Learning for life.doc

Learning for life

1) Which of the following features do you associate with a) a traditional approach to education b) a more ‘progressive’ approach?

• choice of subjects

• questioning ideas

• written examinations

• continuous assessment

• individual assignments

• collaborative activities

• mixed-ability classes

• fixed curriculum

• streaming

• rote learning

Which have been features of schools you have attended?

2) The following extracts from job advertisements mention qualities which are often required in the modern working environment. Which qualities do you think are developed by schools? Which are not developed? Which of the features listed in Exercise 1 are most likely to encourage these qualities?

ü     must be self-motivated and able to work independently

ü      should possess well-developed leadership and communication skills

ü     understanding of and empathy with other cultures

ü     you will be a reliable team player with sound commercial judgement

ü     excellent time management skills and attention to detail

ü     good analytical ability is essential for success in this role

The following text is taken from a book by Charles Handy, an educator with many years’ experience in business and public services, who has written extensively on the role of business in modern society.

In this extract evaluates how useful his own education was a preparation for the world of work. Read paragraphs 1, 5 and 6 quickly. Does the writer think his own education was useful preparation for work? What does he say about the present situation?

A PROPER EDUCATION

1

I left school and university with my head packed full of knowledge; enough of it, anyway, to pass all the examinations that were put in my path. As a well-educated man I rather expected my work to be a piece of cake, something at which my intellect would allow me to excel without undue effort. It came as something

of a shock, therefore, to encounter the world outside for the first time, and to realize that I was woefully ill-equipped, not only for the necessary business of earning a living, but, more importantly, for coping with all the new decisions which came my way, in both life and work. My first employers put it rather well: ‘You have a well-trained but empty mind,’ they told me, ‘which we will now try to fill with something useful, but don’t imagine that you will be of any real value to us for the first ten year.’ I was fortunate to have lighted upon an employer prepared to invest so much time in what was, in effect, my real education and I shall always feel guilty that I left them when the ten years were up.

2

A well-trained mind is not to be sneezed at, but I was soon to discover that my mind had been trained to deal with closed problems, whereas most of what I now had to deal with were open-ended problems. ‘What is the cost of sales?’ is a closed problem, one with a right or a wrong answer. ‘What should we do about it?’ is and open problem, one with any number of possible answers, and I had no experience of taking this type of decision. Knowing the right answer to a question, I came to realize, was not the same as making a difference to a situation, which was what I was supposed to be paid for. Worst of all, the real open-ended question – ‘What is all this in aid of?’ was beginning to nudge at my mind.

3

I had been educated in an individualist culture. My scores were mine. No one else into it, except as competitors in some imagines race. I was on my own in the learning game at school and university. Not so in my work, I soon realized. Being an individual star would not help me there if it was in my failing group. Our destinies were linked, which meant that my co-workers were now colleagues, not competitors. Teams were something I had encountered on the sports field, not in the classroom. They were in the box marked ‘fun’ in my mind, not the ones marked ‘work’ or even ‘life’. My new challenge, I discovered, was to merge these three boxes. I had discovered, rather later than most, the necessity of others. It was the start of my real education.

4

‘So you’re a university graduate are you?’ said my new Sale Manager. ‘In classics, is it? I don’t think that is going to impress our Chinese salesmen! How do you propose to win their respect since you will be in charge of some of them very shortly?’ Another open-ended problem! I had never before been thrust among people very different from me, with different values and assumptions about the way the world worked, or should work. I had not even met anyone more than two years older, except for relatives and teachers. Cultural exploration was a process unknown to me, and I was not accustomed to being regarded as stupid and ignorant, which I undoubtedly was, in all the things that mattered in their world.

5

My education, I decided then, had been positively disabling. So much of the content of what I had learned was irrelevant, while the process of learning it had cultivated a set of attitudes and behaviors which were directly opposed to what seemed to be needed in real life. Although I had studied philosophy I hadn’t applied it to myself. I had assumed that the point of life was obvious: to get on, get rich, get a wife and the get a family. It was beginning to be clear that life wasn’t as simple as that. What I believed in, what I thought was worth working for, and with whom, these things were becoming important. So was my worry about what I personally could contribute that might not only earn me money but also make a useful contribution somewhere.

6

It would be nice to think that this sort of experience could not happen now, that our schools, today, prepare people better for life and for the work which is so crucial to a satisfactory life. But I doubt it. The subjects may appear to be a little more relevant, but we are still left to learn about work at work, and about life by living it. That will always be true, but we could, I believe, do more to make sure that the process of education had more in common with the processes of living and working as they are today, so that the shock of reality is less cruel.

Match the following main topics to the numbered paragraphs of the text. Then underline the phrase or sentence in that paragraph which answers the question below.

Personal conclusions (para. …………)

What was the writer’s main conclusion about his education?

Initial expectations of work (para. …………)

What were the writer’s initial expectations of how he would cope at work?

Relevance to today’s educational systems (para. …………)

To what extent does the writer think that things are better today?

Broadening awareness of other cultures (para. …………)

In what ways were the people the writer worked with different from the people he had been educated with?

Dealing with problems and making decision (para. …………)

What were the differences between the types of problem he had to deal with in education and at work?

Attitudes to colleagues (para. …………)

What difference did the writer find between his relationships at school and at work?

Now answer the multiple-choice questions below. Choose the answer (A, B, C or D) which you think fits best according to the text.

1 When the writer left university, he expected to succeed by

A using the qualities his education had developed.

B gaining further qualification.

C developing his decision-making skills.

D acquiring relevant skills in his place of work.

2 He feels he treated his first employers badly because he did not

A give them a true idea of his strengths and weaknesses.

B contribute to the company financially.

C repay them fully for the help they gave him.

D stay with them any longer than he was obliged to.

3 He found that he needed to re-evaluate his approach at work because he

A was asking the wrong types of question.

B had been trained to deal with problems in the wrong way.

C met new kinds of problems in his working life.

D was dealing primarily with moral problems.

4 What was one of the first things he learned at work?

A that he could no always be first

B that other people were willing to help him

C the importance of having leisure interests outside his work

D the link between team sport and work

5 He realized that he lacked understanding of other cultures when he

A had to work with people who had different values.

B had to work outside his own country.

C realized that his subordinates did nor respect him.

6 What was the writer’s main conclusion about his education?

A It had taught him to value money too much.

B It had been much too theoretical to be of any use.

C It had been not just useless, but actually harmful.

D It had taught him that life was not simples.

7 The writer feels that nowadays

A life is changing so fast that schools can never prepare for it.

B the way in which students are taught to think should be re-examined.

C the content of syllabuses should be brought fully up-to-date.

D educational reforms have bridged the gap between school and work.

more vocational or practical subjects (give examples)

• compulsory involvement in competitive team sports

• school trips and exchange visits to other countries

• more cross-curricular projects

• work experience placements

Context and style

1) You will often find clues to the meaning of difficult words and expressions with the txt itself. Find the following expressions in the text on pages 24-25 and use the context to work out what they mean. Which expressions are formal and which are informal?

1 a piece of cake (para. 1)

(CLUE: The following words explain the meaning of this idiom in relation to the topic.)

2 excel (para. 1)

(CLUE: This is a verb related to the adjective ‘excellent’.)

3 encounter (paras. 1 and 3)

(CLUE: Use both contexts to work out the meaning.)

4 closed problems/open problems (para. 2)

(CLUE: The text goes on to give examples and explanations.)

5 nudge (para. 2)

(CLUE: This is a verb usually meaning ‘to give a gentle push’. Here it is used metaphorically.)

6 merge (para 3)

(CLUE: Look back at the previous two sentences.)

7 thrust (para. 4)

(CLUE: A passive verb followed by ‘among people’.)

8 undoubtedly (para. 4)

(CLUE: Word formation: an adverb formed from the root ‘doubt’ and a negative prefix.)

9 cultivated (para. 5)

(CLUE: A verb usually used about farming or gardening. Here it is used metaphorically.)

10 crucial (para. 6)

(CLUE: The immediate context.)

2) Like much written English, the text on pages 24-25 contains a mixture of formal and semi-formal or even informal language. The following sentences are written in neutral language. Re-express them using a phrase from the text to replace the words in italics. Which of the expressions from the text are typical of formal language? Which are informal or idiomatic?

1 He therefore felt that starting work would be very easy for him.

2 He thought that he would succeed in business without needing to work hard.

3 The hard reality of the business world was quite a surprise to him.

4 He realized that he was not adequately trained for the demands of the business world.

5 He still felt that a well-trained mind could be useful, but that it was not enough for the world of work.

6 He had been trained specifically to deal with closed problem but now he needed to solve open-ended problems.

7 He felt unhappy and asked himself the question, ‘What is the purpose of all this effort?’

8 He had previously only met the idea of being part of a team when he played sports.

9 He also knew nothing about finding out about other cultures.

10 He had assumed that the point of work was to become wealthy, but began to question this philosophy.

3) The text on pages 24-25 contains fewer phrasal verbs than would be found in a more informal written text or spoken language.

Try to think of verbs or phrases with similar meanings to the ones below. Then check your answers with the text.