Teaching – A Journey thru classrooms and beyond

"There are two things we should give our children: one is roots and the other is wings". – Author Unknown.

My understanding of the quote: Roots, which would allow our children to stand firmly and to steadfastly hold their grounds in a world which is constantly trying to change them into something else. And Wings, which allow them to soar to great height, freely, unbounded and far away. That means, teachers give children the roots to grow and the wings to fly.

A teacher should always been passionate about an education for children that goes beyond just traditional academia. Children will learn the “core” subjects to the best of their ability if their personal learning style is identified and supported and they will learn it at their own pace. It is much more important as an educator, to focus on the children’s emotional and social education, which in my opinion will have much more far reaching importance for their future lives, for their happiness and well-being.

One of our greatest modern day challenges is the "dis-connect" our children, and probably most of us “grown-ups”, are experiencing as a result of significant changes in our society in the last 20-30 years. These changes include shifts in family structure and lifestyle, the dramatic rise and influence of technology, media and in particular the internet and social media and a generally very busy life with little opportunity for “real-life” connections and some much needed quiet time.

Many of us rush from day to day, from meeting to meeting, dance lesson to football or tennis training to gym, appointment to getting dinner ready and finally collapsing on the bed after a day we don’t remember half of. This lifestyle unfortunately has been transferred to many of our children, sometimes through circumstances out of our control and the new phenomenon of “childhood stress” has emerged and is growing with worrying speed.

The consequences of these changes in society and the effects it is having on our children and many of us are starting to show more and more and words such as “stress”, “burn out”, “anxiety”, “mental-health problems”, “depression”, “bullying”, “rise in teenage suicide”, “low self-esteem” etc. have taken firm places in our vocabulary.

Mindfulness helps us to re-connect, pull us into the here and now, and it is one of the most valuable skills we can learn ourselves and teach our children in order to navigate through challenging times. It will also help us to make necessary changes to our lifestyle and environment in order to prioritise our and our children’s well-being over just functioning on auto-pilot.

We all need to play an active part in making sure our children are still able to grow up into kind, confident and happy people despite the challenges they are confronted with. Education can be said to be a process through which a society passes on the knowledge, values and skills from one generation to another. Learning can be defined as the acquiring of new skills, knowledge, and values.

Both learning and education has a great influence on the mind and character of an individual. However, learning is the basic instinct possessed by all individuals, and, on the the other hand, education is acquired by individuals.

Education is the process of imparting knowledge, values, skills and attitudes, which can be beneficial to an individual. On the contrary, learning is the process of adopting knowledge, values and skills.

Learning is said to be an ongoing process. An individual is always learning, from his birth till his death. Education is something that one gets at some point in their life. Another thing that can be said, is that learning is an informal process, and education is a formal process.

Education is something that an individual gets from an outside source. On the other hand, learning is something that evolves in the inner self. Education is something that one gets from a school or university; education is related to classroom learning, and some other set standards. On the contrary, learning evolves at the personal level, for which there are no set standards. A tutor imparts education, whereas an individual learns from his surroundings.

Learning is knowledge gained through experience, and education is knowledge gained through teaching. Education can be said to be well organised, whereas learning is something that is related to an individual’s perception.

Summary

1. Education is the process of imparting knowledge, values, skills and attitudes, which can be beneficial to an individual. On the contrary, learning is the process of adopting knowledge, values and skills.

2. Learning is the basic instinct possessed by all individuals. On the the other hand, education is acquired by individuals.

3. Learning is said to be an ongoing process. Education is something that one gets at some point in their life.

4. Learning is an informal process, and education is a formal process.

5. Learning is knowledge gained through experience, and education is knowledge gained through teaching.

6. Education is something that an individual gets from an outside source. On the other hand, learning is something that evolves in the inner self.

Whatever we said and wrote, even if we implement NEP 2020, unless the teachers train the children to stand up with confidence to ask any questions in a friendly manner, teaching takes children nowhere other than the classrooms.