Educational Reflections

What does it mean to be educated?

After 12 years of public education and 3+ years of higher education, you would think I would have a good answer, but I still find that I do not. It's taking me that long, and being forced to learn in another language, to realize how I would probably have done my education differently... if it were possible.

Growing up, I had always been taught to do well in school - seems obvious, right? Success in academics often leads to career and life success. I respect my parents for challenging me to do my best and I recognize that a somewhat genuine work ethic has gotten me pretty far. I praise the Lord for how He has blessed me in academics. However, I feel like the "American Dream" mentality has sunk itself a little further into my educational life than I would have ever wanted. What is the "American Dream" mentality, you ask? It is this: that hard work and scaling yourself up the ladder produces economic success and personal fulfillment. In school, what does this equate to? Getting good grades. What do you have to do to earn this success? Study, work hard, and pass the test. Does that mean you are learning things that you will hold on to for a lifetime? While I agree that the psychological purpose of testing is to allow us to apply knowledge and record information mentally, the educational system is not so perfect in that we remember all that we've been tested on. This is obvious, in that I am already forgetting the concepts on a test that I took yesterday. The long-term memory only records fact with repetition, but for me, I believe that we can also learn and record fact with enthusiasm.

Example. I am going to soon give a group presentation in an economics class here (food systems and world economics) on the historic successes of U.S. in foreign relations. Funny how I am reading this book on U.S. history and re-learning what I learned in 2 years of social studies class back in elementary/middle school. When was the Revolutionary War? I found out via Wikipedia that it was from 1775 to 1783. Don't judge, I know that fact now because I WANTED to. Vocabulary is another example - both English and Spanish. I like using new words, but unless I have the motivation to learn them, I won't.
Words of the day in Spanish (shout out to 2 Corinthians 4:7):
Tesero = treasure
Vasija = vessel/vase/jar
Barro = clay
Words of (yesterday) in English (shout out to this reading about U.S. history):
Palpable = tangible, obvious, evident
Prudence = taking care/being wise in decisions/matters
Unilateralism = being one-sided, directed by one party/group

Okay, so I was motivated to learn these words, but if I do not use them or have an interest in keeping them with me, I will lose that knowledge. Does this have something to do with personal motivation or our educational system? I won't dig in too deep, but there is some culpability (word I didn't know in English but just made up due to the Spanish word for blame... turns out it is a word in English) in the "standardized school system." Take a look at this super cool TED Talk animation by Sir Ken Robinson - I always enjoyed this video as it makes us think about what we are really pursuing in the educational system - and if it is really necessary at all. Being here at EARTH makes me realize that the students are actually going to USE what they are learning - and how awesome is it that more than 50% of their "class" time is "lab/practical experience" time? While they still study to pass tests, there seems to be more of a desire to actually know the content for life's coming careers. I am not bashing my good old Penn State or any other educational system for that matter - we will all use something we gain from education in some aspect. But what more can we do to increase motivation to actually LEARN content and appreciation for knowledge when it is being given to us?

The answer lies in my "major" - agricultural and extension EDUCATION. Teachers hold so much power, they don't even realize it. My renewed passion to learn/appreciate what I am learning will hopefully be transformed into an enthusiasm for my future students' success in gaining knowledge. I also hope to instill the concept of critical thinking for whoever I come into contact with as a "teacher." Without adaptive and practically-oriented thought processes, self-improvement and success will be hard to come by in life. And without critical thinking, we will never allow our children/next generation to continue to solve the world's problems.

My (new) equation for an adequate education: 
(A motivation to learn (instilled by parents and teachers) + specificity to student needs/interests + a lot of critical thinking) x practical application = personal growth and life-long learning 

Do you have an exam coming up? Are you worried about the grade you will get in the class or are you trying to just "get" the material to spit it back out on the exam? Imagine how wonderful it would be to actually KNOW everything from a desire to learn it rather than a pressure to memorize it. Takes a lot of pressure out of the education system... and it just makes more sense. After all, aren't we in school to LEARN and not just to get good grades? When did this concept become so convoluted/competitive? Don't worry about the grade, worry about the knowledge that you have the potential to gain. God has the rest taken care of.

I have a very motivating friend here, another student studying abroad for the semester. She has already had 3 years of college education (like me) and an additional previous semester at EARTH. She can graduate next spring but says she isn't ready to stop learning. "There is so much more to learn, I feel like I don't know enough!" she tells me. Wow. What a motivation, not just to do well on those exams, but to learn, think about, and apply what we are being taught.

Time to take advantage of the wonderful education system and resources with I have been blessed. I am ready and motivated to learn. Are you?