"nonacademic" education

Eli Pardue
2/20/08
AP Lang Comp
LaMags


I greatly value the nonacademic education that I receive. The early educational reformers in the mid 19th century strove to bring nonacademic education into schools because children were not receiving the moral and ethical education they would receive on a farm or through homeschooling because the population was becoming more and more urbanized. Traditional education was all about memorization and strict disciplinarian rule (like a ruler, haha get it? slapping you on the wrist?). This new, "progressive" education was about much of what our University High School is about today. They sought to teach children what it meant to be a respected member of a community and a society. The purpose of University's Core Values is to instill nonacademic education into its students because a school is the best place to learn. I greatly value the nonacademic education that I receive because without it, I would attend a school that pounds facts into children's heads (while calling it education) and slaps wrists (while calling it discipline). Also, by letting us express our individuality (i.e. multiple clubs, no uniforms, loosely set school rules), University shows more nonacademic qualities apart from the core values. It seems like I am doing nothing but glorify University High School, but I use University as an example not so much as to revere it, but because it is a perfect example of a school that uses a great deal of nonacademic education in its curriculum. I value my nonacademic education because i wasn't to be exposed to my peer's opinions and the world around me so that I am prepared for it when I leave University.