Pros and Cons of Industrial Education - Essay Example

Views on Education by Washington and Du Bois Education is considered as a medium in forming a person’s character, intelligence, and vocational development (Ravi 245). In relation to this, the achievement of education has been considered as one of the essential results of the abolishment of slavery of the African American people. However, many had argued on what type of education the newly freed African American people will need in the course of their lifetime. This question has given rise to the argument on the advantages and disadvantages of industrial education. With this on hand, the Industrial Education for the Negro by Booker T. Washington and On the Training of Black Men and A Negro Schoolmaster by W. E. B. Du Bois will be used to cite the advantages and disadvantages of industrial and liberal education. Booker T. Washington was one of the African Americans who were the slaves in the South. For this reason, he wrote the essay Industrial Education for the Negro. In the time that they were given their freedom, he immediately and strongly supported the industrial education for African Americans especially in the South. He believed that for an African American to live a strong and fruitful life in American soil, he or she must learn to work and earn for a living. In this manner, he had considered all types of employment as an honorable job, even doing the laundry and doing the dishes. In the process of industrial education, an African American student will be able to place his or her self in the American society and will be able to work and not be worked in the process. The learning in this type of education is necessary in order to be sufficient and skilled in the chosen industrial field. The ability to learn how to handle tools and incorporate these learning with mathematics and sciences will allow the work to be more sophisticated, efficient, and easy. In amalgamating industrial education with mathematics, languages, letters, and sciences, a student, who will also be a future employee, will be harnessed and strengthened and will eventually be equipped for real life. It will open a door for the African American to the world of business and commerce. Washington also cited that he considered that the African Americans are capable of learning higher education and are free to achieve such education. However, he also wants to see his fellow African Americans to be able to use their “mental strengths” (Washington 357) in accomplishing daily practical activities and work. He also added that incorporating industrial education to the learning of African American students will allow them to pay for their own schooling and earn from their activities. Furthermore, he strongly believed that industrial education will not only equip African Americans in the light of industrial employments, but will also inculcate in their lives the habit to save and love their work, business, and economy they are a part of. Along with these values will also grow the individual’s moral values and religious foundation, which Washington considers supplemental values in order to appreciate and enjoy life, art, and literature. In the light of liberal education, W. E. B. Du Bois cited in his essays, On the Training of Black Men and a Negro Schoolmaster, that industrial education is essential, but it must not be the only type of education African Americans must be given. He believed that African Americans, considered as free men, must be given the chance to mold themselves into leaders that will soon rise and lead the nation. As a graduate of BA in Fisk University and PhD at Harvard University, he strongly believed that the African American youth must be given equal learning with the White in terms of arts, politics, philosophy, and other branches of knowledge. In this way, they will be raised as strong, committed, and well-educated leaders. He believed that education is not only a medium in order to teach a person to work and earn for a living, but it is the key to mold laborers to men and women in society. Working for a living is not the sole purpose of a person’s life; it has to go beyond the need to live and earn. An African American, for Du Bois, has a greater responsibility in the manner of facing and combating issues and problems of the society at large rather than focusing his or her strength in the mere act of educating himself or herself for employment. He advocates that an African American must go beyond the generic label as an inferior human being, and this can be achieved successfully through educating the African American youth through the liberal education curriculum. He would like to abolish in the minds of the African American that they are learning in order to work themselves after school and earn for a living. Du Bois firmly believed that African American youths must go beyond learning and earning; they must learn their past and their present. They must learn the current and future developments in the different branches of knowledge and learn about the different nations in order to take part in the future resolution of the problems of the nation and their race. The two ideologies are essential grounds in understanding the needs of African Americans or any minority. It can be inferred that Washington considered industrial education as an essential and advantageous tool not only for African Americans, but also for other immigrants and minority groups. The importance of industrial education is that it allows the students, or the learners, to incorporate industrial education and other learning systems to gain maximum use of their knowledge for employment. It prepares a learner to take part in the business and commercial economy, which is important in an entry-level employment. It can also be cited in Washington’s idea that when liberal and industrial education are combined, the learner will be more skilful and will be able to take advantageous steps in terms of employability. This type of curriculum is considered as a training ground and will mold African Americans to be skilful employees of the society. In this manner, African Americans, or any other minority group, will be able to live a life that is capable of learning, earning, and at the same time, appreciating arts and literature. However, Du Bois argued that an African American youth, or any minority group must not be fenced within industrial education per se. African American youth must be introduced to the world that goes beyond employment. They must be educated with liberal arts in order to take part in a more important battle than mere employability. He suggests that it is important for African Americans, or any minority group, to eradicate their labels as inferior people. It must be inculcated in the minds of the youth that they are studying not only to fill their stomach, but also they need to learn in order to lead their race or group to a more fruitful freedom beyond enslavement. Liberal education for Du Bois is more than just learning; it is an individual’s weapon to combat not only employability and poverty, but also issues that affect the minority group beyond the light of employment. Both ideas are essential in understanding the importance of education in any field. It is also important to consider that education does not only create employees and leaders, but it also helps in molding individuals to be good citizens. It is essential to acknowledge that whatever educational system or curriculum an individual will follow or take part, values and characters must be first developed. There may be a lot of differences between the two systems, but both consider values and characters as core foundations of any individual, may it be an employee or a leader. Works Cited Du Bois, W. E. B. “A Negro Schoolmaster in the New South.” The Atlantic Monthly 83.495 (1899): 99-105. Print. Du Bois, W. E. B. “On the Training of Black Men.” The Atlantic Monthly 90.539 (1902): 289-297. Print. Ravi, Samuel, S. A Comprehensive Study of Education. New Delhi: PHI Learning Private Limited, 2011. Print. Washington, Booker, T. The Booker T. Washington Reader: An African American Heritage Book. Radford VA: Wilder Publications, LLC, 2008. Print. Read More