Why Do Some Of Us Learn More Outside The Educational Environment?

After my most recent entry in the series teaching from a teacher's angle I touched a point I preferred to develop separately. It concerns the source where we get the knowledge. And I want to give it a different approach less from a teacher's viewpoint and more from a student's.

It is supposed that the school is a sanctuary for enlightenment. At least that was a concept ages ago. But personally, I've learned more outside school though I thank some professionals that not only passed their knowledge but also piqued my curiosity about fields I used to consider of a less significance.

Anyway, looking back to those years, I wonder why I couldn't get the same feedback in school compared when I was on my own. And after choosing a career in the education field and had firsthand experience in the educational milieu, I came up with some reasons:

Lack of resources

Many schools don't count with the total support from the central government. They brag so much about the importance of education during campaign endeavors. But once they're elected, the real interests surface, crushing down people's necessities.

So, it's a common thing board committees have to deal with tight budgets. They sometimes have to resort to unconventional means since people's taxes goes to non-essential matters. IF it doesn't find its way to the pockets of politicians, they go straight to finance corporate bailouts or to increase the military power.

I remember one day when I was in high school a science teacher brought a microscope to class. It was going to be the first time I was going to see through one. Naturally, I was excited. Seeing things that you can't observe with your bare eyes was fascinating to me. There were also other students who share my enthusiasm. But due to the costly device and the misbehavior contribution from some of my classmates, the teacher suspended the class.

And though she reconsidered later and I could finally see through the microscope. Part of the magic was gone. I felt like it was forced rather than natural discovering. Years later, when I had the capabilities to ponder on it, I used to go through that episode, and it was obvious to me that that day my motivation had suffered an attack.

I could understand the teacher's intention to suspend the activity. She needed to protect the appliance because IF something bad had happened to it, her poor salary will have suffered the consequences. And I got the same experience also from other subjects such as physics and chemistry where students are supposed to test theories by experimenting.

So, it's a challenge to get motivated and be engaged with learning in school. There are factors that lash out good intentions, and they escape from our hands.

No room for innovation

Like I was previously emphasizing in the series, school also doesn't fully promote innovation. Though some teachers go beyond of what they're basically expected to do, school has become a repetition of traditions that make the students follow norms and rules, which for the most part, are not particular and universally useful.

But once you're out of an restrictive environment, your mind unconsciously tune up because it feels that there's not imposing control. Also, there's not critique and not evaluation, and what lingers is the desire for creating. That 's how we can find the most practical purpose to what we're learning.

Finding and discovering new passions

Normally students are all day connected on social media platforms or playing video games with other fellows in a distant country. Thanks to technology they're moving faster and thinking ahead. And it is sometimes surprising to see that they're interacting with knowledge. In my case, when I heard or watch something in T.V that intrigued me, I did my own digging and searched on the internet, trying to pick up the facts among the tidal wave of information.

And the more I found, the more interested I got. Soon I also found joy in certain areas I did not expect. I was discovering the knowledge by myself and at the same time I was forming my principles and convictions. I think others can relate with me here because some of us have discovered passions towards academic fields.

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Guidance is important. Some teachers do an extremely good job showing the way. But as it happened to me, there are other people achieving successful learning outside school. I hope the reasons I described above shed some light on this topic. This is my attempt to explain it considering my years and experience as both: student and teacher.

@edave

Previous Posts From This Series

• 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