Why Should We Question Education?

I cannot stress more on this. I can see that education is becoming the utter acceptance of everything that is taught. Rarely is the case when information is evaluated through the glass of critical thinking. And please don't get me wrong. This is not a rant. I've been developing a series where I display the problems in the educational system and how the instruction is conducted. (You can see it at the end of the post)

I've read and written several posts about this theme. And I want to give this entry a sense of review. There are few instances when teachers get together in order to discuss it. I think, and due to personal experience, the reluctance to finally affirm all the mistakes in the current education is the fear to be categorized as a some kind of rebel. In addition to it, the indifference also plays its part because of external factors.

Anyway, education continue without much improvement and update. This is one of the domains which is really hard to evolve. Those people who have made possible some kind of change have gone through a lot. They have been undervalued, and most of their inputs have been rejected. But in time, they've proved themselves right.

The purpose of going to school

I'd like to enumerate some of the major reasons children are sent to school. There are some exceptions, but the following list represents the general idea.

• Get a title.

• Get educated to obtain a good job in the future.

• Acquire some skills.

• Obtain a degree to gain some respect from others.

• Develop social capacities.

• Learn how to coexist with other people apart from home.

Detouring a little bit from the main question, we can extract others from the list above. One of them could be: why do we send children to school? Another one would be: What kind of valuable reasons do we need to continue going to school?

And we can go on and on analyzing all the reasons and the utility to assist school every day.

The routine

Routine in learning is the enemy because we can fall behind. IF we get comfortable with teaching and never strive for more (innovation), we're not evolving. And worse, a repetitive cycle will be created where people would make the same mistakes over and over.

There are, of course, paradigms and methods that follow excellent premises. And they have helped us come up with productive contributions. But we don't have to fasten them as ultimate truths because history has showed us that knowledge offered by great minds has been corrected before.

That's why teachers need to always harbor critical thinking. Students show more interest in learning when they find unorthodox teachers. And it stands to reason because learners are mostly exposed to traditional views, which are not fully practical. And when they are immersed in a environment that supports innovation, they feel more inclined to participate; for, it shows them openness, a terrain without restrictions.

New information is discovered every day

"I won't teach that subject because that's not my specialty."

This was a phrase from a teacher I had long time ago. Long story short, he was told to instruct a subject that he didn't dominate. And because he refused, he was pressured. The authorities even threatened him to fire him if he didn't comply.

At that time, such school did not had enough personal. However, that wasn't an excuse to improvise by putting someone in charge who's not prepared for the task. Luckily, this teacher held firm to his principles. In a way, he questioned how education was conducted in such institution.

As you can see, it's not a sin to assess education with a critical thinking. There are many wrong things with it, and sometimes the future looks daunting in such respect.

That's why it is imperative that teachers gather courage and not follow the herb blindly... because every day new information is discovered. It has always been like that and it will always be. Newton, a great mind, was corrected by Einstein in some aspects. So, there's no need to behave like a robot in order not to disturb traditional conceptions.

@edave

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Previous posts from the series

• What Makes Oral Presentations So Dull?
• Finding Usefulness In Learning
• Discovering Knowledge Yourself
• Teaching Podcasts - Alternative Approach
• We Need To Be Flexible With Pedagogy?
• Community Service On Educational Institutions: Obligation Or A Willingly Deed?
• How Much Importance Do You Place On Grades?
• Why Do Some Of Us Learn More Outside The Educational Environment?
• Can We Take For Granted Everything We Are Told In School?
• Teachers' First Question: Why Do They Lie?
• Why Has The Value Of Teachers Diminished?
• Teachers And Educators - Differences
• How To Get The Best From Students