Schooling & Education: Is There a Difference?

Schooling vs. Education:

When looking up the definitions of schooling and education in the Merriam-Webster dictionary this is what I found:

Schooling: noun; teaching that is done in a school

Education: noun; the knowledge, skill, and understanding that you get from attending a school, college, or university

Going to school and being educated are completely different things, here’s why:

Since being in college, I’ve come to realize that schooling and education have been used synonymously, but actually mean two very different things. If you’ve gone to high school, college, or both, you know that there’s a difference from learning what you’ve been taught in school, and really understanding the subject matter.

So many times in the classes we take, we learn not to understand the subject matter at hand, but to be able to get an A on the test or pass the class. College is now seen as something you need to be able to get a good job later in life, not something that can educate you and allow you to develop a deeper understanding about a variety of subjects that may interest you. STUDENTS WILL NEVER BE EDUCATED if that is how “education” is now being looked at.   

In college, students are taught to focus on the grades and the grades alone. Everything they do is not to understand the subject, but to pass the class. Students don’t read for class, they sparknote. Students don’t study the material to be able to deeply understand it for later in life, they memorize it for their tests and forget it the next day. The goal of college has switched from being educated to getting the grades and the precious GPA. Get good grades, get a good GPA. Get a good GPA, get a good internship. Get a good internship, get a good job.

BUT is this what you really want students to do when they’re spending upwards of $150,000 to get their degree? NO. So why do we sit back and silently let this happen?  Our society is always looking for quick fixes and temporary solutions, but folks, if I’m spending $150,000 + on my college education, I want knowledge. I wonder how many others do too….

Picture source: http://quotesgram.com/mark-twain-quotes-on-education/