Introduction of Education
A
core elective tracking curriculum at his college that provides a common
foundation to all students, but then allows individual students to focus on
areas such as epidemiology and public health, food animal, or small animal
practice. The curriculum includes independent research and externships, which
give students valuable experience in industry and government. “We discovered
that it was extremely well received and, statistically, approximately 50
percent of the graduates who go through these government and corporate programs
go directly into a government or corporate job,”.
Brown
noted that many students entering veterinary medical colleges are unaware of
the wide range of jobs available to them in industry and government. Moreover,
many colleges are not doing a good job of educating students “about the
importance of public and corporate veterinary medicine, about global veterinary
medicine,” she said. She noted that several programs are being implemented to
address this problem, including a stand-alone Internet course on foreign animal
diseases funded by a U.S. Department of Agriculture grant.
The
goal is to “create a cadre of veterinarians, hopefully at each of the
veterinary schools, that will then help to change the culture within the school
so that students then begin to think outside the halls of the school, outside
of the county, outside of the state, outside of the country.” There needs to be
a major shift in education, she added. “I go back to the saying that they use
in many medical schools, ‘when you hear hoof beats on the covered bridge, don’t
think about the zebra….’ Now, in this whole new world order, we have to teach
students and practitioners that they have to think about the zebra.”
COMMUNITY
Two-way process of reaching
mutual understanding, in which participants not only exchange (encode-decode)
information, news, ideas and feelings but also create and share meaning. In
general, communication is a means of connecting people or places. In business,
it is a key function of management--an organization cannot operate without
communication between levels, departments and employees. See also
communications.
A process by which information is exchanged
between individuals through a common system of symbols.
Signs, or behavior the function of pheromones in
insect communication; also :
exchange of information.
ROLE
OF COMMUNITY
Community
plays an important part in the education system. Students, teachers, and
parents agree that community support is vital to the success of schools and
individual students. The students participating on Students Speak Out discussed
how communities can positively or negatively affect their individual
experiences with school and schooling. Many students were encouraged by
individual community members, but at the same time felt let down by their
elected community leaders. In this brief, readers will notice that students
take responsibility for their own education, but recognize their dependence on
the community to help them achieve their goals.
The
schools definitely need to nurture the interests of the students rather than
constantly shutting them down because eventually the students will begin to
give up hope and there are dreams killed. I am not saying that it is the job of
the community and the educational system to supply everything the student needs
to fulfill their dream because most of that is the parent’s responsibility, but
the community and the schools have to realize that they are a type of support
that the student yearns for. I know that when I was in high school, my dreams
were supported. Even if it was just comments from teachers saying, ‘good job,’
or, ‘you’re well on your way’ and others like that.” Holly (Freshman, Avalon
Charter School) “I believe that politicians, education and community leaders
need to emphasize that today's generation is tomorrow's future, and that if we
don't increase funding and inspire critical thinking in today's students, what
hope is there going to be for the future?
Challenging our students should be a
priority in public, private, and alternative schools around the country. I was
just watching the movie "Pay it Forward" which begins with a teacher
who, on the first day of school, emphasizes the responsibility of students to
care about their world and to try and do one thing to change the world. Their
world. That teacher says, "The realm of possibility is where? In here, in
your brain. You can use it, or sit back and let it atrophy. That is, let it
wither away" We shouldn't allow this to happen by being okay with budget
cuts that are basically taking away our educational opportunities. This may be
a rather cynical way of looking at things, but education is very important, and
when it is our education that is at risk, I believe we need to take it
seriously.” Shanaye (recent graduate, North Community HS) “…As for the way
schools and communities can help Citizens League us, all they have to do is
give the encouragement when we ‘the students’ tell them our dreams and aspirations.
All they have to do is say, ‘You have dreamed the dream, let us help you make
the reality.’ However, if you want to be specific, schools can give more
scholarship opportunities, internship opportunities, and volunteer
opportunities. They could also get more mentor programs to give students more
one on one attention and cater to the specific needs of each. Furthermore
communities can help by supporting their children—not just each parent’s
individual child, but the children of every parent in the whole community. It’s
too often that communities are divided amongst themselves, thus setting the
children against each other by the examples of their parents.
But if the
community truly comes together and helps each other then the students benefit
by knowing that they have the love and support of everyone around them. And
that makes us feel like the weight of the world isn’t on just us anymore, but
shared by all who care.” Mai-Eng (Senior, Patrick Henry HS) “…With the
competition of many bright students out there I see that it’s my own goal to
accomplish new experiences and strive to be the best. Therefore, when it comes
down to the help and support of teachers and family members, I see that this
affects students a lot. I often worry that I won’t have enough money to go to
college but, at the same time, I get help from my teachers and staff that makes
me feel college will be possible. There are just some things that affect the
way I view my steps of getting to where I belong. So I strongly say that, to better
myself and my dreams, all I need is the support and motivation of my community
and school. Often times I understand that there are so many issues going on at
the same time and I feel there should be alternatives of helping our young
generation with their education. By this, I mean that at least schools should
have the money to support extra tutorials or programs to help students who are
struggling academically. School and community are so closely related that I see
there are some open options, too, for communities to speak out and bring new
changes or ideas to the school ground. I think this would make a big difference
in student’s life and education. This is because all ideas are good
ideas—especially coming from parents and staff of the community in which lots
of students reside. Therefore, I strongly believe that as long as parents,
teachers, staff, and community members show the support of how important
education is to today’s society, there will be a change in attitude and
motivation of many students.”
There
is a lot of behind-the-scenes work, too, that occurs to cultivate active
citizenship and bring the site to life. For example: Student leaders from
Minneapolis and from Minnesota’s alternative-education programs have project
coordinators who assist them in investigating topics of their choice on video
and in written story, and who connect the students to decision-makers working
in their scope of interest.
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