FORMAL EDUCATION AND WAY FORWARD
Many people have experienced the process of
formal education the same way. There’s a
disconnect between the perceived relevance of what
they are learning, the importance of what they are
learning and how they learn it. Imagine learning mathematical concepts with an understanding of
how they fit into the broader discipline and how they
are relevant to modern society and our own lives?
Imagine having the understanding that mathematical
concepts are not just for future mathematicians but
that maths is part of graphic design, engineering, architecture, palaeontology, archaeology, used daily
by business owners, etcetera? Wouldn’t that make
you look at theorems and formulae differently?
There are many, highly effective ways in which we
learn daily: through experience, self-study and
investigation, discussion and collaborative work. One could argue that most of what we know is
learned through these methods: social skills, our
acquired professional skills, most of our general
knowledge about the world. Yet at school, the
process of academic learning doesn’t often include
these methods of learning in a meaningful way. We are still feeding knowledge in a one-way process,
holding the teacher as the font of knowledge and
overlooking the potential contribution of the students
to their own education. We are missing a vital opportunity.
Fostering a love of learning should be as important as the actual acquisition of knowledge,the former
should feed into the later. The process of being
formally educated should build on the innate curiosity and enthusiasm to learn
that all children possess. Learning in the world
outside of school is an active, dynamic process. Instead of accepting that the majority of students in
a class are simply average students, we need to
reconsider whether this label of average’ is a
condition of an education model ill- equipped to
effectively tap into the potential of each child. It’s
time to change the narrative of school being tedious and boring, a necessary obligation that will not yield the desired results for most of us ‘average’
students. It’s time to look critically at prevalent
education models and shift to a model that is
effective for the majority, not just the few who for
various reasons thrive in the traditional model. It’s time for an education revolution! By Precious Uwaezuoke.
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