It is in the opinion of the author that effective education of the student is best accomplished through engaging and interactive environments. Education plays an integral role in expanding the mind and developing the ability of critical thought. Effectively developing learners for real world problems cannot be accomplished through simple exercises of memorization and fact regurgitation. This practice does not lead the learner to the path of understanding and mastery. Students should be taught how to grasp the deeper underlining principle behind all knowledge, behaviors, and practices. Facts and theories are simply manifestations of deeper principles. As learners we sometimes mistake the manifestation for the thing itself. This practice is like one seeing the shadow of a tree mistaking the shadow to be the tree itself. To become over-enamored with superficial representations prevents the learner from truly understanding the cause behind the phenomena. Education should be about exposing the source of the shadow to the learner. As a leader and an educator there is a larger role that learning plays within our lives and the general society. We must remember the real concerns of institutions and the expectation of society that learning be of high quality and that knowledge must be for more than gaining new work skills (Schrum, 2000). There is a deeper purpose to what we learn, a deeper meaning. The mere aggrandizement of our circumstances should not be the sole focus of learning. There is an element of responsibility that must be acknowledged. It is charged upon those of us who teach and lead the responsibility of guiding others along the path of self-directed thought. Obedient automatons that merely follow orders and await instruction do not improve the performance capacity of a society or organization. Sadly enough this is what many educational processes are training people to become. |
