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On
Education
What
courses should and should not be taught at college or university?
This is a complex and controversial topic. For starters, I feel that
a college or university can not teach a person how to be a good
business person, nor can it teach a person how to be creative. Will
an MBA make that person a better business person, or an entrepreneur?
No, it will not. An MBA might explain to the person the workings of a
business and provide information on how to record and account for
transactions and perhaps teach various theories on management, but
that falls far short of making that individual a business person or
an entrepreneur I would argue that a person who never attends
university, but comes from a family who has operated businesses for
several generations, is in a far better position in creating and
managing a successful business, than a top MBA graduate, from a top
school, who does not have this background. Napoleon stated that the
education of a child starts three generations before the child is
born. True know-how only comes through experience, and extensive, day
to day observation of successful businesses and business people.
When it comes to "creative fields" such as art,
photography, graphics, web design, film and video production and
similar, I say that formal education can not make a person
"creative" but can only teach the individual what has
already been done and the technology behind doing what has already
been done. For example, an art student can be taught about the work
of previously esteemed artists and the techniques that they used to
create their work. True creativity can not be taught. With this in
mind, I feel that "creative fields" should not be taught in
a college or university, but rather the basics should be taught in
craft or trade schools for perhaps six months to a year and then, if
the student should show promise in the field, the student should
attempt to become an apprentice to a know person in the field that
the student wishes to enter into. It is a waste of time for the
student to spend anywhere from four years to ten years going through
university and getting an advanced degree in an art field. This
advanced degree will not assist the student in being more creative.
Most college and university level creative programs today should be
in the same category as any other trade or craft, such as welding,
plumbing, auto mechanics, electrician or carpentry. All of these
fields are vitally important but do not require a college or
university degree and "creative fields" fall into this
category You are either naturally creative or you are not and you
only need to know the techniques to enhance what you are gifted in.
The vast majority of graduate from creative fields will never work in
the field that they studied for, either because there are only a
handful of jobs in the field, or their ability falls short of their
aspirations or a combination of these and other factors.
Many students today study "computer science", which
essentially is a class that covers learning current computer
languages. Computer science courses should not be confused with the
development of computers and computer electronics falls under the
category of electrical engineering. The problem with spending years
studying computer science and computer "languages" and
"coding" is that the languages are constantly changing.
When I went to school, I studied FORTRAN and COBOL, but who uses
these antiquated languages any more? Computer Science falls under the
realm of a trade and should not be taught in a university but rather
should be taught in a trade school. The courses in such a trade
school should be limited to the specific computer language that the
student wishes to work in and such a program should not be longer
than six months to a year . Theoretical computer science, that is to
say, the development of new mathematical perspectives, algorithms and
research, should be taught in university and is essentially a
mathematics subject.
I would argue that accounting is a trade, and should be taught in
trade school program, rather than a university.
What must be done, for the sake of the student and for the
efficiency of society is to completely re-evaluate the entire
university system. The current university learning system is
cumbersome and inefficient and is structured to give false hope to
many, if not most of the students who feel that after achieving the
requirements for a particular degree, that magically their lives will
change and that they will work in their desired fields. It is time to
minimize fantasy and come back to reality.
From
my perspective, the following institutions should teach the
following disciplines:
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College:
Biology, physics, mathematics, chemistry, electronics, philosophy,
law, medicine and similar
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Trade
schools: Accounting, welding, plumbing, carpentry, auto
mechanics, computer programing, web design, house painting,
marketing/advertising. After a relatively short stint in trade
schools, many of the people in these disciplines should seek to
become apprentices under the guide of a master in the field. Please
note that in the case of web design, the actual design should should
probably be developed by a marketing master, who may not necessarily
know how to program a computer or create a website, thus the purpose
of the "web designer" is not to create a marketing
complain, but rather to create a website that follows the vision of
the marketing master. Driving a car is different than designing the car.
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Apprentiship
programs: Fine art including painting, sculpture and other art
forms, photography, film and video production, house painting.
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