About Education 2

Continue from part 1.

These are some of the main things, we need to change. To unwind the issue (a) The time of school hours is really critical. A child (the same as bored office clerk at work) waits impatiently to finish the hour and what he wants is? Not to understand material now, not to feel happy, but to hide from teacher, to not be examined, and to go to next subject, lesson, then to go home and leave all this behind. So how do you expect this system will develop nice and satisfied and effective people in the future? The school lesson time now is 40 -45 min. This time wouldn’t be so long for individual, who puts all his efforts and motivation in some subject. But for the case of school children, specially now is too much. Cut this time to 20-25 min. (of course here most teachers would object that this is very little and impossible to teach even new lesson, but if you have the right methods, and the right manner , plus discipline, it`s immensely more effective). In this time (so short as you may think) try to make the brain of children awaken, unfold his imagination, creativity, memory and understanding. How you can make this magic? Here comes the 

(b) solution – change the teaching way. 

What do you see, and imagine when someone say to you “school-girl, school boy” ? I see, and imagine little child, with a very big and heavy bad on his shoulders, which is 3 times the size of the child, who is hardly moving on the way, accompanied by a mother, aunt, grandmother…Why this child should carry “stones” in his school bag? So many subjects he study just for one day? Then.. he should be at least genius! In the future, why we don’t finally grow up many genius like this? But he is not, nor he will become. Exactly because of the principle “quantity versus quality”. So by having 101 books don’t expect the child to have knowledge for 101 things. He is empty shell, filled by force with information, which he doesn’t have place to store! And throw it away. Then what we should do? Now come inside the class and look. What do you see? The teacher is sitting, with an open book, say to the child “read the first sentence on page 3, make the first task on that page…come to the bored ,write solution”. Going inside this book, teacher gives orders, like from another world. He has not real connection with the child, don’t support his growing process, he support only education system, and what should be done. This lesson should be finished, this pages …and so on. Teacher is a “master” even not nice one. He is not guru, even not “sacred” anymore as it used to be. He is a bad master with gun, with a lash, giving orders, expecting obedience, and punishing. So what he should do? First of all, teacher needs to be close to children, to feel he is part of them, then he can be seen as higher, because of his experience and age. Teacher needs to be most respected, and to deserve this reward. He is master, magician, but kind and loving. He is not punishing, but he is showing the way. So make him to be with a screen, rather than a book, and take children to a visual travel of the subject (if it`s geography, biology, chemistry) give children visual experiences, because this is the true and most memorizing way to their brain. 

I ll give an example. If the teacher is in literature, don’t explain the long and boring sometimes biography of the writer, count his novels (which no one remember with dates altogether), instead project a short movie with very basic things about the writer – showing the place he was born, the memorial of the place, his home (museum), his family photo, photo of him, what were his likes and preferences, and slowly develop the story in history of his life, then of his work. (people are not separated from their achievements of works, so don’t make them to be) By making this visual trip, you`ll awaken interest in childs mind, and even if you don’t (as all children are different individuals) at least surely he ll have this movie about the writer in his mind, his monument, or some little detail, so this he will have stable in his mind. * for biology and geography subject also you could make miracles just by showing one simple movie and how is one animal looks like, or how bird migration looks like. 

Of course the child wont remember all from first time. Don’t expect that, so here comes the ( c ) and (d) make flexible program, and concentrate on some subjects for the day. You cant think that childs mind will be well and developing, if you put in one program 5-6 subjects. Dear reader, I want you now to go and read one magazine in geography for 40 min. then please go and listen one only program in Tv for 40 min, then go and read one high classic book “Victor Hugo” for 40 min, then read one blog about biological diversity of pelicans for 40 min, and after all please write a review of what you remember. If you remember 50% then will be good, maybe your brain is well developed and trained. So now imagine a little child, who should remember all that 5 subject for a day! What do you feel? 

The approach should be clear –shorten and change. When you show the writers background and home and photos on a movie, this is just one lesson. Next lesson continue with some reading passage from his work (don’t say what others wrote about him like critiques), and ask the student what are his own thoughts about that, what he imagine, how he can relate this passage to the movie before (u`ll be surprised how well children can think). Then take the next or same lesson (and one subject) and make little quiz exercise on what child remember, feel and think about this writer, allowing him to be expressive, no matter of likes or dislikes, while not tolerate of course bad and offensive vocabulary. This short quiz may include game element, making a score and reaching to high result, and little reward for the winner (if its about less than 10 year child). This will make the atmosphere more vivid, interesting and nice for children. So after this 3 lessons (by 20 min each) we have total time of 1 hour (in which children will know more and feel better ,compared to now 40 min lesson empty of all). Then have 3 more lessons (by 20 min) in another subject (also made them to be well fitting together, if you had literature , have a linguistic, a language or cultural studies)