Liberal Arts reflection paper
“It is not so very important for a person to learn facts. For that he does not really need a college. He can learn them from books. The value of an education in a liberal arts college is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think something that cannot be learned from textbooks”.
– Albert Einstein 1921 (in response to Thomas Edison’s opinion that a college education is useless)
My liberal arts education has not only given me the classes and content I need to succeed but it also has played a large role in making me the person who I am today. When I first graduated from high school I thought I was going to get my degree in Convention Management Planning and really didn’t know where I wanted to attend college. That all changed before I came to Loras College. I received my Associates Degree at Black Hawk Community College in Moline, Illinois. When I was there, I decided to change my major to an education degree and choose Loras College to transfer to. I think being at Black Hawk has helped create my study skills and embrace my social skills, which are the “facts” Einstein discusses. However, it wasn’t until I came to Loras that my mind was opened to much greater knowledge, such as it being a Liberal Arts school, which is Einstein’s belief of the “training of the mind.” Being at Loras, I have done the best I have ever done in school. I think this has a lot to do with how I have applied myself; but I also believe that being at a Liberal Arts school has also helped me become a better student. Loras College’s four dispositions of active learning, reflective thinking, ethical decision making, and responsible contributing have also helped structure the way I think and how I apply the knowledge that I have learned in the classroom. Though there are four disposition,s two of them I feel has affected me the greatest. Active Learning and Reflective Thinking are the two dispositions that I feel I have developed the most through my field experience and through my education courses here at Loras College.
As Albert Einstein has stated, “It is not so very important to learn facts.” Even though we can learn facts from books Einstein believes that a Liberal Arts College is necessary to train the mind. Through the years here at a Liberal Arts school I have learned to train my mind to think from other perspectives, and to have an open mind. It is important to not only learn facts from a book but to learn from everyone and from the experiences that I have had. For example, in each class that I have had here at Loras I have learned that I should consider other’s points and thoughts while in the classroom. However I once took a class that was called Multi-Cultural Education. This course really taught me how to accept everyone, not just their physical appearance but also their background and knowledge. I was able to relate to a lot of the topics discussed considering I am an education major. I also was able to listen to the point of views of my peers, professor, and speakers that came to our classroom and connect my knowledge and experience with their points. This helped me go above and beyond when applying my knowledge. An example of this is a video, attached below, that I created with peers that included interviews of two peers and a professor, discussing students with disabilities around Loras College. (Artifact One)
All of the dispositions represent this quote perfectly. However, the one disposition that comes to my mind first, is Active Learning. Active Learning is defined as someone who wants to learn. This person wants to make the most of their experiences and learn in vigorous ways. Through my experience here at Loras College I have not stopped learning. Whether it is in the classroom, in a club that I participate in, or at my field placements; I have had the opportunity to learn from all different perspectives and situations. Being at a liberal arts school I have had the chance to go out and put myself forward to show that I want to learn. I may not be active in many clubs but I consider myself an active learner because I am constantly curious of what is going on around me. When I have been placed in my field placements I make sure I go that extra mile to show that I want to learn and to get the most out of what I am learning. This is something that I cannot learn in a book as Albert Einstein has said. By doing this I make sure that I am not only sitting there and observing what is going on around me but I ask questions to my teacher at the time, of what they would like me to do. I step in if I see something that I can help with and I do whatever it takes to not only show that I want to be actively engaged but to also get the most out of the experience that I can. Through my experience I also have been exposed to a large amount of diversity here at Loras. I may not have had the chance to study abroad but I have learned to become open to new ideas and meet people that come from all over the world. I also have been exposed to diverse situations all over Dubuque through my field experiences. I have had the opportunity to work with students from private and public schools as well as students who come from low and high socioeconomic life styles. Working with diverse students makes me an active learner because I enjoy working with all different types of learners. Learning how each individual student learns, helps me learn how I can adapt my teaching style to each student I interact with. Getting the chance to work with students from very diverse situations and learning how to work with each individual, I could not learn in a book, but rather something I had to learn through experience and events that kept me actively thinking.
Einstein talks about how a Liberal Arts education is not about the facts but the experiences and the knowledge that we use to train our mind. To train the mind to think something that cannot be learned from textbooks is by reflecting. Reflective Thinking, which is someone who takes into account their own actions by thinking creatively and critically, is also a disposition that took me a while to get used to. Being at a liberal arts school, it is required for us to constantly make sure that we are reflecting on what we do or say. I am the type of person who likes to constantly be on the move, so taking the time to stop and think about what just happened was hard to adapt to. However it is one disposition that I have seen huge growth with and now I believe that reflecting is very important. I can learn certain content from a book to help prepare me for my major but it wasn’t until I came to a Liberal Arts school that I learned how to reflect. I reflect after every experience I have now, especially with student teaching. Each day is different and exciting and if it wasn’t for reflecting on my day I wouldn’t take the time to grow. For example, after a full day of teaching I take the time to think about how each lesson went and what I could do differently. In some cases, if a student cannot stay on task, I reflect on how I can keep the student focused, or if the lesson is too easy for some students but too hard for others, how I can differentiate my lessons so that everyone grows and learns in their own individual way. However, I haven’t just started reflecting, it takes time and practice to be able to sit down and think about what I did today and what I can do differently tomorrow. I am honored to say I have learned how to do so with help from a Liberal Arts school.
Active Learning and Reflective Thinking are two dispositions that connect to each other. I see Reflective Thinking and Active Learning as two very important skills that will be used continuously throughout my life. I now understand that to complete any type of task and to grow in that area, one needs to be actively engaged and constantly learning but also reflect after one is done to see what could be done differently next time. The two artifacts that I have chosen are a video that I created with peers and a website that was developed to show the growth of a student that I tutored. To create both of these artifacts I needed to be actively learning about the peers that I interviewed as well as the student that I worked with. I had to also reflect on the process in order to better understand another person’s point of view, whether it was a college student with disabilities or an elementary student participating in tutoring lessons. Please see the artifacts that are attached to see how much the dispositions reflect each other.
So, can we learn everything in a textbook? Do we need a college to get the most out of life? Albert Einstein said, “It is not so very important for a person to learn facts. For that he does not really need a college. He can learn them from books. The value of an education in a liberal arts college is not the learning of many facts but the training of the mind to think something that cannot be learned from textbooks.” We can learn a lot from a text book but not everything. Having the opportunity and the exposures that I have had, has developed the person I am today. Without a Liberal Arts education I would not have had the quality education that I have now. I would not have become the active learner and reflector that I am today. I have been trained to be open-minded, to listen to understand, to practice self- criticism, and to get things done most of all! Taking the courses that I took and having the field experience that I had, helped form my learning and reflecting. Choosing a Liberal Arts college, is one of the best decisions that I have made, if I didn’t come to Loras College I would not have become the person that I am today and I am so grateful to be able to say that.
Artifacts
Artifact One: Multicultural Education Video (See below)
Artifact Two: Lincoln Tutoring Project