For most education is viewed as a tiered process starting at kindergarten and going until the end of High School or College. The focus is on academics and studies rather than experiences. I feel like something is lost in such a sterile environment.
My personal perspective is that while the traditional studies are important it is equally valid to integrate real life lessons into education. Examples can be as simple growing plants in a classroom to semesters of studying abroad. Engaging students at any level can spark interest in topics or fields of study not considered previously. Awakening an interest in a student can cause a complete change of their life by having them focus on passions rather than staying within a mold. (1)
This onward progression of education that is the staple society broadly reflects Erik Erikson’s epigenetic principle. That is to say we all develop via certain and predictable stages of life experience. As a father I can already see the first three stages from my raising on my daughter. While she will start her formal schooling next year, I can already see how daycare has impacted her. For some her current day would just be an easy out so the parents could work and wouldn’t consider anything this early in life to be education. However, I refute that and am glad to encourage her to experience as many opportunities as possible. (2)
Looking over the above I hope those reading can understand my goal of equating education with more than just formal studies. We tend to focus on a very strict outlook rather than a flexible approach that varies between the individual. Psychology has shown how & when we start learning as well as the different ways that we can. Maybe this blog post is more of a catalyst to promote a different way of looking at what we all experience.
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Hi! Yes I wholeheartedly agree with you! I actually learn best by doing projects aka when I can apply concepts to real world scenarios. I actually have to compensate for stereotypical learning requirements by “multitasking” and doing more than one activity at once. For example, while listening to a lecture I will color in an adult coloring book or do chores. I need tactile, visual and auditory stimulation all at once. Unless I’m reading/listening to a cohesive story, my attention isn’t held by reading a litany of facts and definitions. The best example of this from this week’s lesson is Jane Elliots experiment that we watched.
PBS.org. (1985, March 26). A Class Divided. FRONTLINE. Retrieved March 29, 2022, from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/frontline/film/class-divided/