EDF 1005- Reflection 12

I believe that the launching of Sputnik changed United States education into a better turn because of the array of subjects that arose from it. When Sputnik was launched by the Soviet Union in 1957, the United States, naturally, got a bit jealous and decided we should explore space as well. Curriculums throughout the country became more rigorous in order to place an emphasis on learning to think as scientists and mathematicians, along with the learning of foreign languages. Their goal was to make students develop thinking skills and not just memorize their lessons. Learning how to read and write is not sufficient enough in today’s world. With these new types of classes, students were able to graduate with a general knowledge on more than just reading and writing. Today’s technology is proof that reading and writing are not the only important types of knowledge in the world. Many advances have come about by learning other subjects. Students graduated with knowledge on science, and math. This is great for jobs. Now students can prepare to be more than just a priest. Students have an array of choices of how they want their career path to go, engineers, scientists, architects, etc. Instead of memorizing a lesson and passing an exam, students were now required to be able to think for themselves and use critical thinking skills to solve problems on their own. By enhancing these skills, education has become better and has benefited the society. Students in the United States are now able to communicate with people around the world who don’t speak English. Of course, who they can communicate with depends on the language courses they chose to take. Exposing students to this array of subjects and careers assists them in gaining experience and aware of the choices they can make when choosing a career. Also, exposing children early will help them develop their decision making skills because when the time comes, hopefully, they will know enough to decide what job is right for them. I believe that Sputnik sparked the competitiveness in the United States and made them realize that they have to catch up with education and breakthroughs. Initially, the United States was upset by the fact that the Russians were ahead of the game when it comes to space exploration but in the end it turned out to be a positive thing in United States education. Students are graduating with the knowledge they need to be able to make it out there in the career field they choose and maybe even have better ideas than Sputnik.