EAC150 Discussion Assignment

Respond to the two students below:

Student 1 post

COLLAPSE

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        After reading "School vs. Education" by Russell Baker, I began to notice that the narrator has different views and ideas of how kids learn nowadays. He suggests that there are few types of learning that occur: learning in the school environment, learning at home, and learning through the media. 

        The narrator suggests that learning in a school environment includes a basic systematic plan of taking tests in order to further education. He states "During formal education, the child learns that life is for testing" (Baker 72). This quote suggests that from a young age, the child is getting used to the idea that his/her whole education in school is going to be based on tests. Those tests would determine intelligence. The school system breaks down their education one test at a time, and eventually if one does well on tests, they have the opportunity to go to college and continue this systematic plan. To some, this system seems to be working hence their acceptance to college and graduate school. Some students get left behind. The article reads "If the teacher puts intelligent demands upon a child, the child learns he is smart. If the teacher expects little of the child, the child learns he is dumb and soon quits bothering to tell the testers what they want to hear" (Baker 72). This suggests that teachers' favouritism towards a student's answers from a young age may result in selecting who is worthy of school success and who does not give enough effort to withstand the tests. 

        The other type of learning in this article is the learning outside of the school, through parents and the media. The article writes "From television, the child will have learned how to pick a lock, commit a fairly elaborate bank holdup, prevent wetness all day long, get the laundry twice as white..." (Baker 71-72). By observing action and listening advertisements and TV shows, the narrator suggests that the child has learned a lot. By presenting a visual piece in front of the child, they are now familiar equipped with knowledge that is not received in school. This does not mean that all the knowledge the receive that way is positive for the child. The narrator states "From watching his parents, the child, in many cases, will already know to how smoke, how much soda to mix with whiskey, what kind of language to use when angry... how to violate the speed laws without being caught" (Baker 72). All these situations are being taught without any school involved, but rather by example and by first hand experience. The author suggests that every child learns materials like this before school even started, which means anyone is susceptible to learning without intellectual segregation. 

        As much as I know how important receiving a diploma is, I do tend to see that the education outside of school is more influential on a person. By exposure to media and parental example at a young age, we are able to witness real-life examples of how to handle some situations and what to do in different scenarios. While the school system teaches us important lessons, it does not provided as much hands-on, and visual experience like the media or family does. The narrator states "Early in this stage, the child learns that life is for testing" (Baker 72). This suggests that at a young age, we allow to expose the child to a very basic way of forcing down information for future years. "...the child learns that while everybody talks a lot about the virtue of being smart, there is very little incentive to stop being dumb" (Baker 72). This explains that students who don't quite fit into the school system, are left behind and there is no way to teach him beyond that point. The media and our parents are exposing us to all kinds of lessons and whether the education is helpful or harmful, it is still absorbed better by everyone than the school system's education does. Although what we learn from our parents and the media is not always good, it is still a better way of learning than tests. Learning by example si the best way to pass on knowledge, and with that in mind, we can try to make the media less violent and more positive in order to maximize education success. 

Student 2 post

In Russell Baker's short story, School vs. Education, he goes on to explain that children go through 3 stages of learning and growing. 

The first stage is what they learn from their parents at home. The attitude, behavior and habits that they learn from everyday contact with their parents. From watching his parents, the child, in many cases, will already know how to smoke, how much soda to mix with whiskey, what kind of language to use when angry, and how to violate the speed law without being caught (Baker 72). The parents are the number one teachers of their children as they lead by example. If the father uses vulgar language, the child will learn this behavior and will mimic it with his friend or towards a spouse. This type of behavior is learned behavior and it starts from the home. 

The second stage, as Baker describes, is through formal education. During formal education, the child learns that life is for testing (Baker 72). The child, during this stage, learns that he/she must have the right answers when put to the test. During the schooling stage, children are taught not to think on their own. Their minds are molded by books written by dead people, they must answer questions correctly based on the answers from the written books and are not encouraged to think on their own. They are molded for higher education like college and university. 

The third stage is schooling by the media. We live in the technology era whereas almost everyone has a smart phone. Access to the internet opens up a whole new world. Television and pop culture play a role in how a child behaves, dresses, and acts. Children grow up idolizing their favorite musicians and actors. They try to dress like them, rhyme like them and behave like them. And sometimes its not always the good behavior that is picked up by the child. Rock music and rap music has been blamed for a young adult being influenced to commit horrific crimes, such as the Columbine shooting, where two teens walked into a school and shot and killed random students. 

Life is all about learning and growing. And we are influenced everyday by the media. Whether it is on the television, the radio, advertisements, magazines, newspapers, social media... these all influence our behaviors and habits. How we control our behaviors, while all these influences are around us, that is the challenge! 

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