Blog John Silver

Today’s education system is based on academia and tests which are used to gauge progress. A high percent of students are in tune with the current system, but there will always be the 30% who cannot associate classroom instruction with the real world. This is especially true for students with creative minds that are searching for alternatives. I have increasingly come to believe that the education system is lacking perspectives – teachers teach just to cover the syllabus, not help appreciate the beauty and the usefulness of what is being taught/studied.

 What is education?

v     knowledge in basic skills,

v     Academics,

v     Technical,

v     Discipline,

v     Citizenship or is it something else?

Benjamin Franklin, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, the Wright Brothers’, Frank Sinatra, and Elvis Presley, they educated themselves with self-motivated projects. Academics were a byproduct that was acquired as needed and at the level needed to achieve their goal. These people were in conflict with classroom education. They succeeded because they discovered their natural talent and built a career based on discovery. Education supports on projects is highly motivating and is man’s natural learning process. The discovery and opportunity to develop natural talent inspires a productive lifestyle. Natural learning environments and the Project based education can give students that opportunity.

natural learning environments:

Natural learning is based on curiosity and projects where participants share knowledge to reach a goal. Knowledge that is useful for a project is customized to the project needs and personality of the participants. Knowledge is gained by tapping information sources through research, trial and error, networking, and intuitive forces. The ability to tap these resources and make sound judgments is the key to achieving the desired goal. As one goal is achieved, another is established. Each goal requires new knowledge and skills, and this is achieved through the ability to acquire knowledge from many sources.

Before compulsory classroom education, team environments were standard for educating the young. Usually, the team was made up of family members, who passed on their skills. Being inspired, by those who care, is a natural way to learn. The problem was that results varied widely and local governments saw the need for control. The efficient way for governments to educate large groups of students is in a controlled classroom by a qualified teacher. This is not man’s natural way to learn, it is an efficient way. The price of efficiency is the acceptance that many students will fall through the cracks.

There are many natural ways to learn and scattered groups are reintroducing them to society. The winners of spelling bees, as I write this, came from home schooled students. Teachers unions and textbook industries are attacking these programs and are trying to get politicians to pass laws against there use. As business and political monopolies increase their control over the education system, many parents are breaking away, taking on the task themselves to teach their children. In fact, a small portion of our society is going back to the days of parent-child relationship that was the norm before compulsory public education. Experiential education is man’s natural learning tool. When learning methods are in harmony with compatible learning environments, a love to learn develops.

Project Based Education: It is based on what interests and motivates the student. Because the instructor cannot customize lesson plans for each student, he must implement student responsibility. It becomes the student’s responsibility to develop and research projects and develop a plan of action. The instructor acts as a coach or facilitator. Instructors take an interest in students’ projects instead of students having to take an interest in topics handed down by administrators.Projects require a goal where students must search for a method, acquire skills and knowledge, accept failure and bounce back from it, and keep trying until the goal is achieved. They learn through experiences, more important, they learn how to research and apply knowledge. Success is measured by the complexity of the project and the ability to finish it. This type of education motivates one to learn more about the world we live in while creating a lifetime love to learn. The laws’ of nature is the motivator and instructor. Positive self-esteem is one of the many by-products.

     types of projects:

v     Class Motivated - In this case, the instructor initiates the project and sets the goal. Competition type projects are effective. Some students may need to be taught the art of project development before they are assigned to smaller groups.

v     Team Motivated – A team of 2 to 5 members agree on a common interest project. With teams, the opportunity to share knowledge has a powerful influence on team members. It motivates others to find ways to contribute information or skills. When things go wrong, strong team members can support and encourage the weaker ones. Support from associates is a powerful force. Peer pressure motivates all to excel.

v     Self-Motivated - Some students are independent, strong-willed and have a natural talent with projects. They might do best on their own.

Projects make it possible to offer a wide verity of subjects, determined by the interest of the students. It becomes the students’ responsibility to develop the project with available resources, not the instructor.

With a wide verity of learning environments, a student has greater opportunity to find a project that is in harmony with his natural talent. All teenagers want to learn, be creative and productive, but they need opportunity.

Having discussed above, finally an educationist, Gardner identifies five different types of minds that education today has to inculcate in the younger generation. They are as follows:
1. Disciplinary Mind: the mastery of major schools of thought, including science, mathematics, and history, and of at least one professional craft.
2. Synthesizing Mind: the ability to integrate ideas from different disciplines or spheres into a coherent whole and to communicate that integration to others.
3. Creating Mind: the capacity to uncover and clarify new problems, questions and phenomena.
4. Respectful Mind: awareness of and appreciation for differences among human beings andhumangroups.
5. The Ethical Mind: fulfillment of one’s responsibilities as a worker and as a citizen.