) unskilled work.

Posted by: Eduleadership | January 18, 2008 at 09:36 PM