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ellenv's picture

Education as a subject

Like many other people in the class, I was struck by the fact that the idea of "education" is very broad. Under the umbrella of education one can find traditional things like schools and teachers while at the same time under the same umbrella there can be feelings, ideas, emotions, and experiences outside of the classroom. After class, I began to think about education as a subject. If education can be defined in so many ways and if so many people disagree on what exactly education is, then how does it work as a subject of study? Aren't you then studying what you are participating in? how does that work exactly? There is also a great deal of variation that exists in the types of education classes that colleges such as Bryn Mawr/Haverford offer. Some classes attempt to focus in on the actual practice of teaching and what makes a good teacher while other classes look more at the theory behind educational practices. I am wondering whether or not education/the ability to teach is something that can be taught in a classroom, or whether it is something that has to be experienced in different capacities in order to gain the title of "teacher." I also wonder whether or not schools would consider individuals to be qualified teachers if they did not show some type of teaching experience outside of the classroom. If people were forced to learn to teach outside of the realm of the traditional educational system, would there be a marked difference in the types of teachers we encountered in the classrooms?

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