First of all I need to say that this is probably the most entertaining and exciting chapter that I have read so far. I have learned a ton of new stuff and all the topics Wheelan discussed interested me. However, in this journal I will write about a passage that doesn't seem entirely right to me and confused me a bit.
First of all, I do not completely agree with his analogy of parents passing their education on their kids. Wheelan claims that well educated parents have well educated children and illiterate parents have illiterate children "as any public school teacher will tell you".
Lets keep it real. My parents are not very educated. My mother is hungarian and never studied at university. She finished her education at a small state high school in a town located in the middle of Slovakia. I do not even know if she took the national exam that usually states that you have completed the primary education. My dad studied at Slovak national university and majored in engineering. He has a bit better education then my mother but when you think about it...it is not that adorable at all. Education during communism can be compared to a well in a desert. It is possible to find it but is not very probable. Even though he has his degree he will never find out how well he actually did in his studying.
Yet, last year I studied for a semester at John Hopkins. Now I am finishing a semester at Minnehaha Academy (which is apparently a pretty good school) moreover in my second language and possibly I will study at one of the best universities in UK in the future. I do not want to show you that I am the best person ever because I am certainly not. Indeed, I still have a tone of things to learn, and a million areas of education to improve in but compared to my parents it is a huge jump in terms of education.
Education is progressing. There is no doubt about that. All parents want at least a bit better education for their children. It does not need to be a huge difference. Even a small step forward makes progress. There are a lot of kids like me. Kids with loving parents who want the best possible future for their children and thus provide them with a slightly better education that they have got.
I just can't completely agree with Wheelan.
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