One important way we can educate people of all ages is to promote community service.
Right now, what is the stigma attached to community service? What do you think of it? Many of you will associate it with punishment, of handouts.
The proper actions of a citizen, in the true sense, is giving back to the community they are a part of. One of the reasons I'm a proponent of Open-Source Software (use OSS almost exclusively) is exactly this reason. I spent many years as a computer programmer, and most of the code I wrote was repeated and reused in other projects in some form. In computer terms, that's very easy to do. It also promotes rapid growth.
In the real world we do this by sharing our knowledge with those around us. We can share just a little bit of knowledge, experience, and enthusiasm with those people around us and it becomes infectious. Just like a smile grows and grows, knowledge and enthusiasm grow as well.
As my children were growing through their early years I realized that I needed to change my way of thinking. I had been noticing actions of other parents treatment of their kids, and realized that the most successful parenting seemed to grow from a willingness to let the children be better than their parents.
Read that again, and think hard about it. Now think not just about parents and children, but those people around us. Community service is not just donating time to the local soup-kitchen or cleaning up the trash along the side of the road, it is helping and encouraging people around you to grow bigger and better than you, or at least trying.
That's a true citizen.
November 18, 2008
November 01, 2008
Edjukashun
Education in this country is pathetic.
Not all things should be funded by the government, but education is the key to a nations health. A democracy especially suffers if the educational system does not produce competent graduates. This country could do away with Social Security, Welfare, Food Stamps, and Subsidies if the population was educated properly.
Right now, the United States educational system is producing many graduates who are not ready to work intelligently. They do not understand what it means to work hard and smart. They do not understand the importance of giving back what they get. Many of these students are looking for a quick buck, not lasting wealth and abundance.
We need to invest heavily in programs that encourage students to learn and experiment, in programs that foster students working together, and in programs that teach responsible citizenship. These programs show students how learning at all times in life is the only way to truly succeed.
One sticking point is standardized testing. If standardized testing produces results, where are they? Why are students in the USA dropping out of school? I'll tell you right now it's because they can't see the point. The system as it exists now is designed to look good in standardized tests, and not to produce students who can succeed and grow.
Classrooms need to be places where teachers introduce concepts and allow students to work and both succeed and fail. Nothing teaches faster than failure, and motivated students use failure to empower themselves to do better. Classrooms today abhor failure, they run from it. Every student succeeds in some way, no matter how bad they did.
Every successful entrepreneur, inventor, or business partner failed at some point. They probably failed spectacularly, and you know what happened? They learned and moved forward. Students are not learning this.
Another sticking point is the salaries paid to teachers. These instructors can be the most important part of anyone's life, and they should be rewarded as such. There are other salaries that are out of whack with what values should be, but that's a topic for another day.
Despite all the economic turmoil, and in fact because of it, this is the time to start getting this right. America used to be a shining example of what is right in the world. It is not too late for us to again be that beacon that Lady Liberty is holding high. The time is now.
Not all things should be funded by the government, but education is the key to a nations health. A democracy especially suffers if the educational system does not produce competent graduates. This country could do away with Social Security, Welfare, Food Stamps, and Subsidies if the population was educated properly.
Right now, the United States educational system is producing many graduates who are not ready to work intelligently. They do not understand what it means to work hard and smart. They do not understand the importance of giving back what they get. Many of these students are looking for a quick buck, not lasting wealth and abundance.
We need to invest heavily in programs that encourage students to learn and experiment, in programs that foster students working together, and in programs that teach responsible citizenship. These programs show students how learning at all times in life is the only way to truly succeed.
One sticking point is standardized testing. If standardized testing produces results, where are they? Why are students in the USA dropping out of school? I'll tell you right now it's because they can't see the point. The system as it exists now is designed to look good in standardized tests, and not to produce students who can succeed and grow.
Classrooms need to be places where teachers introduce concepts and allow students to work and both succeed and fail. Nothing teaches faster than failure, and motivated students use failure to empower themselves to do better. Classrooms today abhor failure, they run from it. Every student succeeds in some way, no matter how bad they did.
Every successful entrepreneur, inventor, or business partner failed at some point. They probably failed spectacularly, and you know what happened? They learned and moved forward. Students are not learning this.
Another sticking point is the salaries paid to teachers. These instructors can be the most important part of anyone's life, and they should be rewarded as such. There are other salaries that are out of whack with what values should be, but that's a topic for another day.
Despite all the economic turmoil, and in fact because of it, this is the time to start getting this right. America used to be a shining example of what is right in the world. It is not too late for us to again be that beacon that Lady Liberty is holding high. The time is now.
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