Learning is NOT a Spectator Sport
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I chanced across a few quotes with the above heading in an old issue of a magazine and thought of sharing the quotes with all of you!
This section is especially dedicated to those students who had just received their 'O' level results and are going to start school again soon.
Hopefully, you'll remember these words of wisdom as you pursue your education. Remember what learning truly is!
Those who have been required to memorize the world as it is will never create the world as it might be. - Judith Groch
Live as if you were to die tomorrow. Learn as if you were to live forever. - Gandhi
Children must be taught how to think, not what to think. - Margaret Mead
Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire. - William Butler Yeats
The mediocre teacher tells. The good teacher explains. The superior teacher demonstrates. The great teacher inspires. - William Arthur Ward
In education we are striving not to teach youth to make a living, but to make a life. - William Allen White
The art of teaching is the art of assisting discovery. - Mark Van Doren
As knowledge increases, wonder deepens. - Charles Morgan
If you can learn from hard knocks, you can also learn from soft touches. - Carolyn Kenmore
- Compiled by Karen Miles for 'Family Circle', 9 Feb 2003. -
Somehow, looking at the above quotes re. Learning, one can't help but wonder - our education system seems to fall far short of the TRUE objective of learning, teaching and education!
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I love all those quotes especially the one by Margaret Mead.
I do believe the school system is there to educate. I also believe that the system, though questionable at times, stressful at others, is working fine.
The problem of the Singapore system is that the emphasis for education and learning is placed on the school system, realistically the emphasis should be at home. As parents, many do not play a strong enough part for true learning to happen.
Some in SGforums are already aware that I am a father of two boys, the older one just started his secondary education this year. My wife and I never want them to be anything other than themselves and realise their full potential as an individual. They must be equipped with all the necessary quotient for them to have a fruitful life. It is interesting for me to see that my boys are forging a path themselves, one that is full of potential for growth and enjoyment. Within a space of two months, my older son has got himself into two school teams in activities that he is enjoying. Not just that, he is also the assistant programme manager for a teacher's recognition programme.....
My point is: do not be mistaken that the school system is to make a man out of a child, the school is there to ensure that the kids are equipped academically, it takes more to make a useful person out of the child, the bulk of these efforts has to come from the family. There are too many kids out there with great IQ, but poor EQ and RQ. I strongly believe that the emotional and resilient quotient has to be inculated at home. -
Hello, Chin Eng! Welcome to Club 30!
It's true that most parents these days shun their responsibilities when it comes to educating their children, thinking that the schools should bear responsibility in this area.
The thing is, children have a steeper learning curve the younger they are, I can't remember up to what age, but physiologically, it's been recognised to be so.
This is not to say that they stop learning after reaching that certain age, but that their ability to absorb as fast becomes a little less efficient.
Therefore, the onus is really on parents to take advantage of this fact, and guide their children onto the path of learning from a tender age.
Also, children learn what they see, and if the parents themselves do not demonstrate their own love of active learning and set an example for their own kids, it shall be difficult to expect the children to do as instructed.
Congratulations on raising children based on the philosophy of wanting them to reach their fullest potential, and seeing the apparent fruits of taking that direction!