Thursday, January 19, 2012
First Post- About the fundamental purpose of education
Hello everyone on the forum! what a great experience to be able to share thoughts and ideas concerning this contested field that is continuously evolving, changing and adapting to us humans. I pondered about the first question posted on the handout we received Tuesday. So as for education... well...my response mechanisms were telling me that education is in a sense a structure and a backbone of an individual and a collective. Its main purpose, in my very biased and personal experience, is to soften and light a journey through life. Always or most of the time, education seems to be a well intended concept. Whether a provider of good results or bad ones, educational guidelines want to share a canon of conduct and groups of behaviors that will result in the betterment of a greater social project. In this sense, sometimes education will fail to serve the individual while it enhances a group's purpose. The process of socialization seems integral to the process and application of principles in any given education philosophy. By its very nature, education is part of a social construction and thus, I find it very difficult to take away the interactive quality of human participation in the creation of the very many forms of educational philosophies.
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Hi Minea, congratulations again on your new teaching job! I think your phlog post this week presents an interesting idea, that the purpose of education is "to soften and light a journey through life." I think that's beautiful! Not only might this idea serve as a foundation for a teacher's Personal Philosophy of Education, but also it can be a reminder to all of us (students, teachers, parents, and others) that while our journeys may be dark and rough at times, what we learn as we go along can smooth and brighten our way. What a wonderful role for us as teachers, to help "soften" and "light" our students' paths. Thank you for your insight.
ReplyDeleteHi. I wanted to share some thoughts about your lovely metaphor: Education's main purpose "is to soften and light a journey through life." The transmission of wisdom is sometimes symbolized by the image of a sage carrying a shuttered lantern through the night. In that image the darkness is vast while the light is small and hidden, which hints at the fragility of human wisdom in this immense world of ignorance and chaos. How many enlightened civilizations have come and gone? Light and knowledge are intimately linked. When people say, "I see," they could mean that their eyes are detecting light radiations, or they could mean that they understand a concept. Some of our most fundamental sources of information are the patterns of light and darkness that we perceive because of our planet's rotation and orbit around the Sun. Ironically, the two questions "What is education?" and "What is light?" seem to be equally vexing! In the spirit of metaphysics, asking these basic questions always leads into great realms of mystery. I am happy to be exploring at least one of those realms with my fellow students at CNM.
ReplyDeleteNice thoughts Minea. I also was drawn to your thought of education being a way to "soften and light a journey through life". I teach in the elementary schools and I definitely agree that their journey can be softened by a great group of teachers and staff that are helping guide them on their journeys. Teachers are also an amazing source of light or enlightenment. Passing on knowledge is a key element of advancing our society. I would say that the next element I would add to your thoughts is that education provides not only a way to "soften and light a journey", but also it provides strength. Strength of character learned from mistakes and successes, strength of knowledge from the areas we are all taught, and strength of purpose as each student begins to see their place in the world. Nice blog.
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