Phillip Hale

Eng.111
Chris Wyman
12/01/15
In all reality, college and schools have multiple problems in the education system. Some
are minor issues while other issues can decide the future for the young adults. In elementary
schools, students are more tame than the teenagers in middle and high school. While little kids
are running around the playground playing tag, there are teenagers sitting in a room for 8 hours a
day listening to their teacher giving a lecture. This is the same thing for the college students as
they pay hundreds of dollars to only sit and listen to their professors giving long lectures and
passing out exams to test their students to see if they are learning. The school board system
applies hundreds of rules that students and teachers must abide by. When this occurs, the stability
between the staff and its students is not balanced. During the early adult years, it is a time for the
teenagers to express themselves and to acquire knowledge in a way they like or can learn instead
of the teachers way of learning. Teachers are now handing out notes instead of making the
students taking notes, the communication between the students and the teachers have diminished
while the teachers are doing all the work and students are not. The students are now just there to
listen to a long lecture and move on with their day. Schools are shoving down rules through the
student's throat, the students are being trapped by the society's way of life. The lack of the
communication between the administration and the students is causing students to be more
stressed and burnout.Most schools teach conformity instead of learning individuality causing a
disruption in the education nation.

Today, the college definition is very broad, but many students can agree to the fact that it
is a place where the professors giving endless lectures. College is a transition where they go from
little learning to advanced learning. With the concept of a young adult being taught conformity,
individuals in college may struggle with learning in general education and in the special program
they will be joining in. Teachers teach conformity in general education to give the knowledge in
how to act in society, to give you the basic skills people think the future adults need. But as
college strives to teach you basic skills that a student might need, thousands of students are
dropping out as it may not fit their category of learning. Thomas Reeves in College Isnt for
Everybody, and Its a Scandal that We Think It Is stated that hundreds of thousands enter the
campus gates without a clue about the intellectual challenges that are, or at least should be,
awaiting them (Reeves, 346).A student coming from a small school joining a university is set
for a challenge that may define their future. As young adults join the education world, they start
to realize that college is not meant for them in the view of the fact of the professors interminable
lecture. When a student decides to abandon the class, a hole is starting to develop creating a debt
that may be hard to escape. Teachers are persuading the students to attend college, Clive Crook
author of A Matter of Degrees: Why College Is Not an Economic Cure-All explained that in
2004, 67 percent of American high-school graduates went straight on to college (Crook, 367). A
wide range of young adults are attending college as it is the societys conformity to a successful
future, only to figure some students are not at the college level. Since 1972, the education system
has developed into a more advanced education to inform the students of what knowledge they
will need to have in the future as well as how they should be acting as a person to the society.
This creates a situation to where they may not be able to adjust to things as they were supposedly
trained on.

As students arrive, they face a challenge that most people do not have. Students from
schools that only teach conformity find themselves in a world of struggles that can take years to
overcome. Crook brought up the fact that the percentage is higher of the students that attended
right after high school compared to 1972, but proceeds on to saying that the most valuable
attribute for young people now entering the workforce is adaptability ((368). Most students
struggle with adapting, partially because of the reason they do not know themselves and have not
been able to explore beyond their knowledge. The author Jack Mezirow's Transformative
Learning: Theory to Practice asserted that the school board may construct a line of action
(Mezirow, 268). He also emanate about how they delimit expectations, perceptions, cognition,
and feelings (268). The school board encourages the students to follow the society's
conformity. Preventing adaptability in todays world. Conformity are rules or norms that
individuals should follow just to be a good person. While individuality, a student can refrain
from doing wrong, but can exhibit who they are as an individual, it can create a more stable and
unique community. Author Mark Edmundson in the article On the Uses of a Liberal Education:
I. As Lite Entertainment for Bored College Students spoke about how students can adapt to the
college life as well as their personal life. When a student can express their curiosity through
learning because they are being themselves, it shows that there are students learning individuality
in their social life along with the education life. Edmundson elaborates saying Its his capacity
for enthusiasm...from what Ive come to think of as the reigning generational style
(Edmundson, 284). A student is to express who they are into and who they are. When a student
can adapt to individuality and show it to the class, is when it can prepare them to be successful in
anything they set their minds to. Young adults are at the time where they find the inner side that
can help them to question and go on a quest for knowledge and to create a happier self along

with a happier yet satisfied society. With a young adult learning individuality, they can adapt
better and also find what is truly important to themselves and the lives of others.
Notes and powerpoint are the new way of teachers giving out information.When a student
sees this, all they have to do is either copy or not pay attention since some teachers gives a
handout of the notes. The young adult for the most part are not comprehending new knowledge
that they might need for the near future. Individuality is taken away during this process, as
teachers likes to thrust information to the students. A young adult curiosity may slowly decrease,
as they may not be engaging in learning. When a student can engage in an educational
conversation that can allow the students to access deeper into their brain and speak what they
know of a certain subject. Barry Alford the author of Freirean Voices, Student Choices
explains in his article that it not all about the teacher teaching. A good way for students to learn is
through others. Today, young adults are dependent on other young adults, individuality comes
from having another person with the same perspective as another. Alford further explained that
he encourage talk, to make connections that move the students (Alford, 280). When
connections are formed, individuality eventually forms and the students are able to find
themselves. If the topic of gay marriage comes up in an ethics class, students can get involved
and show who they are. In most classes, professors persuades students to keep their head down
or eyes on the teacher and answer the question when necessary. When students can engage in
class it can push boundaries. Bell Hooks of Engaged Pedagogy stated that those inspired
teachers have had the courage to transgress those boundaries that would confine each pupil to a
rote (Hooks, 253). The author pursued on saying that teachers who likes to push the boundaries
can find the unique beings all young adults are. In Barry Alfords article, he also stated that the
most concrete way I know of making this move is to engage my students, and have them engage

each other it can come from the students experiences (280). A students experiences can
influence individuality, making them show who they are and what they are capable of. The
school administration have decided that students are to tamed and abide by the rules, and act the
same as the rest of the publics conformity. The National Council of Teachers of English in 21st
Literacies: Curriculum and Assessment Framework stated that teachers can impact students by
achieving its purpose in creativity which can show effectiveness in solving problems
(NCTE, 159). When creativity comes into play, students can learn individuality at a faster pace.
Communication from the professor to the students can generate a faster pace in learning as each
individual has to use their knowledge when engaging with their class as well as their peers in
their social life. Engaging requires a further set of thinking where it is not from memorizing a
study guide or terms. With engaging conversations, it can use topics from the second week of
school or even from the previous years. Also, it produces a new mind of digging deeper than ever
before allowing the students to find themselves while learning about new things in the education
world.
Money can have a tremendous impact on conformity and individuality. A student who
pays big bucks to go to college is expecting to be able to find the character in them and expects
the teachers to be so open minded and encourage students to be themselves. Today, money is
being taken away from field trips in elementary school to be put more towards science or
improving the quality of the building. High school field trips are now very rare, those trips may
just be a college visit. When entering college, an individual spends thousands of dollars to read a
book and listen to the professor. There are typically no field trips for college students within the
class period. A way teachers can help students learn individuality is to find things or places that
may help contribute to a student learning individuality. Writer Earl Shorris of On the Uses Of a

Liberal Education: II. As a Weapon in the Hands of the Restless Poor discusses the ideology of
the people who may be dropouts of high school and college reflecting on what made them this
way. It was further explained that Youve got to teach the moral life of downtown to the
children. And the way to do that is by taking them downtown to plays, museums, and concerts,
where they can learn the moral life of downtown (Shorris, 314). Young adults and children do
not learn new ways to show their character nowadays. All of these special events display
character in some way of shape or form. As young adults develops a moral life learning
individuality slowly forms but not as fast as it could be. People are now not showing
individuality or even leadership that can be known as a person who has developed character.
Frank Partsch from Unbounded Misrepresentation delivers a statement how the world has a
function of telling people how to think (Partsch, 416). The news, newspapers, teachers, friends
and family are teaching each other how to act, but here and there we see people stepping up
whether it be unorthodox or not. As the world keeps turning 360, some people are going off
course and exercise leadership in the community even at the risk of putting their investment on
the line (416). Leadership shows individuality, but it is often from the people who have
experienced pain, who suffer to the extent where they find who they are and demonstrate their
individuality. As people learn how to show what they are, it creates leadership that is
unrecognizable to many. Students who have suffered losing all their money because of debt they
have taken a stance to explain that they could not adapt to the real world, they cant find the job
that they have paid for and went to get an education and spent six years in school to become who
they hope to be, since the education is preparing you to act in way everyone does. They are to
follow the norm, the young adults may strive to say that to not follow the societys conformity.

The school administration from day one tries to stimulate young adults and even children
to go to college. Kids are asked who they want to be when they grow up and are told to attend
college to achieve that degree. However, college is not for all, especially when many students
still have to strive for individuality. Students who lack individuality may drop out and create a
stir in their life. Paul Attewell and David E. Lavin in What the Critics of College for All Say
pointed out that admitted students lack the skills or intelligence to cope with a rigorous
curriculum (Attewell & Lavin, 349). As students enter college, they do not have the intelligence
that can get through the tough education system. But, intelligence is acquired through learning
individuality. Without learning individuality, the amount of intelligence or skills the student may
have is diminished. Teachers may state that students can learn individuality through personal
time, but when the teachers gives hours and hours of homework, along with the students having a
job to sustain itself. Mike Rose I Just Wanna be Average composed of saying that Kids
(young adults) have no choice but to talk in extremes; theyre being wrenched and
buffeted(Rose, 303). Young adults are not capable of being themselves when being taught
conformity. So when entering college, it is a whole new world of conformity they must face.
College is new for all students, when young adults stress out on who they should become for the
rest of their life. Ellen Condliffe Lagemann on the article The Challenge of Liberty sermonized
that We live in a world that is fundamentally new new in both the scope of the challenges we
face in finding and sustaining peace and in the consequences we face if we fail to achieve peace
(Lagemann, 357). If individuality were to be encouraged not only in our personal lives but in our
public lives, then all students of any age can conquer college with a set mind of learning and
finding who they are as a person bringing the world into a more stable and peaceful place of
adaptability to new things and diminishing stress in students from fear.

Today, young adults are being criticised for just about everything, if they go out and be
themselves, they will be criticized in a way where they will not uncover their minds to the world.
In the education society, students can not speak their mind even if it may be a better solution or a
better theory in the science world. Professors state only what they know and often times refuse to
address what the student may think. Min-zhan Lu of From Silence to Words: Writing as
Struggle affirmed that the teacher never explained exactly how we were supposed to turn into
workers. Instead, we performed self-criticism on our consciousness and made vows to turn
ourselves into workers (Lu, 331-332). When a student is forced to shelter their individuality to
meet the societys conformity level, then problems will approach to maybe where school
rebellions occur, whether is is silently not doing work or protesting. It also can create tautness in
everyone, because even the professors may want to free their inner character to make it more fun
to teach. Teachers occasionally do not realize that we silently criticize a majority of the people as
well as having set principles for the young adults that may restrict them from anything. Thomas
Reeves College Isnt for Everybody, and Its a Scandal that We Think It Is indicated that the
courts and in the media, as well as the classroom, they are ramming this dogma down the throats
of the vast majority(Reeves, 347). In the workforce, at public places and schools, people are
being trained to act like others rather than being themselves. If at home, the person will most
likely will be themselves and learn more through their peers than anywhere else. Individuality
deals with allowing others who they want to be and allow every single individual in the world to
feel at home wherever they go, creating a society that is not ramming principles down our throat
and creating a stable community.
Yesterdays reality is relatively the same as today, but tomorrows reality can impact the
world where individuality is encouraged. As individuality generates through all the cities of the

world, conformity within ourselves forms; constructing a better place for the future young adults.
With most schools teaching conformity instead of individuality, it can decide the future during
the early adult years. Students may not be able to adapt to the real world as easily as they think
they would. The young adults may face not being able to engage in conversations that can help
them grow because they do not know where to stand as an individual. While professors are
mainly doing powerpoints or handing out notes, the students are only in the class to sit while the
instructors giving ad nauseum lectures. Instead of making a world of young adult burnouts, the
education system should shift their way to individuality, to adapt to a new world within ourselves
and recede from burnouts. Rather than having a disruption in the education system, schools
should be guiding the teenagers and young adults to learn individuality in school instead of
conformity so students may pursue the dreams they may have.

Work Cited
Alford, Barry. "Reading About Uses of Learning." Freirean Voices, Student Choices. Pearson,
2013. 279-281. Print.
Attewell, Paul. "What and Who Is College For?" What the Critics of "College for All" Say.
Pearson, 2013. 348-355. Print.
Crook, Clive. "What and Who Is College For?" A Matter of Degrees: Why College Is Not an
Economic Cure-All. Pearson, 2013. 366-368. Print.
Hooks, Bell. "Reading About Uses of Learning." Engaged Pedagogy. Pearson, 2013. 253-258.
Print.
Lu, Min-Zhan. "Reading About Uses of Learning." From Silence to Words: Writing as a
Struggle? Pearson, 2013. 328-338. Print.
Mathews, Jay. "What and Who Is College For?" Multiplying Benefits of College for Everybody.
Pearson, 2013. 355-357. Print.
Mezirow, Jack. "Reading About Uses of Learning." Transformative Learning: Theory to
Practice. Pearson, 2013. 268-274. Print.

National Council of Teachers of English, NTCE. "Literacy Across Disciplines." 21st Century
Literacies: Curriculum and Assessment Framework. Pearson, 2013. 156-172. Print
Partsch, Frank. "Information and Misinformation in New Media Journalism." Unbounded
Misrepresentation. Pearson, 2013. 416-417. Print.
Reeves, Thomas. "What and Who Is College For?" College Isn't for Everybody, and It's a
Scandal That We Think It Is. Pearson, 2013. 346-348. Print.
Rose, Mike. "Reading About Uses of Learning." I Just Wanna Be Average. Pearson, 2013. 295312. Print.
Shorris, Earl. "Reading About Uses of Learning." On the Uses of a Liberal Education: II. As a
Weapon in the Hands of the Restless Poor. Pearson, 2013. 313-325. Print.