My good friend and colleague Jaf and I have had multiple discussions on college as a goal for students. He contends (I paraphrase but hope he'll comment on here) that not all students are college material and as such this universal push is overly simplistic. I understand the reasoning behind this and agree to a degree.
I contend that college is more of a generic term for post-secondary education. "College" typically refers to a 4 year institute of higher learning but community college and even more technical schools would fall under the "college" moniker. When we prepare students to be effective college students, I am thinking that a student who wants to go to UConn to be a nurse, another who wants to go to Manchester Community College to get an associates degree in technology and a third who want to attend Lincoln Tech for welding all have to learn self-help skills: notebook organization and use, completing homework, etc.
This may be part and parcel to a discussion on the purpose of education. I think this is an incredibly important topic and would love to hear from others, especially educators.
I contend that college is more of a generic term for post-secondary education. "College" typically refers to a 4 year institute of higher learning but community college and even more technical schools would fall under the "college" moniker. When we prepare students to be effective college students, I am thinking that a student who wants to go to UConn to be a nurse, another who wants to go to Manchester Community College to get an associates degree in technology and a third who want to attend Lincoln Tech for welding all have to learn self-help skills: notebook organization and use, completing homework, etc.
This may be part and parcel to a discussion on the purpose of education. I think this is an incredibly important topic and would love to hear from others, especially educators.
