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"I don't want to do that, it's too educational."
The English languages uses the word "educational" as an adjective, describing something that has a quality related to education. But how did it have a derogatory connotation?
"Learning" is more innate. An individual arrives at a realization. "Education" appropriates knowledge from institution or external entity. The former is active, while the latter is passive.
I've recently been reading this excellent blog about homeschooling by Penelope Trunk. Here are a few brief points about her views on educating kids:
1. Kids can more efficiently teach themselves how to learn if you give them room to be self-motivated.
2. Kids in public schools are taught to passively regurgitate information for a standardized test, not solve complex problems in society.
3. The structure of the public school system is too rigid to allow for kids to learn for themselves.
4. The subjects taught in public school education are mostly useless to the real world.
5. The social environment in public schools is about competing with young immature children, while the working world requires collaboration with adults.
I had to unlearn habits that were enforced from public education. Education was something you did at school, completely separate from our personal lives. Public education discourages you from allowing your self-motivation to fully explore the complexity of learning. You can only learn in a given amount of time and test from an arbitrary outline.
Maybe that's why people don't spend time reading. It's not that we lack the ability, but somehow we think learning takes place in a finite amount of time. After graduating, the time to educate ourselves is "gone." All we only look forward to work, retirement, then death.
I'm still wondering after leaving college whether I truly "educated" myself. Outside the context of grades and a career, can we still "educate" ourselves?
Sometimes I wonder why I'm still studying Chinese after leaving college. Then I remember this quote from Mencius.
學問之道無他, 求其放心而已矣
The way to learning requires nothing else, just search for what you let go of in your heart.
---孟子 Mencius
The comparison between homeschooling and public school raises lots of interesting points. I definitely agree that in my school at least, we were taught how to pass exams, not how to think for ourselves.
ReplyDeleteI didn't ever feel particularly engaged in school, but curiously enough, once I was in university and had to motivate myself to work, I suddenly started spending as much of my time reading and learning as possible.
Shouldn't public school allow us to engage with our passions? I've never thought about this, but what is the point of a public school education? Haha. We have a such convoluted system of tests and grades, but society doesn't know why we're doing it!
ReplyDeleteas an optimistic new teacher [without a job yet, though ><] I can say that I'm hearing a lot about changes to school systems, at the very least they are releasing new teachers that are eager and ready to bring about change in individual classrooms... it has to start somewhere.
ReplyDeletei definitely agree that public school systems are deeply flawed and something needs to be done, and I'm glad there are people out there making an effort. it will take time and energy, and although slow, change [i hope] will happen.
even in college, when were are supposedly supposed to be pursuing things of our interest, the classes required of us seemed rather pointless and we still were regurgitating information. i'm not saying all of them were like that, but a lot of those general ed requirements, etc etc... you know?
on the other hand, there is a responsibility of public schools to expose students to a wide variety of subject matter so that students CAN choose what they want to pursue... but in that teaching of various subject areas, especially those "core" class requirements, teachers need to help students make real-world connections, which does not always happen.
again, i'm rambling and hoping it makes sense :D
and for what it's worth, i will do my best to make sure students in my classroom receive a quality education.