Limitations Of Formal Education

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Davis Cheng Dr. Mandy Hobmeier Writing 150 2 November 2014 Limitations of Formal Education “There are two types of education… one should teach us how to make a living, and the other how to live,” claimed James Truslow Adams, a notable American writer and historian. His words echo the economic and spiritual purpose of the ideal education system. However, widely-adopted formal education methods are limited in achieving such a purpose. Because formal education institutions suppress creativity and individualism by promoting a conventional way of thinking and behaving, graduates of such programs become ineffective in achieving their economic and spiritual goals. Furthermore, the lack of emphasis on character development in formal education…show more content…
This is because “schools prepare people for adult work rules, by socializing people to function well, and without complaint, in the hierarchical structure of the modern corporation” (Bowles and Gintis, “Schooling in Capitalist America Revisited” 1). Formal education systems accustom students to the realities in their later work life by conditioning students to accept and adopt the mentality and behavior consistent with professionals in the corporate world. Schools therefore discourage both creative and individual beliefs that are inconsistent with the attitudes and practices inherent to the working world. Consequently, formal education institutions suppress individualism and creativity. Students therefore graduate from formal education institutions with a mentality and behavior synonymous with the corporate world, and also without the ability to think for themselves and to think out of the…show more content…
In his article written for his school’s newspaper, Martin Luther King, Jr. claims that “the most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals.” Without good moral judgment to guide an individual’s behavior, a person with intellectual mastery will act with a complete disregard for the moral consequences of his or her actions. This is because they are unable to understand the detrimental impact of their actions on the lives of others. Coupled with intellectual abilities, such people are capable of acting with a significantly disastrous impact on

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