Teaching is the best way anyone can learn as well as educating people at the same time. Anyone can teach, but the way that you teach is the pathway to becoming a great inspiration to the students of younger years. Some teachers are refured to as gods even worshiped in there time in our young earth, people such as Jesus of Nazareth, Buddah, Gandhi, Charles Darwin, Einstein, Bruce Lee and the list goes on, they were great educators, people who shared there philosophy and knowledge of experience in there life. To be a great teacher requires great skill and understanding of our world, our people and how to get someone who did not care, to take an interest in what there learning. You have to remember, everything takes time. I am however going to begin with some idea's about what I believe should be changed in our current educational system.
Our educational system (Australia) needs to change, students need longer periods of work in one unit (at least 4 periods), maybe grouped subjects such as science and maths together and homework keept to a minimum or not given out at all. In order to learn anything you have to have an interest in that area. Its a waist of time for the teacher and the student when there is no interest involved in both side of the field. Why longer periods? Everyone needs to study in one field before they can absorb the information about what they are studying. When a student starts a class it is mainly something new no continuing on from the set of questions from last class or something linked. If this is the case knowlegde is lost, the method used in the other period has been forgotten, the interest and power to build up to solve the problems have gone. By making the periods longer you are getting the student more involved in the subject, half an hour - hours classes are too short 10 min to settle down from lunch, recess, wake up because of the early morning, another 15min to listen to instructions the teacher is giving or the lecture, if you have students not willing to learn that takes the class to almost 35 min even more of used up time. the last 5, 10, 15 min will be built up waiting for the class to finish.
When I was a student I found the best classes were those that took the longest. Not only did I not have that class for the rest of the day but I was able to learn a great amount in the class as long as the teacher was up to sharing the knowledge and even had an interest themself. Having a teacher who is not interested in learning themself or learning more about the stubject that they are teacher are passing on there attitudes to the students, not gaining there interest, just going with the flow. If a teacher is negative, the chances are the student will get negative as well. If the teacher is lazy the student is most likely to minic or miss behave. However this is not always the case, a relationship needs to be developed with the students, friendship needs to be created, I am your master, you are my student I want to teach you, help you learn. However, you yourself must be a student-master as Bruce lee quotes (see below).
Linked classes is another move that needs to be made linking things that students love to do and putting an educational structure to it, for example: A student who loves video games so much he would rather be a home playing them other than learning at school should be shown what would happen if your console is no longer working, how to fix it yourself? How could you create your own game? Put your own ideas down for others to explore. This involves everything from Science, Art, Maths and English to be involved in the idea's. If you were on an island, traped, no where to go and all you had were the things around you, how could you create the most simplest of things you see today that we take for granted. How is sand transformed into computers, how are you seeing the image displayed in front of you right now. Albert Einstein said:
"The important thing is not to stop questioning. Curiosity has its own reason for existing."
Never stop asking questions, questions are good, questions will require an answer, not everyone however can answer them, but they are the first steps. Everything has a begining, everyone has an interest, you just need to find its point of origin and let it evolve, expand it, grow from it, use it as a learning tool. The more we know the more consious we can become, that is to say, the more aware we are and the easier it is to understand things and each other.
I finish off with some Quotes from other great teachers
"Knowing is not enough, you must apply; willing is not enough, you must do"
"I'm not a master, I'm a student-master, meaning that I have the knowledge of a master and the expertise of a master, but I'm still learning, So I'm a student-master. I don't believe in the word master, I consider the master as such when they close the casket"
"The mind is like a fertile garden in which anything that is planted, flowers or weeds, will grow."
Bruce Lee
"Education is what remains after one has forgotten everything he learned in school"
"Teaching should be such that what is offered is perceived as a valuable gift and not as a hard duty"
Albert Einstein
We cannot be speakers who do not listen. But neither can we be listeners who do not speak.
Mohandas Gandhi
Comments are greatly appreciated.
On the topic of education this website here is a great educational resource: www.cosmolearning.com
Thank you
IronHedge