After the initial push from parents, why do you keep going to school? To learn a profession or to have a career? Is it because you want to make your parents proud or because you want to follow the swing of things.
A long time ago, I heard this phrase:
"Common sense is not synonym of education."
But still, we're being told that we have to go to school to obtain wisdom. And THAT really has to do with common sense because through it we make logical and intelligent decisions as well as fair judgements.
So, once in school what do we get from it? A set of instructions that perhaps has applicability in the real world. No-one question what is said nor ponder on it to catch behind the curtain a plausible purpose.
Teachers' Proceedings
As a teacher, I've witnessed the recurrent path of repetition. This model has strategies which are used by language teachers, for instance. And despise of being a very good way to assimilate a certain language, it cannot be generalized and structured into a kind of manual to support a supreme paradigm that control the whole education domain.
I'm talking here about the repetition of useless and non-creative teaching methods that just stunt the development of students. It's a sacrilege; an attack to the mind and the future of the students to continue using them.
Most of us who are educators understand this perfectly. And no matter if we're ordered by superiors to stand down and comply, we should resist to this. We need to be faithful to the true meaning of education, which is to offer productive contributions.
This might get us into trouble. And we could also win the disapproval from colleagues - That will ever happen - but that should never make us succumb to every intransigent norm that is conceived with the sole purpose to maintain the free thinking ideals shackled.
And we also don't have to be afraid of being labeled with some derogatory names. And I'll tell you why... because those who criticize with bad blood will never take their heads out of dated textbooks or dusty classrooms. Their visions are limited by narrow perceptions.
These people don't strive for participation and enlightenment because it is easy for them to use whatever knowledge their brains currently shelter. In other words, it's such a comfort zone that creates traditionalists and promotes ignorance.
Ironically, this attitude is not intrinsic to the nature of the every human being. It is induced by years of programing that were passed from generations to generations.
So, how can we finally impregnate education with a little purpose
Allow me to start by affirming that every student since he/she commences in kinder garden show interests. It's a natural reaction the child experiments by interacting with a different environment surrounded by new effects apart from home. Even the most shy student experiments attraction toward a newly discovered activity. And that is the precise moment we teachers must act because the child is immersing voluntarily in a certain capacity that just caught his/her eye.
If we take action right there in the early age, the job of a teacher will be more fluent. And all the problems that might arise in the future would be fixed using the wisest and most thoughtful method.
Obviously, this approach can get complicated while working with youngsters because we don't know their history and how previous concepts have affected their behaviors.
Nevertheless, we should never stop dead and rely on pedagogic curriculum because it won't make it any better. If a student accepts it, it will be for mere complacency, and not belief that one day everything he/she is learning will be useful.
So, if we're dealing with little kids, your strategies (whatever they are, because the students are yours, and by observation and eventual interaction you identify their personal needs) must be directed to emphasize the practicality in the real world. In the same way, if your students are adolescents or even adults, you must prove them that each lesson contains something that will give them value, but not as a career lift, rather as an integral development.
Self responsibility
If you're a student in any level, take education in your hands as well because you're the sole responsible for your formation. A very good teacher of mine once told this:
"Teachers mostly put 20%, and students has to put the rest. And I found that reliable in the majority of the scenarios."
In traditional schools there are many students, and teachers. And although they'd like to provide a significan experience, they are caught up in the boring generalized schooling education has turned into.
So, I'd like to share some tips that can help you out.
Don't take everything you're told as permanent truths. What is right today can be proved wrong tomorrow.
Follow those theorists that open windows of opportunities for more discoveries.
Don't shelter space for incredulity, but also never take anything lightly without proper judgment.
Set your priorities first before venturing on a particular action.
I've always followed these guidelines when I was a student, and also after becoming teacher. It's what I believe. And I have never keep them static, always updating them, inserting new things as I learn and have more acute comprehension.
As a teacher, I've observed in class that those students who show initiative and have interest comes from an environment where parents or tutors don't raise restrictions regarding learning. They just let the kids indulge themselves in their desired activities. And though this is not a premise, it helps a lot when a kid turns into a young man finding his/her purpose in life.
This is another entry in the list of teaching from teacher's angle. And my intention with this series is somehow to break the barriers that hinder real education and the acquisition of applied knowledge. Like many, we've experienced this rejection toward education in school, and it usually spans to higher levels.
If we conduct a simple survey right now in some universities, we will get a clear view that the majority of the students perceive the orthodox teaching methods as little practical and valuable.
As a teacher, I'll admit it... because I was a student too. And seeing things from the inside, I can tell you that little has changed. And the main problem lies in the administrative direction, which follows the designs the establishments (regimes) dictate. But that's material for another post. For now, if you want to review my appreciation about education, just look my previous posts regarding this series below.
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Community Service On Educational Institutions: Obligation Or A Willingly Deed?
Why Do Some Of Us Learn More Outside The Educational Environment?
