Mark Edmundson correctly states that college education in the United States is a business. It wasn’t always this way. Edmundson traces the changes in American universities over the decades. Why Teach?: In Defense of Real Education attempts to clue in students and parents to the current realities of college life. Massive debt looms. Classroom sizes swell. Massive (100,000 students or more!) online courses are the wave of the future. And amid all this change, Edmudson charts a course for the savvy student to a real education. In Why Read? Edmundson defends Great Books and taking the time to read them. In an era of Cliff Notes and Internet web sites that sell term papers, the entire educational process at best faces diminishment and at worst complete corruption. We see some of that with NFL players leaving college unable to read. Reading is more than tweets and glancing at Facebook pages. Mark Edmunson is a professor of English at the University of Virginia and knows what he’s talking about. GRADE: B+
As I said yesterday…
Oh, and I still do not understand how a student can get into HIGH SCHOOL without knowing how to read and comprehend what is read. That ought to be in place by 5th or 6th grade at the very latest.
Rick, many public and charter schools are in shambles. Part of the problem is the lack of attendance by the students. In Buffalo’s schools, on any given day 40% of the students are absent. The lack of parents and other authority figures led to this breakdown. I have no idea how to fix it. I can’t teach students ANYTHING if they don’t show up.
The WHY READ? book is the one that interests me.
Jeff, you would enjoy WHY READ? Edmundson give plenty of reasons to read…and suggestions on what to read.
George is right. The breakdown of the family has led to the breakdown of the education system. And people are not willing to fund public schools due to the rightward shift of the culture. Charter schools are a con game. Soon only the rich will have a real education. And we sit back and let it happen.
Patti, you’re right about the breakdown of the family leading to the breakdown in public education. There’s no one there to make sure the kids read books or do homework. We’re creating a class of uneducated young people who will have no future.