Structure of a Student

One area in society that fits extremely well into the mold of social structure is the educational system.  For years, myself and countless others have followed the plans set forth by organizations and groups in order to achieve an education.  Although it seems that each organization has its own guidelines and expectations, all of these are essentially the same.

As an elementary and middle school student, things were simpler, but all actions taken in the classroom were set on one common goal, success on standardized tests.  Of course individuals grades throughout the year were important, but when it came down to it, standardized tests seemed to take precedent.  Weeks, if not months, of class time were spent on preparation and studying for the MCA's and Iowa Basics standardized tests.  Our tests scores not only showed what we knew, but showed how effective the groups within the school system taught the material on the tests.  I never experienced anything with teachers changing answers or teaching to the test (thankfully) in order to give themselves a positive impression as an instructor.

In high school things began to change towards individual abilities and success in the classroom.  Classes are more lenient towards what the student wants to learn, but are still structured in a way that student's are similar.  Class selection has a large impact on what a student's future may hold.  It became more clear who has the intelligence and capability to be something big in the world and also who will eventually fall out and not provide much to society.  Again, standardized tests, such as the ACT and SAT, are critical instruments of measuring our intelligence.  Even though many colleges and universities say they "don't take your ACT score into much account when determining admission or financial aid," they actually do!  These tests have the ability to set out role expectations regarding the student who either did well or struggled on the tests.

The expectation many high school students have coming into college is that they are free to make their own decisions and do things that they want to experience.  Partially, they are right, but on the other hand they are dead wrong.  It may seem that we can choose whatever classes we want to take, but really we can't.  We are all required to declare a major program of study during our college careers.  A major program is set up with classes that a student HAS to take in order to achieve a major in that respective program.  Certain majors, then, are set up with certain occupational fields.  The college education system is set up as almost a "training and orientation" session as the first step going into the work force.  Things begin to look towards the future long-term, instead of focusing on the here-and-now as was the case in younger schooling years.