Individualism at school

ĐỀ 30/7/2011

Some people think that the main purpose of schools is to teach children to become good citizens and workers, rather than benefiting them as individuals. Agree or disagree?

INDIVIDUALISM AT SCHOOL :

ADVENTAGES:

-         With no restriction, children feel relaxed and study more effectively

-         Not being affected by community, people seem to be more creative to come up with new ideas.

DISADVENTAGES:

-         Putting their own needs over others’ reduce community’s performance

-         New ideas serve minority will not be sponsored.

The mission of education children is far from easy. Some people believe that at school, the inculcation of ethical lessons in children to become useful citizens is necessary while others claim that each individual should learn to benefit himself first at school. I partly agree with the latter view for the following reasons.

First, it is argued that the priority of education of the youngsters towards their needs is psychologically conducive to their learning. It is likely that with no restriction which entails them to follow moral codes of the society, they feel relaxed and study more effectively. Is it true? Can a class achieve its high efficaciousness when each individual, because of putting their needs over others, for instance, goes to class late or forgets to do home work? Only in a disciplined environment which emphasizes their obedience to the community code can they learnt the lesson to get along with others and become confident in their work environment in the future.

The second reason in support of individualism in education at school is to encourage children to find out their inner desire. It is argued that not being affected by the herd voice, they discover what truly want in this life and come up with revolutionary inventions to change the world, like the case of Thomas Edison. However, under no circumstance can such inventions gain the support if they are only to serve the individual need of the creators and some minorities. Facts have shown that their success roots from the community purpose that is to enhance the quality of life for all. Another point is that if individualism was to be worshipped, for the sake of profit, youngsters could become businessmen without ethics or monopoly- like environment in business would take shape, leading to the prevalence of low-quality products. Also, when it comes to the solution to the global issues, say, environment, epidemics and political conflicts, can the individuals who only benefit themselves play a part?

All things considered, the purpose of education should harmonize between individual and community needs to produce citizens who can follow the moral codeto become useful citizens, and at the same time, pursue their own interest to add more color to their world.