Purpose of Education: to learn or to jump through hoops?

In my experience in education I have often been perplexed by the ultimate goal that some professors have in mind. There are many different examples of the motives behind assignments that I have noticed. While studying at Folsom Lake College I believed that it would be profitable to study spanish and sharpen my speaking skills.So I enrolled in the most advanced spanish class they offered which was intermediate. During this spanish course I participated, earned high grades on tests, and spoke often with his professor in spanish. I proved that he understood the topic. Unfortunately the point of the class was not to learn, the point of this particular class was to jump through stupid hoops devised by professors. A workbook with mindless repetition of activities designed to help one learn the concepts of the class was also a requirement in this course. In a particularly busy week I failed to do some of the workbook assignments. When the test arrived I was still capable of getting an A on the material from the workbook. During the semester the spanish Professor even asked if I would become a spanish tutor because he understood that I had a decent understanding of the topic. To my dismay at the end of the class I found out that I had earned, according to the professor, a B+. When I asked the professor why it was that I received a B+ he noted that I had failed to complete some of the workbook assignments. It was extremely frustrating that the point of the class was not to learn spanish and prove it through tests but to do the pointless assignments.

Because my current goal in my education is to become a college professor I am trying to gain as much knowledge as possible about teaching and education. When classes focus more on jumping through hoops just to satisfy requirements instead of learning I feel they have fallen away from the true purpose of education. I have become a prolific BS'er because of page number assignments. To get your point across in a clear and concise manner within a page of writing is more difficult, in my mind, than filling page after page with empty writing just to satisfy a page requirement. There are instances when I understand the importance of having page requirements but instead of putting a minimum there should be a maximum and if a person is able to fulfill the assignment in less than the maximum more power to them.

My goal as an educator will be to increase the knowledge of my students and help them learn. Not to make them jump through mindless hoops after proving their knowledge through tests or essays.


This picture has nothing to do with the post but Amber and I went on a hike to this waterfall yesterday and I thought it was a cool picture. I love hawaii!!