Is there a method to the madness?

In class, the question was raised what would happen if students were able to personalize their education and manipulate their schedule allowing it to reflect their interests. After all it is their money, should they have a say in what they learn or does the school know best? Is there a method to the madness?

The idea of a personalized education is alluring. My GPA would be higher, I would generally be excited to attend every single one of my classes, and I certainly would never had to suffer through tedious hours of philosophy lectures seated in uncomfortable chairs. But I can’t help but thinking that perhaps, I would be boring.

Although I honestly have not enjoyed every class I have taken at Catholic, in each class I learned something that fostered a different way of thinking. It challenged me. I had to learn to interact with those whose views differed from mine and how to effectively work with them. After all, in the “real world” you will not be around like-minded thinkers 24 -7, you will have to interact with those who harbor different perspectives.

We need to come into contract with opinions that are different from our own, perhaps simply to reinforce our own personal views or to become more tolerant. We need opposing views and information to shape us and to accept others for who they are. I also believe that you need to be surrounded by those of different interests, not only to inject energy into a discussion but multiple perspectives. We need people to challenge us, give us a run for our money. In regards to personalization, Sunstein states “students often lack the information that would enable them to make fully informed choices.” Would students simply glide by taking the easy classes, avoiding the classes that forced students to go above and beyond? A personalized education would hinder students who come to college “undecided.” Arguably they need to be subjected to a multitude of classes that would allow them to learn what they liked and what they did not like.

Students need to be submerged into a multitude of different teaching styles and classes to shape them and to allow them to find out who they are. Students bond with fellow classmates while commiserating about subjects and professors they might not take a keen liking to, creating a common thread. In the end, we all need to experience things that we don’t like. It shapes us; it makes us who we are.