Once and for all: Why study "just like that" is normal
ALEXANDRA SAVINA
Why education - for knowledge or for the opportunity to get a job? This question is still controversial, although a certain point of view is popular in Russian society. On the one hand, it is believed that the university should “teach to learn” - to give the student general skills that will help him find the necessary information independently and critically perceive what he sees and hears. On the other hand, university knowledge should be useful, and a person should understand why they need it and how they will be useful in life — such an opinion can be met among Wonderzine readers. The idea that you can learn "for yourself" is much less popular.
One of the possible reasons is the system of higher education prevailing in our country: its main task is to ensure that a student receives a specific specialty, and not general knowledge. During Soviet times, universities were closely associated with the labor market: students received a certain profession, did internships at relevant enterprises, and became ready workers for a particular industry. In the nineties, the situation changed because the labor market itself also changed: completely different professions became popular and popular, and an incredible demand was formed for many professions, for example, legal and economic. Higher education has become more accessible (including due to the fact that it became possible to get it for money - those who do not pass through the main competition could study in universities), but the division into professions has not disappeared. Until now, the main question for future students is not what they want to learn, but who they want to learn - that is, what kind of profession they plan to receive.
Unlike European and American universities, where education does not prepare a student to work in a specific position, but rather gives him knowledge in a certain field, many Russian universities do not have general training programs. Fundamental knowledge is given to a student in elementary courses, and later he receives highly specialized information and skills. Basic, general education without a specific end goal causes, at best, bewilderment: by whom does a student-philosopher plan to work? Why study for a philologist, if you are not interested in science? It is believed that the knowledge that we receive should bring practical benefits.
Almost 60% of graduates do not work in the specialty that they received in high school
How successful such a system is is a separate question. It is unlikely that most school graduates are fully aware of what their future profession really is and what they will have to do in practice. In addition, not everyone enters the specialty of a dream: many people are guided by the opinion of their parents, choose the “demanded” specialty or find other reasons. Many end up being disappointed in their choice: Franz Sheregi, director of the Center for Social Forecasting, a professor at the National Research Nuclear University MEPhI, notes that already in the second or third year 30-35% of students think that they don’t study where they would like.
Of course, there are areas where knowledge determines the future professional path of a person: the work of a former medical school student will most likely be in one way or another connected with medicine. But this is not always the case. Remember how many of your classmates are now working in their field? And how many of them useful practical knowledge gained at the university? According to the Federal State Statistics Service for 2012, almost 60% of graduates do not work in the specialty that they received at the university, and this percentage is unlikely to have changed much over the past five years. Does this mean that the knowledge that half of the graduates gained during their studies is useless?
It is considered that modern education is depreciating: it has become much more accessible, so the overall level of training falls. Employers often prefer workers with a diploma, so many decide to get an education just for show, which is why they have to retrain or complete additional courses. It would seem to learn "for the soul" - the easiest and most natural way out in this situation. A diploma in itself no longer guarantees a bright future: it does not mean immediate employment and career success. And is it really important, will the specific information obtained during training be useful to us?
Of course, education in the modern world is still a luxury and a privilege. Choosing what and when to study (no matter what it is about - higher education, retraining courses or master classes), it is impossible not to think about whether new knowledge will be useful to you. But one thing is to make an independent decision, taking into account various factors, and another is to condemn someone else's choice, simply because it seems to us that a person is not rationally using his resources.
It is never too late to learn, and it is not necessary to do this only because of practical necessity.
Remember your favorite subject in school or in high school - is it related to your current job? Frank Bruni, columnist for the New York Times, says that the most memorable event in his school life was a lesson with a literature teacher who taught a course on the tragedies of Shakespeare. “It was my favorite activity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which I attended in the mid-eighties, although it had no practical use - unless you were going to do theater or science,” he says. a luxury business? Of course. But it also helped me lead a more conscious, thoughtful life. "
We are accustomed to perceive our life as a story that develops linearly: at school we understand what we are interested in, continue to study these subjects at the institute, and then we get a job in the specialty. But education has long ceased to be just one of the stages of our life: it is never too late to learn and it is not necessary to do this only because of practical necessity. Many people enjoy the process of learning, and someone has the opportunity to remain a "perpetual student." Someone wants to gain knowledge in an area that has nothing to do with his work - for example, Nathalie Portman studied psychology at Harvard, although at that time she had several prominent roles, and Rowan Atkinson worked in electrical engineering at a college in Oxford University . It is unlikely that any of them worried that they would not be able to put their knowledge into practice.
The world around us is changing faster than any educational program. In an era when any information can be found in a few seconds using a search engine or online libraries, it’s difficult to talk about the value of specific facts or data. It is much more important not just to assimilate information, but also to understand what it can give you personally - even if at first glance there is no practical use. So if you only need to study literary courses in order to get a deeper understanding of your favorite books, and a master class in calligraphy to design your own diary, then why not?
Photo: Stephen Coburn - stock.adobe.com, james_pintar - stock.adobe.com, sergey makarenko - stock.adobe.com