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Many people learn about information technology without going to/completing college and end up with careers that make them perfectly happy. I’m reluctant to mention the widely known fact that Bill Gates actually dropped out of Harvard, but it serves to make a larger point. Everyone cannot be as successful as Bill Gates, and everyone does not have to earn a college degree.
Most educators stubbornly refuse to consider the possibility that many students – even those in the middle in terms of intelligence – simply shouldn’t go to college. When 30 to 40 percent of college students have to take at least one remedial course, you would think this idea (that too many students are being pushed into college) would easily gain traction.
Instead, we end up with grand notions of improving the way we teach and “changing the culture.” The truly sad part of this charade is that our ideas for improvement are trending towards concepts such as “no fail” polices. Can’t understand basic math and English? No problem, it’s far more important that we don’t “label” anyone a failure.
The irony in Walters’ favored no-fail policies is that many of the education systems he wants to emulate – particularly the Japanese system – would never even consider such an idea. Japanese schools are based on intense student competition, and shaming those that fail is part of Japanese culture. In Japan, students that fail to demonstrate higher aptitude are not given the chance to repeat grades over and over for the purpose of “graduating” high school.
In the U.S., we (falsely) build up these students’ self esteem and send them off to college, paying their tuition in many cases (or, even worse, subsidizing loans for them). Walters – and many college administrators (not to mention members of the National Education Association) – won’t even consider that the solution to this problem is to back off and let students figure things out on their own.
Maybe they’ll come back to college later, when they’re more mature and have a greater incentive to earn a degree. Maybe they won’t. Either way, this option is much more realistic than designing a new culture. But college administrators know everything, they have degrees.
