"Too often we give children answers to remember, rather than problems to solve".
Education is the one of the most important processes in society, it enables progress and development to people and can rise the quality of living to a very high level. This fact is certain, yet not every type of education can serve the purpose. Education and the way knowledge is created and transferred varies from country to country , from society to society. One of the big issues with that is that too often education focuses on constant remembering of facts and their repetition. Not on development of creativity , critical thinking and problem-solving attitude. When you are child in school, sure you are eager for learning as much as possible. Yet, what you learn is supposed to prepare you for "real life" - one day, as an adult with a certain profession you will use what you learnt in school. But how can you do that, if only thing your learn in school is to repeat what your teacher says and remember what's in the textbook. That problem is followed by other great injustice- the grading system. Too often , children awarded with good grades and encouraged by teachers are exactly the ones who listen what is told and remember, but they don't think with their own heads - they don't learn to solve the problems. No matter how educational systems around the globe are diverse, this is something most of them have in common. Growing up, I was witnessing this problem. All that was important was remembering a lot of facts , and repeating teacher's words. If you dared to show your own understanding, often you would come across misunderstanding from the teachers. You would even be consider stupid , not creative. Yet, I tried not to get down too much. If the school didn't understand my way of thinking , which was more creative and deeper, I should find an alternative. So , I turned to reading. I remember Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Wizard of Oz, Pipi LongSocking and all other characters being my idols from books- and example how they coped with problems, often without suggestions or help of the adults- only by themselves. Going to college in the USA last year was what I was waiting for. First time , I met teachers who inspired me to think creatively and critically, not to remember answers, but to ask questions, recognize problems and find strategies to solve them. I don't want people to get me wrong- I had teachers who were just like in my elementary school. And it's not that I am praising USA, but in their college system practical knowledge and asking questions , solving problems is much more common then where I come from. This fall, I am graduating, and will be seeking for Masters. After, I hope I will get a PhD and become a professor of International Relations. There is nothing more I want to do in life than teach others. But I want to bring change- I don't want to be only person talking. I want my future students to ask questions, examine and research, seek and solve problems. I believe by that , productive and useful knowledge is created. "Children have to be educated, but they also have to be left to educate themselves." In today's world, with all the technologies, information are wide spread, available to everyone and in every minute. So, there is no need for remembering and repeating the facts. It is more important to influence people to think big, recognize problems and learn how to deal with them in every-day life situation. We are leaving the world to young generations, so its our task to make sure they get quality education. Education applied to all the people, disregarding the gender or the age. Education that can lead to improvement. Problem solving should take away the spotlight to remembering the facts. That's what we should invest in. Because "investment in knowledge pays the best interest", just as B. Franklin said it. The future lies in our hands. In that situation, I call for Nelson Mandela and his words of wisdom- "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use the change the world." So, lets make it powerful, progressive and moving forward, not dull, boring and repetitive.
Education is the one of the most important processes in society, it enables progress and development to people and can rise the quality of living to a very high level. This fact is certain, yet not every type of education can serve the purpose. Education and the way knowledge is created and transferred varies from country to country , from society to society. One of the big issues with that is that too often education focuses on constant remembering of facts and their repetition. Not on development of creativity , critical thinking and problem-solving attitude. When you are child in school, sure you are eager for learning as much as possible. Yet, what you learn is supposed to prepare you for "real life" - one day, as an adult with a certain profession you will use what you learnt in school. But how can you do that, if only thing your learn in school is to repeat what your teacher says and remember what's in the textbook. That problem is followed by other great injustice- the grading system. Too often , children awarded with good grades and encouraged by teachers are exactly the ones who listen what is told and remember, but they don't think with their own heads - they don't learn to solve the problems. No matter how educational systems around the globe are diverse, this is something most of them have in common. Growing up, I was witnessing this problem. All that was important was remembering a lot of facts , and repeating teacher's words. If you dared to show your own understanding, often you would come across misunderstanding from the teachers. You would even be consider stupid , not creative. Yet, I tried not to get down too much. If the school didn't understand my way of thinking , which was more creative and deeper, I should find an alternative. So , I turned to reading. I remember Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Wizard of Oz, Pipi LongSocking and all other characters being my idols from books- and example how they coped with problems, often without suggestions or help of the adults- only by themselves. Going to college in the USA last year was what I was waiting for. First time , I met teachers who inspired me to think creatively and critically, not to remember answers, but to ask questions, recognize problems and find strategies to solve them. I don't want people to get me wrong- I had teachers who were just like in my elementary school. And it's not that I am praising USA, but in their college system practical knowledge and asking questions , solving problems is much more common then where I come from. This fall, I am graduating, and will be seeking for Masters. After, I hope I will get a PhD and become a professor of International Relations. There is nothing more I want to do in life than teach others. But I want to bring change- I don't want to be only person talking. I want my future students to ask questions, examine and research, seek and solve problems. I believe by that , productive and useful knowledge is created. "Children have to be educated, but they also have to be left to educate themselves." In today's world, with all the technologies, information are wide spread, available to everyone and in every minute. So, there is no need for remembering and repeating the facts. It is more important to influence people to think big, recognize problems and learn how to deal with them in every-day life situation. We are leaving the world to young generations, so its our task to make sure they get quality education. Education applied to all the people, disregarding the gender or the age. Education that can lead to improvement. Problem solving should take away the spotlight to remembering the facts. That's what we should invest in. Because "investment in knowledge pays the best interest", just as B. Franklin said it. The future lies in our hands. In that situation, I call for Nelson Mandela and his words of wisdom- "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use the change the world." So, lets make it powerful, progressive and moving forward, not dull, boring and repetitive.
Our education is pretty much based on memorizing a whole bunch of unimportant facts, and when we leave school we know very little about the real world. This is what students need to realize and start doing something to change it. They need to think outside the box, and try to stand out of the crowd. There are plenty of ways to do that: conferences, training seminars, study abroad, volunteer work, internships. There is a whole world of opportunities for students. Students shouldn't be lazy and should start looking for these opportunities. For example, they can find out a lot on http://www.heysuccess.com/. But they need to be patient and persistent, and try hard.
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