Whatever they may think of themselves, students are not stupid. They are all born with natural talents and abilities. It is true that school is meant to enhance and extend their natural talents but it is smart to keep in mind that the basic body and mind skills are far greater than the additions schooling provides.
It does seem more important than ever, though, to get the extras that schooling provides. At least in the US and similarly developed countries, the statistics continue to show strong correlations between education and other good things, such as wealth, happiness and longevity. Correlation is not causation, as doctoral students must incessantly repeat. It may be that some more fundamental drives, spirit and motivation work both at getting the individual on the trail of success in education and also at producing wealth, happiness and longevity.
Adult students and trainees often refer to going to school as "getting that piece of paper." The image of a degree written on a diploma may emphasize that most of the hours spent in school do not seem all that mind-expanding and often involve curricular material that the student already knows. Adults of age 30 and on often know a great deal, even about subjects they have not formally studied. Besides that, by age 30, the brain has completed its initial growth and myelination. So, the adult brain is in good shape and capable of making excellent judgments and inferences. It is not surprising, then, that the alert and thinking adult student can often anticipate the teacher and the curriculum, guessing correctly at the next step in a process or revelation and development in a novel or a history.
The education process can seem to be merely going through the motions in order to be granted "that piece of paper". I am here to say, though, that the process of being checked, tested, validated is not trivial. It is true that eventually you have a piece of paper but it means that you have been verified, that you have been evaluated and you passed! Not just one, but many, have witnessed your passage and stand behind the judgment that you are ok. Not all those teachers and professors are equally tough at testing of course, nor does the whole bunch agree on precisely just how much you know or how well you know it. Heck, many of your teachers and professors never met or even heard of each other. Still, the eventual result is that a reasonably qualified and diverse group of judges has agreed that you have the right stuff.
It does seem more important than ever, though, to get the extras that schooling provides. At least in the US and similarly developed countries, the statistics continue to show strong correlations between education and other good things, such as wealth, happiness and longevity. Correlation is not causation, as doctoral students must incessantly repeat. It may be that some more fundamental drives, spirit and motivation work both at getting the individual on the trail of success in education and also at producing wealth, happiness and longevity.
Adult students and trainees often refer to going to school as "getting that piece of paper." The image of a degree written on a diploma may emphasize that most of the hours spent in school do not seem all that mind-expanding and often involve curricular material that the student already knows. Adults of age 30 and on often know a great deal, even about subjects they have not formally studied. Besides that, by age 30, the brain has completed its initial growth and myelination. So, the adult brain is in good shape and capable of making excellent judgments and inferences. It is not surprising, then, that the alert and thinking adult student can often anticipate the teacher and the curriculum, guessing correctly at the next step in a process or revelation and development in a novel or a history.
