Verified Document

Spencer Education For The New Thesis

Granted it is argued that not all new employment opportunities are managerial in nature, but even if the 20% figure frequently quoted regarding the percentage of managerial occupations open today, competent lower-level employees who can deal with problems and the public in a creative fashion and perform the secondary and tertiary activities in a manner to make customers want to return cannot be undervalued. Reduced job security also makes it a moral and social imperative for government educational paradigms to focus on making an investment in people, not viewing people work products. Even if not all workers entering the workforce can be classified as "knowledgeable workers," all workers have to have some knowledge to do their job and to learn new knowledge at their job every day. The knowledge of learning from experience can be fostered in quality adult education programs that are not merely technical in nature. Basic skills like reading, learning from a manual, generalizing principles through deductive learning, are all critical aspects of education as is the ability to be educated and to change one's professional perspective and paradigm with economic ebbs and flows.

Learning at work is an essential aspect of doing quality work, and the desire to learn and to make meaning out of one's work is an innate human impulse and activity. A frequent polarization of modern enterprise is that of the 'Costco' versus 'Wal-Mart' model, one of which views workers as valuable resources, the other that sees workers as expendable, and tries to keep costs down by limited benefits. Both stores are successful, but one makes a greater commitment to worker satisfaction, the other to shareholder and customer satisfaction. However, the fallacy with both models is that neither really invests in workers' futures, or workers as creative individuals. To do so creates a learning organization, and long-term improvement, regardless of where the economy may grow. The current sorry state of General Motors is ample evidence of the fact that good benefits and salaries for workers...

An organization must be a learning organization and change with the times and not simply shuttle out the same gas-guzzling vehicles or even the same employee benefits that once made it profitable a long time ago.
Education is an important investment, and the fallacy of forecasting where the economy will shift points in the direction of the importance of investing in people not in labor as capital. Perhaps the most telling anecdote comes from an example of one of the best technical schools in America, which one would think could provide ample evidence of the need to teach specific rather than general skills:

He graduated from MIT, one of the best engineering schools in the country. During lunch, I asked him how much of his schoolwork applied to his current engineering job. His response? I can't think of a single thing from my MIT classes I've used on the job. This blew my mind. What's the value of a marquee college degree if none of the skills you learn are useful on the job? At first, I was incredulous. But after considering my own high school educational experience, it started to make more sense. And certainly after attending college for a year, I knew exactly what he meant. The value of education isn't in the specific material you learn-- it's in learning how to learn" (Atwood 2007).

Works Cited

Atwood, Jim. (2007. Jun 26). Learning, or learning how to learn. Coding Horror. Retrieved 6 Oct 2008 at http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000895.html

Loher, Steve. (2005, Dec 2005). At Google, cube culture has new rules. The New York Times. Retrieved 7 Oct 2008 at http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/05/technology/05google.html

Schlosser, Eric. (1998). Fast-food nation: The true cost of America's diet. Rolling Stone

Magazine. Retrieved 7 Oct 2008 at http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/press/rollingstone1.html

Education

Sources used in this document:
Works Cited

Atwood, Jim. (2007. Jun 26). Learning, or learning how to learn. Coding Horror. Retrieved 6 Oct 2008 at http://www.codinghorror.com/blog/archives/000895.html

Loher, Steve. (2005, Dec 2005). At Google, cube culture has new rules. The New York Times. Retrieved 7 Oct 2008 at http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/05/technology/05google.html

Schlosser, Eric. (1998). Fast-food nation: The true cost of America's diet. Rolling Stone

Magazine. Retrieved 7 Oct 2008 at http://www.mcspotlight.org/media/press/rollingstone1.html
Cite this Document:
Copy Bibliography Citation

Related Documents

Spencer & Mezirow Spencer and
Words: 935 Length: 3 Document Type: Thesis

There are two aspects to the answer. In the first instance, as Mezirow states, the individual is connected in the context of transformational learning and education to the larger society. There are many examples of this connection, such as social norms and ideals that affect the issue of individual transformation. As referred to above, learning takes place in a social environment, which implies an intimate link between the individual

Education for Diversity Were You
Words: 648 Length: 2 Document Type: Thesis

It is important to recognize the many different areas within adult education, and what type of students these areas attract. Ultimately, for the adult education department to be successful, it must attract a wide variety of students, and keep at least some of those students coming back to continue their education in order to be successful. Adult education serves a vital role in the upper education system, and it

Spencer This Chapter Focuses on
Words: 804 Length: 3 Document Type: Thesis

Also included in this view is that distance learning becomes extremely important for those with constraints such as work and family commitments that might otherwise bar them from receiving advanced education. The author notes that many distance education institutions are intent on breaking down as many barriers as possible that prevent access. This also refers to aspects such as gender and socio-economic barriers. However, while it may be argued that

Multi-Cultural Issues in Deaf Education
Words: 5726 Length: 20 Document Type: Term Paper

"Co-enrolled classrooms," they advise, "represent a promising additional possibility for increasing student social access to peers, as well as increasing achievement. A co-enrolled classroom typically consists of an approximately 2:1 ratio of hearing and Deaf or Hard-of-Hearing (DHH) students. A team of two teachers, a general education teacher and a teacher of DHH students, collaborate to provide instruction. In many CE classrooms, the teachers and students frequently use both

Adult Education Does the Adult
Words: 1156 Length: 4 Document Type: Thesis

While proving all students with equal opportunities, the professors at Highlander also emphasize on the individuality of each person. And this idea of individuality was implemented early on by founder Myles Horton, who refused to divide the students according to their appurtenance to different social classes, like most of the education institutions used to do. Instead, he embraced the idea that America was at its core an agglomeration of

Teacher Burnout in Special Education Cause and Effect and Possible...
Words: 6661 Length: 24 Document Type: Term Paper

Special Education Teachers Special Education Vacancies Recruitment, Hiring, and Retention Barriers to Hiring Barriers to retaining special education personnel. Incentives used to improve retention. Recommendations to Improve Recruitment and Retention Adequate Supply of Special Education Professionals Resources Teachers today are subject to more stress than ever. Increasing certification requirements, re-certification, assessments, federal standards, demanding children, apathetic parents and an unsupportive administration are just the tip of the iceberg. Special education teachers have special circumstances. While other schoolteachers have

Sign Up for Unlimited Study Help

Our semester plans gives you unlimited, unrestricted access to our entire library of resources —writing tools, guides, example essays, tutorials, class notes, and more.

Get Started Now