Anthony Langella

English 110

August 31, 2017

Between the two passages, The Idea of Higher Education by Ronald Barnett and “Education for Profit, Education for Democracy” in Reading the World by Martha Nussbaum, there is one main correlating theme which has advanced my views on school and learning. The one main correlating theme is that furthering your education will help you develop life skills that many people lack. Personally, I believe that furthering your education benefits you in the long run, due to the economic factor and the development of certain essential life skills.

Throughout The Idea of Higher Education by Ronald Barnett, one overarching view is evident. Barnett’s view is that in pursuing higher education, no matter how many years you have researched or hard you have tried, final answers are not prevalent. In “Education for Profit, Education for Democracy” in Reading the World by Martha Nussbaum, Nussbaum explains that the US educational tradition is Liberal Arts and that it’s not meant to educate you academically, but in life skills. Nussbaum shares that “… U.S. educators, connected liberal arts to the preparation of informed, independent, and sympathetic democratic citizens.” Barnett’s ideas correlate with Nussbaum’s regarding the fact that the ultimatum of education is not about becoming academically intelligent, but developing skills to aid in being in this intricate world. Barnett’s ideas connect with Nussbaum’s when Barnett writes “A higher education experience is not complete unless the student realizes that, no matter how much effort is put in, or how much library research, there are no final answers.”

My own experience and observations of learning and education connect to that of Ronald Barnett and Martha Nussbaum’s because in all three views pursuing higher education is more beneficial to someone’s life skills development rather than their academic intelligence. My knowledge and experience partially reflects the ideas of Barnett and Nussbaum. My views on pursuing higher education are very similar to Ronald Barnett and Martha Nussbaum’s views on pursuing higher education because we all have a central point expressing that the necessary intelligence gained when pursuing higher education is not academic, but it is in the life skills department. The only part where my ideology of the benefits of pursuing higher education differs from the ideas of Ronald Barnett and Martha Nussbaum’s is that not only is there intellectual benefits, but pursuing a higher education also has economic benefits. Someone is more likely to make more money after pursuing a higher education over someone who was only educated through high school or secondary school.

Between the two passages,  The Idea of Higher Education by Ronald Barnett and “Education for Profit, Education for Democracy” in Reading the World by Martha Nussbaum, there is one theme that is evidently expressed. The pursue of a higher education is not only about the academic benefits, but the education of certain essential life skills.