Formal education tends to restrain our minds and spirits rather than set them free

Essay topics:

Formal education tends to restrain our minds and spirits rather than set them free

The statement put a negative attitude to the relationship between formal education and spiritual freedom. But we have to define the term ‘freedom’ before we delve into this arbitrary question. Freedom is an act without any restraint. Therefore, minds and spirits free means to think or to feel without any limitations, thus creativity and free thinking. Then why the formal education will restrain those characteristic of freedom? What pattern of such education could result in detrimental effect to our creativity which marks the human species, or harmful to free thinking which laid the foundation to our society?

Formal education have standardized material. This kind of uniformity can effectively instill students a great amount of knowledge within short period of time systematically. It is mind-blowing that students are able to learn the knowledge of past 5000 years in just around 20 years. With this uniformity, this system is capable of training millions of educated people, doctors, lawyers, engineers, scholars, and so on from all over on the globe. It is a miracle in human history that none of our ancestor have ever done as such. And a point worth mentioning, the creation of school, allow kids to learn in the classroom with others. This would speed up the process of socialization as kids communicate, interact, and learn to cooperate with one another. The most important of all, it is cheap. Education was expensive, and it was designed primary for the aristocracy, who are more educated and rich and affordable to buy books, hire private teachers, or send their children to private schools. Therefore, it seems to be a bless from formal education as to modernized society.

However, despite the fact that it helps in educating lots of people, it does kill our creativity. The standardized material implies that there is a set group of knowledge worth learning for everybody. Maybe this is true, but it may be more crucial to tell students there are much more worth to learn beyond the range covered by textbooks. And ignite their passion to the knowledge, so that they will learn for themselves even after graduation. One of the purposes of education is to teach students to learn and think. Or chances are that students will just regurgitate it on the test and throw them away after the test. Except from learning a set group of fact, this rigid pattern of formal education fail in encouraging students to ask questions. Asking questions means to stir one’s own brain in order to approach to a solution, and that is the process where creativity is generated. Creativity is the source for innovations, which basically construct our world. Hence, the rigid education turns out not making advances in foster creativity but restrain it.

In terms of free thinking, it is better to start with the opposite – brainwashing. You might ask how could an education system not teaching our kids, but even clamping down on their thought! Indeed, the system is not doing it obviously but in a subtle way. Since the school education is all standardized, it doesn’t encourage inquiries. Time after time, students get accustomed to sit and wait for answer, even if they have question in their mind, the usual silence in the class that has build in for a long time will deter them from asking. Besides that, what if they asked a silly question? Will my friends despise me if I ask such an easy question? School is like a small communal society, where students learn not only from the books but also the behaviors of others. If no one is asking, they might think it is not allowed or not welcomed to ask, even though that is the exact place they should ask and learn from their mistakes. It is sort of brainwashing where it sets a rule upon individual will by collective will. Therefore, students are becoming groups of drone, less diverse in personality, containing lots of fact but wouldn’t dare to think outside of the box.

To sum up, formal education have malign effect to our mind for several reasons. The standardized and rigid material is repercussion to the students imagination and creativity, since it can not encourage them to ask questions or learn for themselves but merely offer lots of fact. Furthermore, school system is making it worse because it induces a collective will of fear of asking. If it is not cultivating creativity and free thinking, or even making it worse, school is not a place to feel freedom.

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Average: 5 (1 vote)
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Comments

Grammar and spelling errors:
Line 3, column 144, Rule ID: PERIOD_OF_TIME[1]
Message: Use simply 'period'.
Suggestion: period
... great amount of knowledge within short period of time systematically. It is mind-blowing that...
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Line 3, column 1021, Rule ID: A_INFINITVE[1]
Message: Probably a wrong construction: a/the + infinitive
...vate schools. Therefore, it seems to be a bless from formal education as to modernized ...
^^^^^^^
Line 7, column 241, Rule ID: IN_A_X_MANNER[1]
Message: Consider replacing "in a subtle way" with adverb for "subtle"; eg, "in a hasty manner" with "hastily".
...he system is not doing it obviously but in a subtle way. Since the school education is all stan...
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Line 7, column 373, Rule ID: ADMIT_ENJOY_VB[4]
Message: This verb is used with the gerund form: 'accustomed to sitting'.
Suggestion: accustomed to sitting
...nquiries. Time after time, students get accustomed to sit and wait for answer, even if they have ...
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Line 9, column 140, Rule ID: POSSESIVE_APOSTROPHE[1]
Message: Possible typo: apostrophe is missing. Did you mean 'students'' or 'student's'?
Suggestion: students'; student's
...d rigid material is repercussion to the students imagination and creativity, since it ca...
^^^^^^^^

Transition Words or Phrases used:
also, besides, but, furthermore, hence, however, if, may, so, still, then, therefore, thus, as to, in short, kind of, sort of, to start with, to sum up

Attributes: Values AverageValues Percentages(Values/AverageValues)% => Comments

Performance on Part of Speech:
To be verbs : 32.0 19.5258426966 164% => OK
Auxiliary verbs: 17.0 12.4196629213 137% => OK
Conjunction : 33.0 14.8657303371 222% => Less conjunction wanted
Relative clauses : 17.0 11.3162921348 150% => OK
Pronoun: 67.0 33.0505617978 203% => Less pronouns wanted
Preposition: 115.0 58.6224719101 196% => OK
Nominalization: 24.0 12.9106741573 186% => OK

Performance on vocabulary words:
No of characters: 3721.0 2235.4752809 166% => OK
No of words: 751.0 442.535393258 170% => Less content wanted.
Chars per words: 4.95472703063 5.05705443957 98% => OK
Fourth root words length: 5.23491921734 4.55969084622 115% => OK
Word Length SD: 2.8369821993 2.79657885939 101% => OK
Unique words: 359.0 215.323595506 167% => OK
Unique words percentage: 0.478029294274 0.4932671777 97% => OK
syllable_count: 1134.0 704.065955056 161% => OK
avg_syllables_per_word: 1.5 1.59117977528 94% => OK

A sentence (or a clause, phrase) starts by:
Pronoun: 14.0 6.24550561798 224% => Less pronouns wanted as sentence beginning.
Interrogative: 4.0 0.740449438202 540% => Less interrogative sentences wanted.
Article: 8.0 4.99550561798 160% => OK
Subordination: 8.0 3.10617977528 258% => Less adverbial clause wanted.
Conjunction: 13.0 1.77640449438 732% => Less conjunction wanted as sentence beginning.
Preposition: 9.0 4.38483146067 205% => Less preposition wanted as sentence beginnings.

Performance on sentences:
How many sentences: 40.0 20.2370786517 198% => OK
Sentence length: 18.0 23.0359550562 78% => The sentence length is short
Sentence length SD: 42.9205952894 60.3974514979 71% => OK
Chars per sentence: 93.025 118.986275619 78% => OK
Words per sentence: 18.775 23.4991977007 80% => OK
Discourse Markers: 3.775 5.21951772744 72% => OK
Paragraphs: 5.0 4.97078651685 101% => OK
Language errors: 5.0 7.80617977528 64% => OK
Sentences with positive sentiment : 25.0 10.2758426966 243% => Less positive sentences wanted.
Sentences with negative sentiment : 6.0 5.13820224719 117% => OK
Sentences with neutral sentiment: 9.0 4.83258426966 186% => OK
What are sentences with positive/Negative/neutral sentiment?

Coherence and Cohesion:
Essay topic to essay body coherence: 0.214602930851 0.243740707755 88% => OK
Sentence topic coherence: 0.0519787347774 0.0831039109588 63% => OK
Sentence topic coherence SD: 0.0556148594431 0.0758088955206 73% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence: 0.135398662195 0.150359130593 90% => OK
Paragraph topic coherence SD: 0.0484221567125 0.0667264976115 73% => OK

Essay readability:
automated_readability_index: 11.3 14.1392134831 80% => Automated_readability_index is low.
flesch_reading_ease: 61.67 48.8420337079 126% => OK
smog_index: 8.8 7.92365168539 111% => OK
flesch_kincaid_grade: 9.1 12.1743820225 75% => OK
coleman_liau_index: 11.43 12.1639044944 94% => OK
dale_chall_readability_score: 7.79 8.38706741573 93% => OK
difficult_words: 155.0 100.480337079 154% => OK
linsear_write_formula: 8.0 11.8971910112 67% => OK
gunning_fog: 9.2 11.2143820225 82% => OK
text_standard: 9.0 11.7820224719 76% => OK
What are above readability scores?

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Rates: 50.0 out of 100
Scores by essay e-grader: 3.0 Out of 6
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Note: the e-grader does NOT examine the meaning of words and ideas. VIP users will receive further evaluations by advanced module of e-grader and human graders.