Achievement for What?

Introduction:

Where will we be in a year from now?  Will we be financially secure when you retire?  What will the world look like? Will our family and peers stand behind us in the decisions that we have made?  Will we be achieving our goals, or society’s and who or what will it all be for? As a class we conducted and informal survey to find out just what people felt achievement was and how education influenced obtaining this achievement. In almost all of our responses it came down to the individual.  People who achieved did so for personal growth. Does this concede with society’s ideas? Will we be achieving for our self, our community, our country, or for the entire world?  These are questions that have perplexed educational institutions for centuries and are too critical for the general public to ignore any longer.  We are faced with an alarming question, Achievement for What?

The United States government increased the pressure on schools to achieve following the launching of the Soviet satellite, Sputnik into space.  For the first time, America was no longer number one.  We had begun to fall behind and from that point forward the government tightened its grip on education.  Government focus was primarily on the math and science curriculum, so as to promote scientific invention and progress.  Now the Government has implemented the “No Child Left behind Act,” their purpose… to make this country the strongest. They know that education does in fact relate to achievement and so do other industrialized countries like Japan and China.

Issues and perspectives have changed and students are no longer achieving to appease the government.  Shifts in educational ideals have transpired throughout history. Students are achieving for other reasons today.  One priority of students is individual achievement.  Students will achieve for personal gain, whether it be financial gain or for personal fulfillment.  Students also achieve with the ideas of preserving their community.  They want to achieve so their families and friends are living in a peaceful community.  Some students will achieve with a sense of national pride inspiring them.  Their beliefs are in line with those of the government.  We need to be number one in the arena of world affairs.  There are also students who are achieving with a concern for global concerns.  They are pursuing the goals of world preservation and global cooperation; we do have but one earth.   There are reasons for every educational goal, however, the question remains.  When we were young, why did we go to school?  Why did we achieve?

Students’ futures are in fact an ambiguity, but at the same time are still very high on their priority lists.  The idea of the future is similar to the idea of the unknown and people generally fear the unknown. “Hutchinson (1992) in his PhD thesis surveyed 650 Australian young people and followed up with a sample through interviews on their hopes and fears for the future.  He found six major themes in their views of the future: 1. A depersonalized and uncaring world. 2. A violent world, with a high likelihood of war occurring. 3. A world divided between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ 4. A mechanized world of violent technological change. 5. An environmentally unsustainable world, with continued degradation of the biosphere. 6. A politically corrupt and deceitful world, where voting is seen as a waste of time.” (Taken from Marie Brennan’s “Debates on Schooling:  The futures we have to have or the futures we might stand up for?”) We, as students, feel these fears are becoming a reality in the year 2003. War is occurring. The socioeconomic range between the rich and poor is become all too wide. Global warming is a term that everyone knows including third graders. Technology has changed our society so rapidly within the last 5-10 years, and many people today are speaking out against governments. Are these fears becoming a reality? If we did a poll today about fears of the future will they come true as well?

So understanding the fears we find it detrimental to ponder over the philosophical question, Achievement for What?  After all having fears become reality is what we know we don’t want! Why do students achieve today and why should they be achieving?  What drives Americans to succeed and what reasons should they be succeeding for?  Does our nation need reform, or do things and will things continue to work the way that they are?  What should we teach the children of our nation to hold as motivating factors?  Should we teach them that they are individuals and they should reach for their own stars? Should we teach them that without community and a feeling of connectedness all the things in the world will not matter? Maybe we should teach them that the government has their best interest in mind and if we do not do well as a nation we will not be able to live out the “American Dream.” Or we should teach them that if we do not come together globally none of the other ideas will matter because there will be no earth. Just what should we teach our students to achieve for? It’s not a simple matter.

Approach One:

Individual: Man vs. Man

As an individual begins to develop ambitions for their journey through life, many issues arise and are dealt with in balance of one another. Values and motivations may come into conflict and both could be overruled by experiences. What is good for the individual may not be good for the community, and vice versa. Individuals may set their goals based on the values that they are educated with. The goals of an individual may be shaped by the family and surrounding environments.

Education should open up opportunities in an individual’s life, such as job opportunities, a chance at the American Dream, and goals for self-fulfillment. A productive career and lifestyle is gauged by the extrinsic and intrinsic motivations that influence the individual. The individual makes these choices in regards to the aspects of the economy that will directly affect them. While achievement varies between individuals, goals will be shaped by the influence of their values and education.

In Support:

· The individual is influenced by the environment within they were nurtured. The values serve as guides for which direction an individual can take in their educational and eventual career paths.

· Education helps individuals determine how they can best utilize their abilities in terms of setting goals that are achievable.

· Being resourceful individually leads to empowerment of a larger population. A collection of individuals and diverse interests can work together to achieve a common good.

In Opposition:

· The responsibility of students to make life decisions about their immediate future is overwhelming. “We have found that the average professional changes jobs every 3 to 5 years, and may actually change career directions three times during a life time.”*

· What is good for the individual may not be good for the community. Individuals are influenced more by personal gain than the benefits of a community as a partnership.

· An individual may not understand the impact of outside influences on their actions. Selfishness is one of the strongest motivators for personal gain.

Reference:

· www.life-career.com

 
Approach Two:
Community: A Simple Life
 
I before E except after C, with the exception of words like neighbor and weigh. Individualism before Economics except after Community. The worth of a caring neighbor is more its weight in gold.
 Community has taken a back seat to almost everything in our society, especially the almighty dollar. Homes are no longer built with front porches where neighbors can foster their relationships, but back patios are constructed to isolate the inhabitants of the home. Parents are divorcing at an alarming rate because there is no time to nurture a relationship that doesn’t dump dollars into their lap. So many inventions invented to allow us more free time in actuality has allotted families less time. One woman wrote, “ We (family) had so many ‘things’ that we felt we needed or wanted that we spent our days working to earn money to buy, shopping for them, and then the rest of our time taking care of them.” 

The United States is not the only country who is seeing a toll take place on community. In Ladakh, India Tashi Rabgyas, Ladakh’s leading poet, scholar and philosopher wrote, “Then, in the early 1970s, came ‘development’. The first roads into the area brought heavily subsidized goods and idealized images of western consumer culture- undermining the local economy and eroding cultural self-esteem. The result has been increasing community and family breakdown, unemployment, sprawling urban slums and pollution.”

These are problems that should concern us all. And WE, meaning you and me, do have the power to change all of this. If students can make a “stand” against tobacco we can make a “stand” against anti-community tactics. Through a simpler life-style and functioning community, we can enable our future children to see what means the most in life, each other, people. It has been proven that having a feeling of connectedness students do better in school, and people do better with relationships. One of the findings on the difference between a high proficiency score and a low proficiency score accounts for children/ students who come from two parent homes.

We live in a disposable society but is that what we think of our children?

Definition of Community: A group of people having a common interest. Common: Of or relating to the community as a whole; public: for the common good. 
 
 
In Support:

· Living a more simple life will enable our future Americans to live a life with less stress that can cause heart palpitations, headaches, and Colon cancer.

· Future Americans will be able to spend more time with their families. This will enable less divorce and students better grounded through their home environment.

· An environment of “community” will aid toward the employment of neighboring people and not towards the global dispersion of employment.

· A more simple life will give all people a sense of security that is not based on material goods.

· People will once again have time to take care of themselves and others.

· People will feel needed and entail feelings of value, not value things.

 
In Opposition:

· A loss of individualism is not good for anyone.

· People do not want to do without things that they have worked hard for.

· There will be a loss of employment due to less consumption

· With more focus on the community there will be less emphasis on the Nation and Global problems.

· Employment and community economics will cost “Big Business” lots of money.

· American culture is to have all the material goods you can have through our system.

Approach Three:

National Scope: King of the Hill

The United States is a leader in the economy of the world. In global politics we are an influential force. Our educational adequacy was shaken in the not so distant past with the introduction of Sputnik into space, and continues to suffer in competition with other countries today. Much of the United States’ leading scientific minds, technology, and goods are imported from countries who have dealt successfully with issues of achievement in education. Economic security and ability to sustain the United States must be acknowledged and achieved by educated people with a common understanding that we are responsible not just for ourselves but for our neighbors across the country. The United States is trillions of dollars in debt. Our economy is or will be in question. The wealthy population depends on the consumerism of the less wealthy to generate their capital. American culture has no direct definition. Some have described it as a melting pot, a salad, and even a quilt. While there is no ever encompassing analogy of what American culture is there are inarguable traits that run through American society. We are a country of many people with different backgrounds, interests, and skills.

In Support:

· Educators teach curriculums thick with science and math in order to provide the springboard and foundation for scientific inquiry. Educators continue to focus primarily on standards, and standardized testing in order to assure success in education. The key is to aim for the top and to stay there.

· In the world of economics there are winners and losers. We need to achieve in order to be “King of the Hill”, in order to be winners in the global economic arena. The money starts at home, and money equates power, again, money makes the world go ‘round.

· American culture is unique to any other in the world. Our culture is strong enough to reach across oceans and permeate other cultures. Achievement is for preservation, reform, and as a propellant of American culture. We are a country of many people with different backgrounds, interests, and skills.. Continuing to achieve tolerance and appreciation of people that reside in the United States can cultivate our culture to be the richest it can be.

In Opposition:

· By focusing on science and math in schools many necessary skills for living are not taught. Many of these skills would normally be cultivated in the home by parents. However, parents today do not teach their children skills in art, creative thinking strategies, home economics, mechanics and tool usage, and skills to interact with others, and in the mad rush for students to pass the proficiency tests these things are left out in schools as well.

· Do we really need to be “King of the Hill”? Do we really want the responsibility attached to world power? We need to take care of our problems here and worry less about our status in the world. We need to make a shift toward sustaining our resources and what we have.

· Our culture is strong enough to taint foreign culture; however we are a nation of consumers. We have propagated a sort of consumer culture where we own more than we can afford, and we want more than we already have. As a nation, we consume more than we produce. This lifestyle is not sustainable. We cannot maintain our consumer culture as it exists today. We will run out of resources both at home and abroad.

Approach Four:

Global: Looking Inward to Look Outward

People look to save the world as they know it for their children and their children’s children. This has taken on the power of determining what is right for them and what will do the best for the world. Many things have had to change so this could be so, but people are willing to do this so that they can offer more and better for the future. People want what is right for the world as a whole as well as for the country they come from. Many people see working together as a whole for the good of the global community a challenge. There are many views from different cultures and countries that oppose each other as well as agree with each other. The challenge comes in finding the common ground where people can agree and work together for the common goal.

The areas of concern for the world as a whole are in economics, peaceful negotiations, and the world environment. We want to work to preserve what we have for the near and far future communities of the world. People have to learn to work together to complete these tasks. The global community has not always seen eye to eye because of the different views in all these areas of the world. Some countries feel those with power should be the ones in charge making the decisions while leaving out those countries of lower power status to fall in behind them. This makes those countries feel second rate because they do not have as much input in the decisions of the world that affects everyone. Many people want the power to be split and not decided upon those who have the power and high economic status right now in the present. Allowing all the people to work together would bring better unity to the world and keeps everyone in the decision making process about how trade and environmental processes would work for everyone.

Some people feel that the world does not need to work off of an equal status. Many people would be alarmed at the idea of their country having to give up some power status to please the countries that do not hold a sturdy standing in the world power schema. Countries feel that they have worked very hard to gain the independence that they have achieved through the past years. They do not want to leave the comfort of knowing they have the power to contradict the global community if they have to. Some of the countries like being independent and not part of one big society where everyone comes together to work out the problems and settle on one solution that benefits the whole world. This is where people need to know what is for the good of their countries and for the good of the world. People need to make that decision and work towards that goal.

In Support:

· Trade at the global level benefits all countries by providing goods produced by one economy to be supplied by to each of the countries own economy. These goods help other countries function and flourish in their own ways which will in return help benefit the global economy because they will be able to produce and supply the goods used in the other economies.

· When countries work together as a whole to discuss the problems affecting the society of the world, the problems of the global community will be worked out to the benefit of all countries so that one nation is not left without any options of how to solve the problem. Peaceful negotiations between the countries will lead to better relationships among leaders of the nations to encourage cooperativeness.

· The common concerns of the world units the nations to find a common ground when faced with similar problems. The people as a whole have to learn to share responsibility of the planet and its resources. The environment is everyone’s concern and has to be dealt with as a group so that the world’s resources can be shared and preserved and not destroyed.

In Opposition:

· The separate countries of the world do not want to have to share their nation’s environmental resources. They feel that what is in their country stays in their country, so they should not be forced to disperse their resources all over the globe in chances of depleting them and having nothing left for themselves.

· The countries of wealth and power feel that they are the ones in position to be making the decisions of the world because they have the resources to back their decisions. They tend to bully the countries of lower economic status because they do not have the power to override the countries that are in the power positions.

· The nations of the world who have a better education system feel they are the ones to make the decision that affect everyone because they have the knowledge to base those decisions on. They do not want an undereducated society to have equal say in the ruling of decisions that will affect the globe because they do not have the understanding and education to make the right decision with the right supports to back their judgment.