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General Education

Education is not all about acquiring skills and knowledge that pertain to the preferred career. Thus, the education system has been set in a way that caters to expanding knowledge and thinking capacity of students. To do so, the system includes a General Education course that takes students through a development process to increase their knowledge and skills concerning life. The focus of General Education is to expand the student’s knowledge about several factors in life other than the course they are undertaking. This involves knowledge of humanity, the Natural World and Arts among other disciplines. The education is necessary, but the stage at which it is taught is the controversial issue about the system. The current education system has the course taught in college, but it is best for it to be introduced in high school.

Teaching General Education in high school rather than in college saves time spent relaying the concerned knowledge. As per now, the education system allows the course to be taught in a period of the two years in college and the knowledge concerning their careers in the remaining years. Instead of including the course in the college curriculum, it would be advisable to fix it in the high school education system (Gamble 66). The content taught in college under General Education courses is not too complex for high school students to comprehend the details. As such, that is a valid reason to move the course from the college curriculum to the high school one. This move offers the high school students an opportunity to learn about life and gain knowledge about subjects concerning various disciplines other than what they learn in class.

The two years college students spend undertaking the General Education course can be added in the last years spent studying details of the enrolled courses. College is a platform that students use to mold their future careers. Hence, upon enrolling in college, they choose the courses to undertake according to the desired future career upon completion of the studies. Undertaking the concerned courses that only relate to the future career saves time and helps the students focus on only the necessary knowledge. Cutting out the General Education course from college benefits the students who will have already studied the content in high school.

Clearly, the General Education course is an inevitable tool that is part of the learning system. Its role is highly required in the learning system, but it will be quite beneficial when it is placed in the high school curriculum. One of the purposes it serves in the curriculum is to feed the students with the knowledge that will help them perceive life’s challenges with ease (McGrath and Martin 88). For example, they will become all rounded individuals in life and their thinking capacity will be enhanced. Preparing the high school students prior to their college life is a crucial step that can be done by subjecting them to the General Education course.

The main beneficiaries of the General Education course in college are the investors who placed it in the curriculum. Students should be the main beneficiaries and offering General Education courses in high school offers a high chance of benefiting more individuals. Some of the students who complete their high school do not enroll for college education. Hence, if they are offered the General Education course in high school, they have what they need to face life and its challenges. Currently, the course is offered in colleges and denies such individuals the opportunity to attain knowledge under General Education.

Works Cited

Gamble, Jeanne. Curriculum Responsiveness in FET Colleges. Illinois: Independent Publishers Group, 2003. Print.

McGrath, Dennis and Martin, Spear. The Academic Crisis of the Community College. New York: State University of New York, 1991. Print.

General Education

Question 1

Read the articles, Bowling Alone: America’s Declining Social Capital and Still Bowling Alone? The Post-9/11 Split from the Project Muse database in the Ashford University Library. For this discussion, complete the following:

In your own words, describe what is meant by the term social capital.
€¢ Examine the influences of social connections and technology and civic engagement in academic and professional pursuits.
€¢ Evaluate the significance of social capital in the context of global citizenship and multicultural understanding.

Question 2

In recent years, immigration, health care reform, and fiscal policy have emerged as key issues in U.S. federal policy. There are many sides to each debate, and research is proliferating.

Identify a scholarly article that answers research questions associated with the debate over immigration, health care reform, or fiscal policy (select one). Apply the principles of critical thinking to the selected issue. Cite the article or website that contains the research. Then, describe the findings of this research and provide your perspective on the validity of the findings.

Question 3

Review The Surgeon General’s Vision for a Healthy and Fit Nation 2010. Then, locate a news article or video related to obesity. Identify the source and evaluate the impact of the report, in relation to the media attention and focus on the topic of obesity. How did the report and media coverage create a sense of urgency to move the audience from complacency to action? In what ways do persuasive arguments and presentations directed toward general audiences create a call to action for reform