How Social Filters Impact an Educated Response

One of the hallmarks of the well-educated person is, I think, the ability and willingness to explore all sides of an issue before making a decision. Unfortunately, it seems that few people, even those who are, in fact, well-educated, truly take the time to explore an issue before taking a stance on it. And, to a large extent, I get it. It’s hard to do. It’s hard, not only because it takes time and effort, but because we are bombarded by so much information from so many different sources and on so many different topics that it is difficult to winnow out the wheat from the chaff. What is important? What should I be concerned with? What issues can I reasonably relegate to secondary or tertiary concern and on which should I focus my attention?

The First Thing Every College Should Do For Its Students

For some time now I’ve argued that colleges and universities have dropped the ball on one of the most important preparatory steps in attending college: Defining what a college education is all about.

Students often go to college without a clear conception of what they’re supposed to be getting from the experience.  They go because college has become the “thing you do” after high school.  Like their secondary education, they never really stop to think about why they’re going, or what the benefits are. More importantly, many students see college as simply an extension of their secondary education. That is, learning without an express purpose other than “I’ll need to know this someday.”

The Meaning of a Degree

The reasons why they may choose to do this are myriad. For some students, the BSN has long been a personal goal. For others, though, the decision isn’t internally motivated. Rather, they’re faced with either obtaining their BSN, or finding other employment. Now, for anyone outside of nursing, that latter reason might seem a bit harsh. But for those of us in the profession, it makes sense – at least to a degree. While I don’t disagree with the need for higher levels of education in nursing, I’m not so sure that the approach employers are using to encourage nurses to seek the BSN is the best approach. Let’s begin with a bit of background.

Technology For It’s Own Sake

About eight years ago I spent a couple of years teaching high school. Being a nurse, and coming into the experience with no real educational background it was quite an interesting, and eye-opening experience. Needless to say, I probably learned more than my students did. One of the things that left me scratching my head was the approach the school system took toward education. Tons of money was spent on technology and teachers were required to have at least one “technology lesson” each week. That lesson had to be so designated on your weekly lesson plan. Talk about misguided! As I write this I still see a lot of the same things happening in education — at all levels. And it’s just plain dumb. Let’s explore this a bit.

Is Education “All That”

I had a wonderful opportunity to talk with a woman(we’ll call her Jane) who has accomplished several things that I have only dreamed of. She has developed a new approach to an old and vexing problem many nurses face, she contributed to the development of a new medical device, she has been published in peer-reviewed journals, and has spoken around the world before thousands of people to introduce other professionals to both her new technique and to the medical device. She can confidently say that the approach she developed is being used in health care settings around the world. And she has an associate’s degree — the minimum level of education required to become a nurse.