“There are few educators who would disagree with the principle that lifelong learning is a good thing but the important questions are about the types of learning that the concept promotes, the life that it encourages us to lead, who benefits from this and the nature of the society that it upholds” (p 20/21)
Objective: What caught my attention?
Even before reflecting on this quote I was immediately drawn to a quote that I remember from University: (and I paraphrase here, as I can’t remember the book or author, but the point is still valid for a journal)
“It was a surprise to learn that education both opened doors and closed door to many.”
This quote came from a slave owner writing about educating slaves. His argument was that they were happy slaves without education, content in their place in life, and to educate them would only allow them to fully understand how bad it was to be a slave. In his mind education was simply a road to misery. Now it’s a stretch to compare today’s adult education to educating slaves, that’s not the point, the point is: is the question of what type of life continuing education encourages us to lead a better life or not? – are we happier being higher educated or would we be better of blissfully unaware that we can’t all be CEOs or multi-millionaires- even though we have the degrees and schooling to do so. I think that one must be careful with continuing education, the dream of it leading to a better job /higher pay, better status is a false one and has been borne out by the last 50 years of University. The nature of our society has become one of overqualified underpaid people bitter about their education. From a lifelong learning perspective extrinsic motivation has failed us in just about every way measurable, and as such lifelong education if strictly extrinsically motivated should be entered upon with great trepidation for one might not like the results.
Successful lifelong learning must be driven by a need for self-improvement, simply the joy of learning something new, or intrinsic motivations. Society would be much better served if we were all bit more educated, well-rounded , gain self-confidence and happiness form such learning. Unfortunately our society seems to be far more extrinsic. Only those that can find joy in the process of learning should be and will be lifelong students.
Reflective: What did I realize about teaching as a result of this quote?
I did a lot of reflecting about the notion of lifelong learning and its effect of our society. I questioned the notion of what is learning? Is taking up a new hobby a learning experience? Is googling something and reading about it learning? Is studying a book in the library for no reason other than its interesting learning? Or is learning solely defined by a piece of paper at the end of a course? By definition: Learning is defined as a complex behaviour that can involve how we think, feel or do something. (pg 41) Are simple things then not learning? thats Something I will have to find out as the course progresses.
This quote made me wonder about what my actions as an educator would truly be effecting. As a educator I cannot change why a student wants to learn. I can try and motivate them to do better, but the intrinsic or extrinsic motivation is beyond my control. The effect that the education I impart on a student and the impact that has on society is hopefully a benefit. If the education is ultimately unfulfilling and a detriment to society, then have I failed as a teacher or were the students motivations flawed from the beginning? I do not know the answer to that question – I think it’s a fundamental question all teachers have, did they fail or did the student fail? And ultimately was society better off or not? That is almost impossible to measure.
Interpretive: The Aha moment and key insight
To be honest, there was no Aha moment; I had to ponder this quote for a while to get an understanding of where I wanted to go with it. I agree that lifelong education is good, but only if it’s for the right reasons. I think the quotes question of education on society lead me to think about overeducated and unhappy people.
A key insight that I have now is that as an educator I can motivate and engage students, but I can’t control the effect that it has on society. Each student will do what they will with the knowledge that they are given, and I can’t control that.
Decisional: How has this quote influenced my notion of teaching?
Having reflected for quite a while on this quote, I have come to the understanding that is quote will have very little effect on my notion of teaching. I agree that lifelong learning is a good thing, it keeps the mind active and engages us mentally. The effect that has on a person’s life and society in general is not for us as educators to judge. Each adult will learn for their own reasons, as educators we are not tasked with the betterment of society, but rather betterment of an individual. It is up to the individual to determine the effect that their new education will have on society not us teachers.
Objective: What caught my attention?
Even before reflecting on this quote I was immediately drawn to a quote that I remember from University: (and I paraphrase here, as I can’t remember the book or author, but the point is still valid for a journal)
“It was a surprise to learn that education both opened doors and closed door to many.”
This quote came from a slave owner writing about educating slaves. His argument was that they were happy slaves without education, content in their place in life, and to educate them would only allow them to fully understand how bad it was to be a slave. In his mind education was simply a road to misery. Now it’s a stretch to compare today’s adult education to educating slaves, that’s not the point, the point is: is the question of what type of life continuing education encourages us to lead a better life or not? – are we happier being higher educated or would we be better of blissfully unaware that we can’t all be CEOs or multi-millionaires- even though we have the degrees and schooling to do so. I think that one must be careful with continuing education, the dream of it leading to a better job /higher pay, better status is a false one and has been borne out by the last 50 years of University. The nature of our society has become one of overqualified underpaid people bitter about their education. From a lifelong learning perspective extrinsic motivation has failed us in just about every way measurable, and as such lifelong education if strictly extrinsically motivated should be entered upon with great trepidation for one might not like the results.
Successful lifelong learning must be driven by a need for self-improvement, simply the joy of learning something new, or intrinsic motivations. Society would be much better served if we were all bit more educated, well-rounded , gain self-confidence and happiness form such learning. Unfortunately our society seems to be far more extrinsic. Only those that can find joy in the process of learning should be and will be lifelong students.
Reflective: What did I realize about teaching as a result of this quote?
I did a lot of reflecting about the notion of lifelong learning and its effect of our society. I questioned the notion of what is learning? Is taking up a new hobby a learning experience? Is googling something and reading about it learning? Is studying a book in the library for no reason other than its interesting learning? Or is learning solely defined by a piece of paper at the end of a course? By definition: Learning is defined as a complex behaviour that can involve how we think, feel or do something. (pg 41) Are simple things then not learning? thats Something I will have to find out as the course progresses.
This quote made me wonder about what my actions as an educator would truly be effecting. As a educator I cannot change why a student wants to learn. I can try and motivate them to do better, but the intrinsic or extrinsic motivation is beyond my control. The effect that the education I impart on a student and the impact that has on society is hopefully a benefit. If the education is ultimately unfulfilling and a detriment to society, then have I failed as a teacher or were the students motivations flawed from the beginning? I do not know the answer to that question – I think it’s a fundamental question all teachers have, did they fail or did the student fail? And ultimately was society better off or not? That is almost impossible to measure.
Interpretive: The Aha moment and key insight
To be honest, there was no Aha moment; I had to ponder this quote for a while to get an understanding of where I wanted to go with it. I agree that lifelong education is good, but only if it’s for the right reasons. I think the quotes question of education on society lead me to think about overeducated and unhappy people.
A key insight that I have now is that as an educator I can motivate and engage students, but I can’t control the effect that it has on society. Each student will do what they will with the knowledge that they are given, and I can’t control that.
Decisional: How has this quote influenced my notion of teaching?
Having reflected for quite a while on this quote, I have come to the understanding that is quote will have very little effect on my notion of teaching. I agree that lifelong learning is a good thing, it keeps the mind active and engages us mentally. The effect that has on a person’s life and society in general is not for us as educators to judge. Each adult will learn for their own reasons, as educators we are not tasked with the betterment of society, but rather betterment of an individual. It is up to the individual to determine the effect that their new education will have on society not us teachers.