There is no definitive definition of teaching, but I believe
there may be a fundamental purpose to teaching. When teaching you should be
able to cultivate the intellect, whilst helping to develop knowledge. I believe
that when you are educating or teaching an individual there should be an improvement
in their own minds, where the individual is able to cultivate the intellect and
build knowledge within them. It is not necessarily about what they learn, but
the continual learning experience that you have shared with them. My ideas
about teaching are formative thoughts shaped by my own experiences, values, and
abilities, which have been influenced by my own education. Teaching may be a
universal thought, but because I have been predisposed to a certain schooling
system my thoughts about education may be contextual. I realize that there is a
societal and generational experience that accompanies my thoughts about
schooling and education. I know for no better reason, than to compare my
educational experience that of an individual that lives in another country.
When looking at the experiences and tutorials of students from other countries
you realize that what you have learned and cultivated in school is sometimes
much different than their own experiences. With that being said, I still feel
that teaching has a fundamental purpose to cultivate the intellect and help
develop knowledge. Whether you have gone to school in the United States or
another country, what you are taught will be influenced by your experiences within
your society. However, there should be a universal understanding that people
learn, within their societies, and this helps to develop their own knowledge.
I was thinking about the issue of education being universal or not, and I agree with what you are saying. I think that universally education is similar in principle but the delivery is unique to the country, city, and school in which it is taught. Inevitably things like culture, societal expectations and the beliefs/values of the teacher are going to influence what students learn. Not only between countries, but I think education differs drastically even between schools in the same state city. When I talk with friends who went to different schools in Albuquerque, they had an entirely different experience than I did. And although we were taught the same subjects, they way they were taught and what we got out of it was very different. It's all about the experience and it definitely differs based on the school, the area it's in and the resources it has available to it. Obviously the educational experience of a student attending a private school is going to be very different than one attending a school in a small town with very little resources.
ReplyDeleteIt really is all contextual. Universally, I think we all have the mission in life to better ourselves and evolve. What exactly that means to each of us will vary geographically and culturally. It depends on what a society has determined important for tangible education like formalized "schooling", and intangible education that communities naturally pass on to it's members. As educators, we have the task to transfer the prescribe, formal information, as well as the abstract.
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