A human being is born with an instinctive passion for
exploring and discovering. From the moment he steps out in this world an
adventurer’s journey begins, a journey full learning and challenges.
During childhood a human being is in his maximum limits of
wonderment. Learning becomes a necessity to him because it amuses him. How does
the sun rise from the east? How do birds fly high in the sky? Why don’t snakes
have legs? Each time he asks a question, he receives an answer, and he gains
more knowledge.
As a human being proceeds in his life and gets older, a new
concept is introduced to him: schooling. He starts going to school where he
must be put in a classroom with kids around his age. He starts receiving text
books about different subjects: math, science, literature, history and so on.
He gets introduced to the person who will explain these textbooks for him, the
teacher.
Now a person must give up on his adventurer’s journey and
start a new one, a student’s journey. A student must sit in a classroom with
his classmates; listen to a teacher standing in front of the class, explaining
a textbook. A student must memorize information, because he is going to be
tested in this information. A student must learn information from a
textbook and then copy these information on an exam paper. A student must be
obedient, follow the rules, bring his textbook to class every day, listen to
what the teacher is saying, do homework, perform well in exams otherwise he
will lose grades. Ah, grades, a student’s fuel in life. It is what motivates
him to work harder; it is what inspires him to put a huge effort in school. It
is what defines him in the eyes of his teachers, peers, and himself. If a
student gets an A+ then he is an ideal student, a person who deserves to be
clapped for. If a student gets a D or an F then he is a useless, lazy human
being who is not capable of learning and producing.
You see in this schooling system a
student’s passion for exploring evaporates year after year. He is now obliged
to conform to this system. This system that turns everyone into machines, with
no distinctions between them but grades. This system that wants students to abide
by meaningless orders and rules, read books they do not want to read, learn
things they have no interest in, instead of exploring in their own fields of
interest and according to their own way of thinking.
Year after year a student’s adventurer’s journey is
forgotten and diminished. In the end we are confronted with machines that are
not capable of thinking analytically nor solve problems, but sit behind a desk
and work.
An educational system should mentor students on how to
continue in their adventurer’s journey. Open the doors for them to go beyond
what they have dreamed of. To explore, discover, learn, solve, and produce new
materials to the world every day. Help them realize how valuable knowledge is,
and how valuable they are in building a better world.
Better education = better societies, better societies =
better world.
