An Analysis of Mark Sloukas Argument on the Lack of Humanities in American Education

An Analysis of Mark Slouka's Argument on the Lack of Humanities in American Education In â€Å"Dehumanized: When Math and Science Rule the School†, Mark Slouka addresses the lack of humanities in American education curriculum, in contrast to the overwhelming focus on math and science. For the educational system, this translates as an imbalanced approach to teaching students how to think creatively and authentically. â€Å"†¦the problem today is disequilibrium. Why is every Crisis in American Education cast as an economic threat and never a civic one?† (37) While Slouka certainly uses many rhetorical techniques throughout his article to criticize the focus on math and science in American education, this might be the most striking one. Why an education recovery automatically equals to an economy recovery? Why doesn’t the public see a progress in education as a progress in the student’s ability to think more creatively or to analyze problems more critically? Slouka suggests that we pay less attention on educational crisis as a ‘civic threat’ because: â€Å"we don’t have the language for it. Our focus is on the usual economic indicators. There are no corresponding â€Å"civic indicators,† no generally agreed-upon warning signs of political vulnerability, even though the inability of more than two thirds of our college graduates to read a text and draw rational inferences could be seen as the political equivalent of runaway inflation or soaring unemployment.† (37) As Slouka stated, economic crises are quantifiable, while civic crises are usually not and therefore, there is an underwhelming focus on humanities in the education system. By ‘civic indicators’, Slouka refers to the signs that help pointing out troubling issues that could impose disastrous consequences on the human values of the citizens in the country. In Slouka’s sense, civic indicators could also refer to the degree of democracy in the economy. Slouka argues that â€Å"Political freedom, whatever the market evangelists may tell us, is not an automatic by-product of a growing economy† (36) Through this claim, Slouka is trying to convey to us that a developed economy does not automatically result in high level of political liberation. Thus, in order to solve this issue, the politicians should place more importance on humanities in education and let the ‘human’ aspects of the students grow along with their quantitative skills that could potentially drive economic output. Humanities can help us achieve this middle-ground and enhance as well as liberate the student’s political standpoint because humanities, unlike math and science, teach us â€Å"not what to do but how to be.† (37) But aren’t there not enough warning signs of civic crisis out there, not enough to motivate the politicians and the governmental board of education to start gearing the country’s education system towards humanities? Several times in Dehumanized, Slouka points out concerning issues due to the lack of humanities in schools. He mentions Brent Staples, from New York Times, who claims that â€Å"the American education system is failing â€Å"to produce the fluent writers required by the new economy.† (34) The Education Commission of the States published a report saying that â€Å"state and local leaders are realizing that the arts and culture are vital to economic development† and several states have even â€Å"developed initiatives that address the connections between economic growth and the arts and the culture†. (36) Moreover, the embarrassingly low voter turnout in the recent years can also serve as a strong ‘civic indicator’ of the diminishing knowledge or focus the younger generations placed on the policies and programs that are adopted by the government. Too many members of society are ignorant to the significance of their involvement in the political arena. The lack of knowledge stems from the lack of information received in the educational process. It is in the area of the humanities that the individual gains an appreciation and understanding for their role as a citizen in a democracy. Even with all these reasons, the politicians still decided to turn a blind-eye on the importance of the humanities and continued on their quest to produce economically-beneficial worker-bees. American politicians are obsessed with maintaining America’s position as the world economic leader. Thus, they would not stop pushing the education curriculum towards math and science, because they are the subjects that have the most obvious potential in growing the economy. â€Å"Ah, Singapore. You’ll hear a good deal about Singapore if you listen to the chorus of concern over American education. If only we could be more like Singapore. If only our education system could be as efficient as Singapore’s.† (35) Slouka is annoyed by America’s unreasonable attitude in comparing its own education system to that of Singapore. Singapore’s education system is well-known for its heavy focus on math and science, in which Slouka views as â€Å"obsessive, exclusionary, altogether unhealthy.† (38) He uses a slightly mocking tone in the quoted paragraph above to imply that American should be focusing on improving its own in what he believes, broken – education system instead of trying to get ahead of the others. Slouka is convinced that the reason that the American education system overlooks the crucial role of humanities in developing the nation is not because of the shortage of civic indicators. However, even with plenty civic indicators, politicians are still much more attracted to quantifiable measures and the false pride that comes with America triumphing over another country’s economy. One would hope that the appreciation of the humanities and the corresponding civic indicators becomes a reality for more people. â€Å"The humanities, in short, are a superb delivery mechanism for what we might call democratic values. There is no better than I am aware of.† (37) Slouka believes that those who can grasp the concept and comprehend the condition of the nation by paying attention to the civic indicators and the humanities are people who are beginning to realize and truly understand the world around them. If American people are to ever fulfill their dreams of a true democracy, then it is imperative to break away from the hypnotic grip this capitalist system has upon us.

The American Military Adventure In Iraq And Philippine Essay

The American Military Adventure In Iraq And Philippine - Essay Example The Philippines became an independent democratic country that is seen to today to be more or less a success. This may bode well for Iraq, a country that has been through terrible times and now seems to be improving. This essay will look at how these two actions by the United States were very similar. The Monroe Doctrine of 1823 created a new era of American foreign policy. Some critics might call this policy expansionist, and although that is certainly an important element of it, it was also motivated by a desire to spread principles of democracy and good governance. Many idealists of the period believed the principles at the heart of the U.S. Constitution were universal and should be shared with everyone. By the end of the 19th century, the Monroe Doctrine was to come into full effect in a war with the Spanish. Not only would the Americans take control of Spanish possessions in the Caribbean such as Cuba, Puerto Rica, and other islands, but as the war expanded so would the remit of the Monroe Doctrine. The United States would gain control of the Philippines, far from its own shore, and attempt to remake the Spanish colonialism political system in its own image. The result would be a bloody conflict fought with Filipino insurgents that would take America many years to quell. Following the American victory over Spain and the taking of the Philippines, there was a great deal of tension between the U.S. and the locals. This came to a head in 1899 when American soldiers shot some Filipinos. Things quickly got out of hand with both sides raising armies and fighting conventional wars. The Americans rapidly defeated the convention Filipino forces, killing two of their best generals and pacifying many of the urban areas. But as the Filipinos fell back, they regrouped as guerrillas and had huge local support.

Total Quality Management Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 750 words

Total Quality Management - Essay Example Total quality management has changed the traditional management style forever. It was a very radical movement those days. Some of these changes are radical even today. Few of these changes are discussed below. The traditional way of management focused on internal activities. Quality had a meaning which was totally internally defined. Products or services provided by the organization were assumed to be good in quality if this organization has done its best in producing that product or service. But in total quality management, the focus is the customer. So that ultimate decider of the quality is the customer. Fitting to the customer requirement was the least requirement while delighting them is the ultimate goal. Traditionally people thought bad quality products are due to the workers who do not perform their job correctly. One of the major differences between total quality management and traditional management style is the assignment of the responsibility of the quality to the management. Especially responsibility of the quality goes into the middle-level management at the operational level. Total quality management is an organization-wide movement. All the organization has to be in unity to apply TQM principles. Total quality management, unlike traditional management, calls for a high amount of team working. ... Quality is inbuilt to the system so that products are assured to be in good quality. Some decision like narrowing down the supplier base is total quality management concepts used for this purpose, which is revolutionary still today.   Unlike in traditional management style, total quality management makes decisions on facts and figures. Therefore problems are identified correctly. Therefore solutions are well planned. TQM depends on cyclic thinking. Also, it is continuous. Therefore improvements are small, stable and continuous in nature. This is also known as Kaizen. These events are used in teambuilding, brainstorming, and decision making.  Ã‚