What is Education? - Part I

This might be interpreted as: the most salient aspect of school experience is the feelings it leaves you. Recall your school: do you remember learning things? Or do you remember how you felt in the lesson? My memory is that I learned (as in: memorized information) at home or in the library because of either the desire to do so, triggered by an inspirational teacher, or by my personal interest in the subject or topic; or by the fear of being punished. School can create an emotional experience, not a packet of knowledge.

Think of a training session at work: did you really learn something? Or was it just a starting point for your own learning journey (or, in many cases, just a waste of your time)?

Of course, those who cannot read, write or do Maths lack access to a lot. And there is a strong body of evidence to suggest that creativity is a product of having secured a large body of knowledge into long term memory.

This post is not a challenge to instructional teaching: quite the opposite. Instructional strategies are techniques teachers use to help students become independent, strategic learners. These strategies become learning strategies when students independently select the appropriate ones and use them effectively to accomplish tasks or meet goals.

The questions is: do the students want to meet these goals for reasons beyond fear of punishment and exam outcomes?

Motivation is somewhat overlooked as an actual pivotal aspect of learning.

Most of all, whereas extrinsic motivation to learn can be activated by:

·         rewards, or positive reinforcement (good grades, merits, praise, approval)

·         fear of failure/rejection, or negative reinforcement

·         punishment for not studying, not “succeeding” (we will come back to this term later)

…Extrinsic motivation is far more complex to achieve.

Self-discovery is an aspect that is very much overlooked in schools, for everyone who populates such institutions!

Even teachers and managers, if asked why they do what they do, might give a cliché answer like “to give something back”, “I love my subject”… The more honest ones might confess that they need to earn a living; behind closed doors, many will say that a lot of what they do is to satisfy external agency inspectors, superiors, and other stakeholders.