My roommate’s parents came to visit this past weekend and conveniently her mother grew up in Austria. I was able to interview her in person rather than over the phone and it was really interesting. She explained different options that were available in school for her (she is 54). She explained that in school you made a choice at the age of eleven or twelve to go on the “university” route or the “trade school” route. After that all students moved in slightly different directions based on those choices.
After giving that background I can explain the main point of my post. Do we have the ability to choose our path of literacy at the age of eleven or twelve? How can we know how far we want to take our literacy at such a young age? She is unsure of how the school system is now, but when she was in school if a student chose to learn a trade he/she was only in an academic classroom until about sixteen and then moved on to learn the chosen trade. Those who chose the route that ended in going to a university were expected to choose even further the path of their education. There was a humanities route and more mathematical route, maybe a few others too. Because students choose this route at such a young age and continue that route through the rest of school there were not any general education requirements at European universities. They were covered throughout most of middle and high school education. She was unsure if it was exactly like this today, but even so, are we capable of deciding our lives like this when we are of middle school age? Is going through a typical education until just sixteen and then stopping to learn a trade long enough? Do we learn anything life-changing in those last few years of high school from sixteen to eighteen? Is sixteen only long enough if we plan to learn a trade; is it long enough if we plan to go to a university; is it long enough for anyone?
I’m sure at that age I thought I knew who I wanted to be and what I was interested in. I’m sure I was wrong. Do you guys think we are capable of deciding what sort of literacy is our strongest (humanities, math, science, a trade) in middle school? On the contrary, should someone be choosing what we study through middle and high school, as is the case in most American school districts?
Kelly,
I think that at 22 we look at that and say, “wow, 12 years old that is too young to know what we want to be for forever” however, during my applications to schools said the same thing with me being 18. Another thing is my dad still says he doesn’t know what he wants to be when he grows up (he thinks he is funny). On a serious note though, how sure of anything are we until we start doing it. I know I can say first hand I have had quite a few scares about going into the teaching field even though I have said I have wanted to teach since I started school. I also know too many people who go to school for one thing and end up doing nothing with their degree. So I guess I am asking, do we ever really know what we want to be or do we all just roll with the opportunities we are given and fall in love with them throughout time. I also want to think about the fact that some people (myself and my brother) have known what we’ve wanted to do since a young age. Some people just know. So I found this post really interesting. I am curious about what others think of this young age decision making that has been part of our culture and also if anyone else is still not sure necessarily about what they want to be or do with their life. Anyways, I’m jealous about your interview it seemed really informative. I have done two interviews and neither are really that interesting to me yet. I have one more person in mind and I will see what comes up.
The biggest issue that I foresee, is that this method of schooling seems to get children “stuck”. Yes, children, because at 12 you are still a child and arguably not responsible enough to make these life decisions. Of course, some people have their lives together and goals, like Miss Elyse, but on the whole it would seem to breed people to become a choice they made before they had properly explored the world. I guess the safety system is that it isn’t a true discipline but rather Trade/University, but I still hesitate to admit that everyone can have their life together by that point.
I’ve thought in the past about lifelong-learning-type models, where education continues, quite formally, throughout life. Other people think this way: you have “colleges of general studies”, “corporate colleges” and CEU’s were supposed to be a big deal about a decade ago. Employers sometimes pay for adults to continue their education by either tuition reimbursement or large compensation differentials, and classes are offered at night or on site to accommodate these populations.
What is “wrong” with those models? Even if some of us (intend to) take advantage of those systems, we don’t think in those terms. Education is a right-now said-and-done affair in our minds, “us” as individuals, but as a society and as an economy. Is change slow? Or is there really something better (long-term, I guess) about picking a major at age 12 or 18 or 20, despite the right-now stress?