I want to offer a quick comment on the attempt to draw conclusions regarding “educational strategy” from the fact that a high percentage of BMG/Lakewood students who took the CPA exam passed on the first try.
I think this would be wrong for the simple reason that the ability to score a passing grade on an exam that measures ability in a narrow subject area has nothing to do with being educated.
Steven Pinker, writing in the New Republic, once described an educated person as follows:
Rabbi Adlerstein on the Cross Currents blog asks, “Are some kids wasting years of time because they could learn material much more quickly when a bit older?” The answer is “yes” only if all you expect them to do is cram into their heads the necessary facts needed to pass a few courses and tests needed to obtain a job. If you expect them to become educated along the lines of Pinker’s definition or anything close, then 2 years or even 20 years is barely enough time to make a start of it.
I think this would be wrong for the simple reason that the ability to score a passing grade on an exam that measures ability in a narrow subject area has nothing to do with being educated.
Steven Pinker, writing in the New Republic, once described an educated person as follows:
I think we can be more specific. It seems to me that educated people should know something about the 13-billion-year prehistory of our species and the basic laws governing the physical and living world, including our bodies and brains. They should grasp the timeline of human history from the dawn of agriculture to the present. They should be exposed to the diversity of human cultures, and the major systems of belief and value with which they have made sense of their lives. They should know about the formative events in human history, including the blunders we can hope not to repeat. They should understand the principles behind democratic governance and the rule of law. They should know how to appreciate works of fiction and art as sources of aesthetic pleasure and as impetuses to reflect on the human condition.
On top of this knowledge, a liberal education should make certain habits of rationality second nature. Educated people should be able to express complex ideas in clear writing and speech. They should appreciate that objective knowledge is a precious commodity, and know how to distinguish vetted fact from superstition, rumor, and unexamined conventional wisdom. They should know how to reason logically and statistically, avoiding the fallacies and biases to which the untutored human mind is vulnerable. They should think causally rather than magically, and know what it takes to distinguish causation from correlation and coincidence. They should be acutely aware of human fallibility, most notably their own, and appreciate that people who disagree with them are not stupid or evil. Accordingly, they should appreciate the value of trying to change minds by persuasion rather than intimidation or demagoguery.
Rabbi Adlerstein on the Cross Currents blog asks, “Are some kids wasting years of time because they could learn material much more quickly when a bit older?” The answer is “yes” only if all you expect them to do is cram into their heads the necessary facts needed to pass a few courses and tests needed to obtain a job. If you expect them to become educated along the lines of Pinker’s definition or anything close, then 2 years or even 20 years is barely enough time to make a start of it.
Sadly, the pervasive ads in community newspapers for post-seminary/yeshiva diploma mills that offer degrees that can be attained by combining CLEP tests, yeshiva credit, study at home courses, etc. all so that one can maximize one’s time doing other things prove that an “educational strategy” that de-emphasizes education is becoming the norm. It's the equivalent of high school students who have goofed off for 4 years enrolling in a crash course before the SATs to bring up their score. They are not getting 4 years of education in a few months -- they are getting test taking skills and strategies and certain key facts necessary to do well on a test.
What I regard as a flaw others regard as a virtue. Few people want an education -- they want a degree that ultimately leads to a well-paying job. Let's not kid ourselves -- no one is learning in 2 years or 18 months what takes years of schooling to master. They are simply cutting out the pretense of getting an education and getting a degree / profession instead.
My wife reminded me that she once posted on this same topic and related the story that her grandfather, R' Dov Yehudah Shochet, one of the tamidim muvhakim of R' Yosef Leib Bloch, was given permission by R' Bloch to attend university on the condition that he immediately return to yeshiva in Telz when instructed. When he was just short of finishing his degree, R' Bloch sent word that it was time for him to come back, and so he did (side lesson: that's real hisbatlus to one's rebbe). When he asked R' Bloch why he called him just then to return, R' Bloch explained that he allowed him to go to university in order to get an education. That he already had done -- the degree was just a piece of paper.
Fast forward to our times v'na'hapoch hu -- the tables have been turned.
My wife reminded me that she once posted on this same topic and related the story that her grandfather, R' Dov Yehudah Shochet, one of the tamidim muvhakim of R' Yosef Leib Bloch, was given permission by R' Bloch to attend university on the condition that he immediately return to yeshiva in Telz when instructed. When he was just short of finishing his degree, R' Bloch sent word that it was time for him to come back, and so he did (side lesson: that's real hisbatlus to one's rebbe). When he asked R' Bloch why he called him just then to return, R' Bloch explained that he allowed him to go to university in order to get an education. That he already had done -- the degree was just a piece of paper.
Fast forward to our times v'na'hapoch hu -- the tables have been turned.
The trend in education is to focus on career and not on general knowledge. Some people don't have the luxury of spending years getting a broad liberal education, and have to satisfy themselves with what they read on their own and with what is taught in Yeshiva. For career purposes, a CPA, as I understand it, and unlike some other degrees, is reliable evidence of expertise. Without it, you would have to demonstrate your skills beginning at the bottom before you reach your level of competence.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter always assumed that she would marry someone with a good general education. She surprised herself, and us, by ended up with a husband that never was in high school, but is a fine, fine, man. He knows as much about the world as any of us do, and whatever calculus he's missing he makes up with his encyclopedic knowledge of Torah.
>>>Some people don't have the luxury of spending years getting a broad liberal education,
DeleteI would say it is not a luxury -- it is a necessity. I guess you disagree.
>>>and have to satisfy themselves with what they read on their own
I hope I did not imply that school is the only route to becoming educated. I agree that you can probably learn more through reading good books than you learn in a classroom.
Getting back to the main point, my impression is that for too many people the attitude is not "nebach, I just don't have enough time to become educated," but rather, "baruch Hashem, I'm proud to get away with as little work and study as possible." Ignorance has become an ideal rather than a concession to lack of time or lack of money or other circumstances.
My kids have classmates who have gone on Pesach or winter vacation trips all kinds of places, but who have never been to the Met or seen Shakespeare performed. It's not lack of time or resources -- it's simply a value choice.
For those who make the choice to sacrifice secular studies (full disclosure: my own son has not attended college), kol ha'kavod. But only a small minority belong in that camp.
That is a very unfair assessment of the situation. There is simply no way to become a knowledgeable Talmid Chacham and have a broad secular education. Even the very few who claimed to have accomplished both didn't really. Rav Soloveitchik, while a great Talmid Chacham, doesn't compare to Reb Moshe and Reb Aharon who were solely dedicated to Torah. Therefore, the current approacheck is, let my children study Torah and get an in-depth start in Halacha and Lomdus. The education they need for Parnassah they can get later on. A broad secular education, while desirable, is simply not a priority.
DeleteThat is a very unfair assessment of the situation. There is simply no way to become a knowledgeable Talmid Chacham and have a broad secular education. Even the very few who claimed to have accomplished both didn't really. Rav Soloveitchik, while a great Talmid Chacham, doesn't compare to Reb Moshe and Reb Aharon who were solely dedicated to Torah. Therefore, the current approacheck is, let my children study Torah and get an in-depth start in Halacha and Lomdus. The education they need for Parnassah they can get later on. A broad secular education, while desirable, is simply not a priority.
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