Education is important to Americans, isn't it?

By law all our children are required

to be engaged in some kind of schooling and we as a nation have created
various educational standards that ensure that our children not only learn, but
that they learn well. America, it seems, cares so much about education that,
according to an estimate from the National Center for Education Statistics, some
739 billion dollars was spent on the public school system in 2016 alone. Clearly,
we as a society want what's best for the future guardians of our nation, our
liberties, and ultimately our world. For our future successors we desire that the
best things should come to them, that they can have a richness of opportunity
and a satisfaction in life that we ourselves can scarcely dream of, and we have
decided, it would seem, that education plays a very important role in creating the
kind of future we want for our children and our children's children. But if we
examine the way we go about achieving these goals, how close do we come to
realizing them? Are we moving in the direction of leaving the world a better place
for future generations? Well today, I argue that while our ambitions are noble, our
execution of those ambitions is flawed. I'd like to explore the flaws of the current
education system and show that an alternative model: a modernization of the
medieval apprenticeship, ought to be considered as a viable solution of the
problems of the current education system that we'll see in a minute. After
examining some of these flaws, I'll then give an overview of what the
apprenticeship model actually is, and finally I'll try to convince you, hopefully, of
the superiority of this alternative to what is current in place. So thet's get right into
it!

Firstly, I’d like to argue that there are some serious problems with the education
system in America as it is currently set up. Given how widely schools are
criticized in America, it is reasonable to assume that, at the very least, a large
majority of people in this country acknowledge that there are flaws in the system
that need to be worked out. Some may say that these problems are relatively
mild, that there are more pressing matters for our society to deal with. But I'd like
to show you just how dismal the situation with public schooling in America
actually is. Firstly, let's just take into account that a child who enters the
education system in preschool and continues through 12th grade will spend 14
years studying and learning the things our educators think they ought to learn. 14
years! And what is there to show for all this time spent in school! Take this into
account: According to data collected by the National Center for Education
Statistics, the majority of American students will spend between 6 to 7 hours in
school on average. That means that assuming a 180 day school year, students
will spend nearly 16 and a half thousand hours sitting in a classroom. Now,
10,000 hours is often quoted as roughly the number of hours needed to achieve
professional mastery in any skill. Do we see masters of any discipline graduating
Highschool? Some, but they are far away from even coming close to being the
norm. At the very least we would expect to see students graduating with concrete
skills, such as a trade or a craft, that can be capitalized on in the workplace and
prepare them for the real world. But do we? What skills do schools teach
students that could land them a job with little to no further education and training?
Furthermore, the rate at which students forget what their teachers do manage to
teach them is astonishing. According to Dr. Donald Bacon, a researcher at the
University of Denver: "most students forget what they learn in about two years."
This is outrageous! To say that we have a crisis of education is an
understatement. We have a responsibility as the leaders of this generation to
adequately train future generations so that they can have opportunities that we
couldn't even dream of.

Which leads me to my next point. What is the medieval apprenticeship model

and could it be a solution to our education crisis? And after I've given an
overview of this system I'd like to show you why we should consider modernizing
it. But, firstly let's see what this model actually is. The model of apprenticeship
can trace its roots back to ancient times, however, it achieved its greatest height
as an educational process in the medieval era under the guild system. Guilds
were most often professional associations between artisans and craftsmen which
oversaw trade in a particular area. They were often quite exclusive. According to
Joann Jovinelli in her book "The Crafts and Cultures of a Medieval Guild'', "Each
craft supported its members and their families. Once fully established,
membership was limited. It was in this way that the guild ensured a decent level
of earnings for its members''. Under this system, masters in a craft or trade would
take on young apprentices who would learn everything they could from the
master and would in time become masters themselves. This system was
mutually beneficial for both the master and the pupil. The master would receive
relatively cheap labor and the apprentices would, in turn, be taught all of the
secrets of the trade they were learning. Apprenticeships typically started when
the child was between the ages of 10 and 15 and continued for a duration of
about 7 years, though some lasted longer and others were shorter. Apprentices
had the distinct advantage of learning through imitation. According to Dr.
Christopher Perrin writing for the Classical university press, "The apprentice first
would learn the most basic and rudimentary skills by imitating his master, but he
also had the advantage of seeing the master at work and engaging him in
conversation and questions, as well as the opportunity to try out new skills
beneath the watchful and correcting eye of the master." Clearly, the medieval
apprenticeship model is an interesting way of educating individuals to prepare
them for real-life work experience. But why should we even consider this frankly
old-fashioned model as a solution to our education crisis?

Well that's a really good question! What I argue is that the medieval
apprenticeship model bears several distinct advantages over the current
schooling system and that a modernized form of it ought to be considered as a
viable alternative to the current system. Now, on to why that is. Firstly, once the
apprenticeship is finished,the pupil has immediate access to a set of skills that
they can use to make a living for themselves that can support them for many
years to come. This isn't typically possible for the average highschool graduate of
today, who usually goes on to college to receive further training before starting a
career. Secondly, the medieval apprenticeship model is simply more in tune with
how humans naturally learn. As infants and children, the way we learned nearly
everything is through imitating those around us, particularly our parents.
According to Andrew Meltzoff, author and co-director of the UW Institute for
Learning & Brain Sciences. “Babies are exquisitely careful people-watchers, and
they’re primed to learn from others." And research has consistently shown that
we keep learning through imitation as adults. Repetition is also one of the ways
we naturally learn. Prof Bob Bruner of the University of Virginia, in an article of
his on repetition in learning claims that "Repeating an encounter enfuses it into
one's awareness" and that "Repetition matters because it can hasten and
deepen the engagement process." While imitation and repetition play some role
in the current education system, they are not nearly as important in today's
classrooms as they were in the medieval apprenticeship. Apprenticeships were
built on these principles of learning, and imitation and repetition were at the very
center of the training, much more than in today's schooling system. Lastly,
though, is that the apprentice of the medieval ages, upon completing their
training, was given the honor of being called a master. It would have been a
source of supreme pride for the apprentice. Furthermore the satisfaction and
sense of accomplishment of having a mastery of a set of skills can't be
overlooked. Author Robert Greene calls this mastery of a skill a "power and
intelligence that represents the high point of human potential". As has been said
before, schools fail to adequately prepare students for real-life and work
experience without the need for further training and what students are taught
quickly fades away. Where is the sense of accomplishment when you spend
years learning things that most of which you will not use? Especially if you know
that what you managed to cram in your head will disappear in a few years?
Ultimately the apprenticeship model bears these several key advantages over
the modern education model and must be considered as an option to make up
for what today's schools are lacking.

So let's wrap it up and take it home. We've seen some of the major flaws of
today's education system: how schools fail to adequately prepare students for the
workplace and the real-world. We explored the apprenticeship model, what it is
and how it worked historically under the medieval guild system. And finally, we
have examined why the medieval apprenticeship model ought to be considered
as a viable alternative to today's problematic schooling system. I have no doubt
in my mind that most if not all educators have noblest intentions and want only
the best for their students, but could it be that in 2020 we have lost sight of our
educational goals? I think that maybe to some extent we have. And it is for this
reason I believe we must consider alternate ways to teach today's children, with
the apprenticeship model being at the top of that list. It is we who hold the future
in our hand's today, but tomorrow another generation will take our place. It is our
responsibility to ensure that that generation is well equipped to fill that role.
Making a better tomorrow starts with improving on today, which is why I advocate
the apprenticeship model as a way to fix our current system, so that through a
better education future generations will themselves be able to enjoy greater
opportunity, freedom, and happiness for years to come. Thank you!