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  • Essay / An Analysis of Mark Slouka's Argument on the Lack of Humanities in American Education

    In "Dehumanized: When Math and Science Rule the School," Mark Slouka addresses the lack of humanities in the educational curriculum American, in contrast to the emphasis on education. on mathematics and science. For the Western education system, this results in an unbalanced approach to teaching students how to think creatively and authentically. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get an original essay “…the problem today is imbalance. Why is every crisis in American education presented as an economic threat and never as a civic threat? (37) Although Slouka certainly uses many rhetorical techniques throughout his article to criticize the emphasis on math and science in American education, this one might be the most striking. Why does a recovery in education automatically equate to a recovery in the economy? Why doesn't the public view advances in education as advancements in a student's ability to think more creatively or analyze problems more critically? Slouka suggests that we pay less attention to the educational crisis as a "civic threat" because: "We don't have the language for it." We focus on the usual economic indicators. There is no corresponding "civic indicator," no generally recognized warning sign of political vulnerability, although the inability of more than two-thirds of our college graduates to read a text and draw rational conclusions from it might be considered as the political equivalent of a headlong flight. inflation or rising unemployment. (37) As Slouka stated, economic crises are quantifiable, while civic crises generally are not, and therefore the attention to humanities in the education system is disappointing. By “civic indicators,” Slouka refers to signs that help signal troubling issues that could have disastrous consequences on the human values ​​of the country’s citizens. In Slouka's sense, civic indicators could also refer to the degree of democracy in the economy. . Slouka argues that “political freedom, whatever market evangelists say, is not an automatic byproduct of a growing economy” (36). With this statement, Slouka is trying to make us understand that a developed economy does not automatically lead to a growing economy. high level of political liberation. So, in order to solve this problem, politicians should give more importance to the humanities in education and let the “human” aspects of students develop as well as their quantitative skills which could potentially boost economic production. The humanities can help us achieve this middle ground and enhance and liberate the student's political point of view because the humanities, unlike mathematics and science, teach us “not what to do but how to be.” (37) But aren't there enough warning signs of a civic crisis, not enough to motivate politicians and the government education board to start orienting the country's education system toward humanities? Several times in Dehumanized, Slouka highlights the problems due to the lack of humanities in schools. He mentions the New York Times' Brent Staples, who asserts that the American education system is failing to "produce the competent writers the world needs.".