I have an interest in education. I guess everyone has interest in education. it is one of those things like religion and money.
Standardization is good. Who does not like Pringle chips? Standard, uniform and all taste the same. I love binging on them(that is quite evident now). But if you were told that you can have your children the same way. They will your look talk think and act the same way. Just like Pringle chips. How would you feel now? Would you still go for it?
If you have ever been around children (small people), yours or someone else’s. You would have noticed that they are all different. No two kids are the same. They are all so unique, smart and creative. My 5 year old niece is so good in painting. But what I have realized is that ever since she started to go to the school her paintings have changed. There is more of uniformity in her approach. Now she her drawings have got a structure. And I guess at her tender age she has been exposed to the norms of the world. And now I can bet even though she is an awesome painter most of the kids in her class would be making similar paintings.
All over the world I see that kids are being trained to compete in the rat race by their parents. Even without realizing that at the end of the race the winners are still rats.
The maximum emphasis given by teachers and parents are on the subjects of mathematics and sciences.
I wish equal weightage was given to arts and sports. There should be more dedicated arts classes (music, dance, painting, etc.) where kids get a chance to get chance to express themselves and be creative.
Especially in India we do not give chances for kids to think on their own. Most parents take decisions for their kids and it’s the kids’ responsibility to follow what has been told.
Luckily for me my parents never stopped me from choosing my career, they were all the more supporting and let me choose the path I want to take for my future. They definitely guided me and help me choose the Best college for my graduation.(Pepper, I hope you understand what I mean by BEST). And now I can’t think of what else I would have been if I were not a Chef.
which is quite evident with the way we react to the college cut off percentages, even though we might not know anyone who will be going to that particular college or university. we are fascinated with the MIT's and IIT's so much even though our interests may lie in arts or commerce.
I believe this is so because of our believes that it is education that will take us into the future. the future we know nothing about. we don't even know how the world will look 6 months from now, especially with the US and French interest in Syrian people(read: oil).
But it is the children that we educate today who will be a part of the leadership in about 25-30 years from now. The world has changed so dramatically over the past 10 years and it was just picking the speed at that time. So how can we continue to use the methods that British started to use in the early 19th century to train a standardized work force that would later work in the industries that fuelled their economy. The entire setup is so archaic but all we try to do is to evolve it to meet the present world issues. And that is not good enough. Not any longer.
The motto of our current education system seems to be STANDARDISATION
I believe this is so because of our believes that it is education that will take us into the future. the future we know nothing about. we don't even know how the world will look 6 months from now, especially with the US and French interest in Syrian people(read: oil).
But it is the children that we educate today who will be a part of the leadership in about 25-30 years from now. The world has changed so dramatically over the past 10 years and it was just picking the speed at that time. So how can we continue to use the methods that British started to use in the early 19th century to train a standardized work force that would later work in the industries that fuelled their economy. The entire setup is so archaic but all we try to do is to evolve it to meet the present world issues. And that is not good enough. Not any longer.
The motto of our current education system seems to be STANDARDISATION
Standardization is good. Who does not like Pringle chips? Standard, uniform and all taste the same. I love binging on them(that is quite evident now). But if you were told that you can have your children the same way. They will your look talk think and act the same way. Just like Pringle chips. How would you feel now? Would you still go for it?
If you have ever been around children (small people), yours or someone else’s. You would have noticed that they are all different. No two kids are the same. They are all so unique, smart and creative. My 5 year old niece is so good in painting. But what I have realized is that ever since she started to go to the school her paintings have changed. There is more of uniformity in her approach. Now she her drawings have got a structure. And I guess at her tender age she has been exposed to the norms of the world. And now I can bet even though she is an awesome painter most of the kids in her class would be making similar paintings.
The point that I want to make is that in the modern
education set up most of the kids are slowly but steadily drawn away from their
creative selves.
All over the world I see that kids are being trained to compete in the rat race by their parents. Even without realizing that at the end of the race the winners are still rats.
The maximum emphasis given by teachers and parents are on the subjects of mathematics and sciences.
I wish equal weightage was given to arts and sports. There should be more dedicated arts classes (music, dance, painting, etc.) where kids get a chance to get chance to express themselves and be creative.
Especially in India we do not give chances for kids to think on their own. Most parents take decisions for their kids and it’s the kids’ responsibility to follow what has been told.
Luckily for me my parents never stopped me from choosing my career, they were all the more supporting and let me choose the path I want to take for my future. They definitely guided me and help me choose the Best college for my graduation.(Pepper, I hope you understand what I mean by BEST). And now I can’t think of what else I would have been if I were not a Chef.
The education system does not need evolution it needs a
revolution. Yes mathematics and sciences are important. But what is more
important is have an organic development for our kids. if a kid is poor in numbers does not mean that he/she is a duffer. intelligence has different forms. the kid might be good in something else like music, sports etc. creativity in all forms should be respected and nurtured.
By the way Pablo Picasso was dyslexic, imagine if he had listened to all the people who said that he was not smart enough... and so is Richard Branson...
I believe that creativity is and will be even more bigger deciding factor to where we will take our country/world.
Lets educate our children in a way that we can customize their education as per their needs and bring out the creative bests in them. it may not be possible in schools but let's do it at our homes for them.
As Mark twain once famously said, "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."
Salt
By the way Pablo Picasso was dyslexic, imagine if he had listened to all the people who said that he was not smart enough... and so is Richard Branson...
I believe that creativity is and will be even more bigger deciding factor to where we will take our country/world.
Lets educate our children in a way that we can customize their education as per their needs and bring out the creative bests in them. it may not be possible in schools but let's do it at our homes for them.
As Mark twain once famously said, "I have never let my schooling interfere with my education."
Salt
bravo...... Yes with changing times we must to change.. However where we come from we may not have the comfort to choose our passion over what we know works aka security and hence that is also a reason why we tend to make decisions for our kids.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you on that Gautam.. and it is indeed difficult for people to leave their comfort zone. but if we don't change now, I guess we will be left behind. the way forward in this century is only to be creative.
ReplyDeletecoz the speed in which the world is changing is tremendous. thinking out of the box and leading innovation can only be done by creating a support structure for it.. and this is not about being different for the sake of being different. but it is about being organic and true to ourselves. cleaner minds will create a cleaner tomorrow.
and that's where good ideas come from.:-)