Research Paper on Benefits of Higher Education: College Vs Vocational Training

Introduction

The main purpose of education is strengthening someone's mind so that he or she can be in a position to deal with the challenges of life. Although the things one learns in school seem not to be important, the fact that someone struggles so much to understand a lot of things that are taught in school will enable the person cope with the challenging issues of life. An effective education should be able to make students be all around. So that they can be able to fit, anywhere in society and be able to handle any challenge that comes there way.

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Section One

Section one of this essay will give a summary of the history of education in the USA in the 19 century up to date. Section two of the essay will look at various theories, claims, and points of view of Holt. Section four will be compared as well as contrasting the various theories. In this section also the essay will have some counter-arguments, the authorities will also be group according to their theories (Efland and Arthur, 80). The essay will also look at various relevant founders in this section.

The first schools in the United States of America focused on religious education, there was no math reading. The public schools as we look at them were not in place until the 1930s. However, the first schools in the 13 colonies in America were opened way back in the 17 century. In the year 1635, the school that was opened in Boston during this time that was teaching Latin still remains the oldest School to date.

Public schooling, especially in the south, was not common until the Reconstruction Era that took place after the American Civil war. There was compulsory school attendance for students between the ages of 8 up to the age of 14 by 1900 century in 31 states in the USA. Every school was required to complete elementary school by the year 1918. The idea of educating a child progressively until the child reaches its fullest potential was founded by John Dewey in 1930s. The United States of America had a racially segregated system of schools in the 1960s. The segregation took place despite the Supreme Court ruling against it in the case of Brown vs Board. However, the segregation of schools was eliminated towards the end of the 1970s. Finally, the USA entered in the present system of education in the year 2001.

Section Two

The way the schoolroom is educated today is due to some diverse years in the past. Some ages like the revolution in the industries. (Gordon and Howard, 88). Even the teaching methods are changing gradually over time. The following are the theories:

Learning During the Industrial Age

The manner in which learning was handled in the industrial age is far much different than it is handled today. Farming was the main livelihood in society and there were one-room schoolhouses. What was required by the workforce was changed by the age (Browning and Oscar, 38). A lot of people were needed by the factories to work there and therefore the model learning of factories was then established. The concept of the factory applies directly to then education today. The principles of mass production were implemented as factories were in need of educated workers. The factories took some individuals then they trained them and after the training them they could employ them after certifying them to work in various production sections in the factories.

Skinner's Behaviorism

According to B.F. Skinner who was a teacher and a researcher in the 20th, century. He was of the opinion that anyone can learn anything and that the learner was blank. According to the skimmer, he believes that any prior experience of someone was not relevant. Therefore any instructor is capable of breaking down any concept, as well as repeat it and any person is also capable of learning the concept despite the knowledge that that person had before. Behaviorism was founded by a man by the name John B. Watson.

Skinner also worked with the operant conditioning that is equal to enforcing behavior in children today. An example of operant conditioning is when a student is told to remain behind. Because of the fear that the students may have for doing wrong and because of that they may end up not doing wrong because it will introduce them to trouble. Positive reinforcement is better than punishment, this is according to Skinner. Because of the general definition, Skinner found this more beneficial more than rewarding the child or praising them for doing good.

The best tool to reinforce a good behavior is positive communication, this will also help to get rid of a bad behavior. This is because it also helps in building self-esteem it also helps in building confidence in children. This is according to family education.

Section Three

Laura Ingalls to Noam Chomsky

Drawing from experience, the challenges that are facing students today are new as compared to the challenges that they were facing during the time of one house school. An educator should always be ready to take into consideration the mind of the learner since one size cannot fit all the learning. Since students have different learning styles with different understanding abilities then educators should also employ different teaching styles to different students to ensure that they understand concepts effectively and as required. According to this philosophy, teachers have a freedom of drawing from their knowledge.

According to Chomsky, he believes that there are some things that no teaching can actually teach it. In an exclusive interview that was conducted, he said that there was a very big association amid inheritance and the location that people lived in. According to Chomsky, he said that depending on the place where the child grows or where he is brought up in he will learn the language of that place. Like for instance if a child is an American but he or she is brought up in China he or she will learn the Chinese language.

Into the future

Many technological advances are likely to be made in the near future. Some examples like introduction will actually change the model of the factory and turn it to a model one.

According to the New York teacher, he says that the best way of a learner learning something is through discovering something, especially in some small group. According to him, he says that what is going to happen to the history of education in the future has not been determined. However, from the many theories of learning that have been developed by the educators, it then means that there are so many ways through which a student can actually learn.

Section Four

If we explore the three main learning theories that, is the classical theory, conditioning theory as well as operant theory. Each theory has a way that it is approached that is very unique. However, these theories have also very many similarities as well as differences (Reinholz and Daniel, 310). You will realize that classical conditioning majorly it is built on paint that is caused to the stimulus and the results at the end of it all. On the other hand, Operant conditioning will use the approach of punishment as well as reinforcements. Social learning theory will actually use observation. At the end of the day, all these theories will have a very big impact when it comes to learning.

People learn using so many ways that are actually very unique and different. This is because if for instance, you take classical theory, here one will learn through learning by associating to distinct stimuli, on the other hand in operating conditioning one will actually learn through consequences. Social learning theory is when one learns by observation and repeating what he or she observed.

The theory of classical conditioning it is said that it was actually discovered by what can be actually termed as an accident, by a man called Pavlov. This happened when the man realized that his dogs were actually salivating when they heard the sound of him bringing the food, the man was not keeping the dogs to learn that but, it happened accidentally and it turned out to be a very big discovery. That why the founders concluded that this theory was built on learning from two repeated stimuli. When you want to carry out the classical conditioning experiment then you have to introduce one neutral stimulus and then introduce another later. On the other hand, operant conditioning is quite different since it is actually built on learning from the consequences that are out of some actions that you did. This theory was first discovered by a man who was called Edward. In the beginning, it is said that the man was questioning the intelligence of the animals. It is said that it his home he was looking at the intelligence of his cats.

Conclusion

It is true that the main purpose of education is strengthening someone's mind so that he or she can be in a position to deal with the challenges of life. From the various theories of education that we have looked and the different schools of thought that we have looked at from the founders of these theories. We can all agree that students have different styles of learning and they also have different understanding abilities and therefore the educators should also use different teaching approaches when teaching the students. You realize that if a student is rewarded for doing well he will improve even more next time, and on the other hand when a student is equally punished for doing something wrong he or she will also not repeat doing the same mistake that he or she did because of fearing the punishment.

References

Browning, Oscar. An Introduction to the History of Educational Theories (Routledge Revivals). Routledge, 2014.

Efland, Arthur D. A history of art education. Teachers College Press, 2017.

Gordon, Howard RD. The history and growth of career and technical education in America. Waveland press, 2014.

Reinholz, Daniel. "The assessment cycle: a model for learning through peer assessment." Assessment & Evaluation in Higher Education 41.2 (2016): 301-315.