Hello! Seiiti Arata. Education makes us better people.
Education is to acquire new skills, to mature. It is the first step toward progress. Education should not be confused with collecting certificates.
1. The teacher has an important mission.
I admire anyone who is a teacher, because in addition to teaching school subjects, the teacher also has another mission, which is to inspire, to explain to students the importance of education.
Often teachers are faced with students who have lack of experience and lack of interest but plenty of disdain towards study.
Does the teacher have a responsibility to show the importance of education for students? Yes, for sure. But he is not alone in this mission.
2. Education is built collaboratively.
We all have an interest in the outcome of education.
– The government gives general guidelines, creates educational programs and provides resources.
– The school implements the teaching model.
– Parents set the example for their children.
– And the students themselves need to be involved to do their best!
There is collaboration. That is essentially co-laboring, from Latin, meaning to work together.
3. How can we contribute to education?
There is so much that we could ask for the improvement of education. But what about on our side? What we are offering?
Our collaboration is precisely our commitment to continued learning.
Remember: education should not be confused with collecting certificates. Education is not only what we live within the classroom—education is something we cherish for a lifetime. We are all students. #WeAreAllStudents
Education is continual. Anyone who thinks they’ve graduated and no longer needs education is thinking only about the school, and that schools are only for children. That implies that adults do not need to read books, learn, ask questions or be curious.
Anyone who thinks so is a person who has died intellectually, who will not learn anything new and will even forget the little they know.
So here in Arata Academy we practice continued learning. We are all students.
We can use rationality to select the best strategies for our education. We can learn to learn. Train our critical thinking. Strengthen our resources and ability to find solutions to challenges.
We must remember that although some aspects of education can be fun, there are also times that education demands silence, asks patience, urges focus. Do you know why?
4. Education teaches us to face difficulties.
We have to learn to face challenges with dignity, with perseverance, with intellectual stamina. That complicated matter that seems to have no practical use is at least helping to develop our thinking ability, our discipline, our character and our willingness to put in hard work or effort.
We must have dignity and self-esteem so we do not to give up at the first academic difficulty. We don’t quit because it is very difficult or because it is boring.
If we do not have even the intellectual curiosity to understand a basic school concept, can you imagine what will happen later? How will we face the difficulties of life? With commitment, or always searching for shortcuts?
Education allows us to have independent thinking. You see, there are people who may have all the necessary resources—books, computer, internet—yet they give up too soon, before they can solve problems. They are easily tricked by rumors, deceptions and scams.
So to avoid becoming a sheep following the herd it is necessary to have the critical thinking skills. Know how to make good choices that are consistent with what we want from life.
Education is a shared responsibility between government, teachers, parents and students. For us who choose continued education, we are always students, seeking to better understand our world, think independently and create new things.
Does the educational model of today have problems? Yes, for sure. The format we have is still from the industrial era, focusing on academic performance geared to results applicable in industry. This is why today artistic and creative intelligence are less emphasized in schools. And ironically, this outdated model makes it increasingly difficult to insert the young in the labor market.
Education enables us to look at the same situation from different perspectives. It is crucial to have empathy, to communicate with quality, to develop good relationships. We learn to treat others as we would like to be treated. The absence of education gives space to extremism, stupidity, fear and intolerance of anything that is different.
Let’s collaborate to rescue education beyond the certificates, collaborating for true education that makes us better people.