Claiming My Education

December 19th

Hello fellow classmates! I have never experienced an online class before, nor would I consider myself very tech savvy or creative, but I am hopeful that these weekly blog postings will help me spark some creativity within myself as well as help me to get more comfortable with the web. I have taken two English literature courses thus far during my time at Bloomsburg University. In these two courses I had to write multiple lengthy papers on literary analyses, however, it seems that this course will require a much different type of writing than what I have previously experienced. I am interested in expanding my knowledge on more structured and informational forms of writing. Are you all interested as well?

The article on BOLT, “Claiming Your Education”, really piqued my interest. The message in the beginning of the article could not hold more truth; in a college course the syllabus is the equivalent of the Bible. In a class I took this past Fall, I missed an assignment that the professor failed to discuss with us during class, however, the assignment was included in the syllabus, clear as day. Steamed as I was, I took the deducted points with a grain of salt and considered the experience a lesson learned.

The second part of the article that really stuck out to me was when the author discusses intellectual curiosity. I like to believe that I have a decent amount of intellectual curiosity, but I have to admit, it was not something I possessed before taking college courses. Last Spring I took Philosophy 111 (Introduction to Philosophy) and I can honestly say that it was the first class I’ve taken that really forced me to think critically about my personal values, beliefs, and what I truly want out of my undergrad education here at BU. The article also includes an excerpt by Michel Foucault that provides his sentiments about school being a place to think and share thoughts without the distraction of politics. Being an education major, from what I have been taught about running my future classroom, I regrettably must disagree with him. Education has obviously changed since Foucault was in grade school and, in light of these changes, I do not view public school as a safe place to question, think freely, or be able to avoid political oppression. In today’s time, high school teachers are viewed as unprofessional if they share their political values with students. Also, the decision of what gets taught in the classroom is decided by the state and the state makes these decisions based on the national standards of our country. In short, the government decides what is or isn’t important to teach in our country’s public schools. If teachers want to have a compelling discussion about politics they must jump through hoops to find a state standard that fits the life lesson they are trying to teach to their students. Today in public education, there are fewer and fewer ways provided to students to accomplish certain tasks. In middle school we were taught the five paragraph theme in order to teach us the “proper” way to construct an essay. An additional sixth paragraph would be sacrilege, viewed as completely outrageous, and your teacher would wonder if you payed any attention to the colorful hamburger she meticulously drew on the board.

It is frustrating to me that I had to wait until my public education was over before I was challenged to think critically, and I realize now that it wasn’t the fault of my teachers, but rather, it is the fault of educational policies that seem to push for the creation of like minded individuals rather than the intellectually curious students who aren’t afraid to break the mold.

The section of the article that discusses being an activate learner in a scholarly community, in my belief, holds a lot of truth. I have yet to need tutoring in any of my courses, however, the WALES room in Bakeless and it’s workers have saved me more than once when I had difficulties properly citing sources for my essays this past semester. We cannot be afraid to use the resources provided to us. Another example would be professor’s office hours. Professors are required to have them so that students can reach out for assistance or guidance. I utilize my professor’s office hours quite frequently because I have found that I enjoy absorbing extra intellectual content from them about the current topic in their respective course.

The list of what it means to have responsibility provided in the article seems very legitimate, I especially connect with the last bullet point about accepting our talents and aspirations. I originally applied to Bloomsburg as a Mid-Level Citizenship (history) major. Before my first semester even began I realized my passion wasn’t in history, but rather, I loved reading and analyzing the texts to figure out the author’s purpose, so I switched to Secondary Education concentrating in English.

This article provided me with a good dose of motivation to face this online course head on and reminded me that I, and no one else, should be in control of my education. We must take this quote by Mark Twain to heart, “I have never let my schooling interfere with my education”. Don’t let your parents, friends, or educational institution decide what you will learn; we must be the facilitators of our own knowledge.

-Anna J.