That's where our experiences differ. I know you're an American. I'm not. Here in post-Soviet Union territories, we have little access to humanities beyond what our profile suggests. It's all very closed-off and narrow in terms of what you get to hear. Our psychology class was devoted to mostly professional details — like, how people learn, rather than a more general perspective on how the human mind works on a day-to-day basis. Ethics? Forget it. We do have extracurricular classes on some interesting topics, granted — last year photography classes and even drama writing classes were available. You're right, of course. One can't live off fanciful ideas, however. And since you're already spending so much time in the academic setting (with "academic" being a stretch for school environment, but still), might as well get to know important things if you aren't taught by the people you grow up with. And they're still flailing wildly in the dark. I know I was, like a kid thrown into the pool, back when I was just starting the whole "higher education" ordeal. There's nothing wrong with experimenting and exploring things on your own; it's good for you. It takes personal experience to understand something well, but I think some guidance would come in very handy, especially at such a time of one's life. Then again, I have no idea what it's like in the US, and I doubt you'd know what it's like here. Maybe you can get some counseling or ask a mentor to take you up, both of which are great opportunities.You mean classes like art, literature, history, psychology, sociology, anthropology, and ethics? Any combination of which can be found at any non-technical school?
College is for building up fanciful ideas. Real life is for figuring out what actually sticks.
College kids get lucky because they get a few more years and a safe haven to experiment even further.
Not in the same way. Most people here have only recently come into any sort of wealth; you can likely guess at which point things turned. As such, while the older generation tends to be hardy and industrious due to the poor personal buying power, their children — people of my generation and younger — have received many more economic benefits without having to work for them. It's a natural desire for parents to give children all they can to make them happy and needing nothing, but I think it has spoiled many young minds into thinking they're entitled to being treated a certain way. They demand good will and pout and scoff when they aren't getting it. A perceived slight could escalate into years of not talking to each other. Many carry around expensive smartphones and only the best clothing. It's the same entitlement, but — thankfully — not in the same proportions. This part of the world is different from, say, the US because of how closed-off people are, emotionally. Many couple can't bring themselves to discuss sex after living together — and having it — for years. Is there much to say about the general population's willingness to discuss other emotional issues? Gays are still considered mostly an abomination. My outlook of "whatever floats your boat; it's neither a sin nor a horrible mistake of the nature" is on the extreme left, politically, here. These similarities are part of the reason why things like trigger warnings and perceived "traumas" are appealing for me to learn about. Another is that I spend most of my Internet time on the English-speaking part, where those issues have a bigger importance. I hear about them often and, when uncareful about the things I pay attention to, even stumble upon examples of.
I think different school systems focus on different things and part of that stems from cultural values. If anything, that's a good thing, because it allows for diversity, specialization, etc., which is important to have in collaborative efforts. If you're looking at becoming a teacher and you're worried about humanities suffering in your university, you could look at sponsoring some kind of club. Classic literature, film studies, debate teams, what ever. It'll allow kids further opportunities to explore and at the same time they'll get the added benefit of being able to network and develop much needed social skills. As for kids adjusting to the real world, they can do all they can to prepare for it, but they never really know what it's like until they're in it. Part of that probably has to do with micro-cultures and shit too. Those are all due to social, regional, and even job differences. For example, I've made a comment on here before that I don't think I'd do too well in The Pacific Northwest because cultural differences there are just enough that sometimes I don't understand the perspective people there are coming from. If someone worked in the back of a kitchen for ten years and then all of the sudden found them self working in a hospital, they'd have to acclimate themselves not only to a new job, but new expectations, a new dialog with its own jargon, new values, etc. There are people I interact with on here every day that I would never interact with in real life. Some of that's due to geographic location (hello to you, wherever you are in Russia by the way) but a lot of that is due to the social stratification that comes from education and income levels, jobs, etc. I'm in my niche, they're in theirs, and there's not a lot of movement back and forth without good cause to bring us together, say mutual enjoyment of cars and car culture for example. College is good for building a template. The real world is good for a final model.
That's a great idea. Thank you for the suggestion! I'm going to look into similar projects around the education infrastructure. I still think that axiological education is lacking in many aspects of the modern education in most countries. You're right: the map is not the territory. Some aspects are only learned from the practical, personal experience. I don't think, however, that an opportunity for getting such personal experience could not be brought in. Which is, really, me jumping ahead of myself, before explaining why I feel like real-life preparation is a necessary aspect to have within education. I don't have my thoughts well enough together to bring an answer to it right now, even though I feel that that sentiment to be true. Maybe I'll make a post later, to talk about this particular idea in more depth.If you're looking at becoming a teacher and you're worried about humanities suffering in your university, you could look at sponsoring some kind of club. Classic literature, film studies, debate teams, what ever. It'll allow kids further opportunities to explore and at the same time they'll get the added benefit of being able to network and develop much needed social skills.