Appreciate what we have

It is quite a sad thing to see that our pupils do not appreciate what they have around them as well as given to them.

Many of them may have taken them for granted.

I have just read about the eight pillars of @tribesteemup that is founded by @kennyskitchen.

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I started thinking about how education is one of the best ways to mould and cultivate the desired society even though immediate effect may only be seen in future when these pupils become adults.

Nevertheless, there can be ripple effects to affect many generations to come.

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I have regularly written educational articles under the steemiteducation tag.

I have yet to write an article about educating our pupils on appreciating the things that they have and preserve what they have.

It is important for children to start it right from the start before they even reach adulthood where many behaviours become habits that are difficult to change.

Conservation and Preservation

Getting pupils to understand the need to conserve and preserve our natural resources can have long term result.

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The awareness of natural resources can be depleted if they are consumed faster than they can be replaced like our wildlife, water and air.

There is a need to conserve non-renewable resources like fossil fuels so that there can be enough for future generation to use.

Simple act like cycling instead of driving a car where fuel is not used can be little contributions that our pupils can learn how it benefits the environment.

The excessive reduction of rainforest is also a concern that one may have.

We can let them know about the change of temperature as well as the possible future extinction of certain animals due to the threat of human activities.

This can be infused into our daily curriculum like an English Comprehension lesson or even getting them to write a composition about it.

There can be many meaningful discussions as a result of intentional infusion of such topics into our normal curriculum and still achieve our learning objectives in our lessons.

Teachers should be role models to our pupils by doing simple things like recycling effort or not wasting the classroom resources.

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Respect the environment by picking up even a small waste paper even when no one sees it.

Let conservation and preservation become a way of life and once it becomes a habit, it will definitely have a good ripple effect to many generations to come.

Non-Violence

We all know the effects and impacts that a war can bring.

In school, history about world war was also taught and discussed during lessons.

War can be cruel where countries that were involved suffered regardless of the winning side or the losing side.

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Death was something that could not be avoided during war.

The impact of the war could last for many years even after the war.

How did these lessons impact our students in their behaviours?

I must admit that many of our pupils are not able to imagine the cruelness of war.

The need to let pupils to understand that violence may not necessary be the best solution has to be cultivated early in education so that it becomes a permanent mindset.

Misunderstanding without investigating further can often be the result of violence out of anger.

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In situation when pupils get into a fight especially boys, it is a good opportunity to discuss about how their actions have affected them.

We can easily bring in the discussion of cause and effect to lead them to understand that violence is the lack of ability to solve the problem with their wisdom resulting in lack of control in their actions.

It is very easy for one to get angry and use violence to overpower his/her opponent but it is harder to control one’s temper and anger to think of a positive solution.

In one of my past articles, I had ever mentioned the concept of stop-think-go strategy where pupils should stop and reflect what is happening before taking actions.

They should think of a solution or find out whether there is a misunderstanding.

In the end, they will implement a good strategy under ‘Go’.

Through our effort as educators, we can contribute to a non-violence society where we can maintain peace and lead our future generations not to support war without a good cause and reason.

Why have violence or war when everyone can live in peace and harmony to support one another in a positive way?

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The world peace is definitely beneficial to everyone.

War will cause destruction as well as economic issues to every country even if not involved directly.

Death will result in many sorrows in many families regardless of how much respect and praises that a dead member can receive for being a hero, it can never replace their existence in each family physically.

In conclusion

As educators, we cannot change the world but we can cultivate right values and good characters in our pupils in our daily lessons.

It will definitely be a proud moment if one day one of our pupils becomes a prominent party in the government and contributes positively to our society.

By then, we can give a pat on our own shoulder to say that it is all worth it.

Disclaimer: This is my personal reflection and I am not in any position to instruct anyone what they should do. I am not responsible for any action taken as a result of this post. My post can only be a reference for your further research and growth. By reading this post, you acknowledge and accept that. All images and pictures were taken from google images that are free from copyright under labelled for reuse.