Lasch and Education

Photo courtesy of http://blogs.library.jhu.edu/wordpress/?m=200910

Nidhi here:

Dr. Nerio’s notes on Lasch really opened my eyes and I realized that many points that Lasch makes could be applicable to present day society. I specifically focused on chapter six, which dealt with the education system and a new type of illiteracy that is emerging.

Lasch states that even though mass education is available to those who qualify, the education system has basically failed as a whole. According to Lasch, “It has neither improved popular understanding of modern society, raised the quality of popular culture, nor reduced the gap between wealth and poverty..” Even though his statements may seem a bit harsh, there is more truth behind his comments. As I look at the differences between my educational experiences and my sister’s, I noticed that Lasch was correct when saying that the educational gap between the rich and poor did not change. I went to a private school and my sister went to a public charter school. Even though my sister’s school was a chartered public school, she still did not have some of the same opportunities as I did. I was able to take far more advanced placement classes and participate in more after school sports. Is it really fair to allow those who can have the money to obtain better opportunities than those who have less financially?

Lasch continues to discuss the decline of the quality of the education at many collegiate institutions.  According to Lasch, “Many students at Columbia do not know who Oedipus is.” The scary thing about this statement is that he was referring to the youth generation from 30 years ago. I think more students if not all students in a classroom today may have never heard of Oedipus when they get to college. If this is the situation at the most prestigious universities, what is happening in other colleges?

After reading this, I was reminded of my World Civilization class that I took about seven years ago. My teacher spoke about Humanism and the concept of a “Renaissance Man.” A true “Renaissance Man” was knowledgeable in many areas and showed be interested in expanding their knowledge beyond their area of expertise. I feel like in today’s society, we are expected to be the best in our respective fields, but we forget about the other fields. Wagner is a liberal arts college, but how much history can you really learn by taking just one semester of history? College cannot make up for the knowledge that you never acquired in middle school or high school.  It is vital that students are interested in learning and want to know more beyond their field of interest. In many of my classes, most students do not even know about current events. Yet, they know more about the latest drama on the ‘Jersey Shore.’ I believe that Lasch is right in the sense that the overall quality of education is dismal.

Lasch states that the education system is not entirely to blame and we should focus on society. As a society, we are preoccupied with trying to train for the next most important stage in our life: jobs. People go to college because a degree means you can get a better job. But does your college education ever come in handy? Lasch states that people end up doing the same mind numbing tasks and our jobs no longer allow for higher intellectual thinking. What is in store for future generations? Will conditions ever improve?