Earlier today, I watched and watched again the video from Jeffrey Gitomer on lifelong learning. Here's his video for reference:
I think that all humans are lifelong learners, whether we want to admit it or not. For some people, a formal education through a college or university is a necessity. That's why we see so many people with PhD's. For others, they learn on their own and don't care for a formal education. These are the people who don't go to college and still manage to make a name for themselves.
I'm one of those people who require a formal education. My parents raised me to believe that if I wanted to be successful in life, then I would have to go to college and "get educated." When I graduate from Full Sail, I'll be the only person on either my mom's side or my dad's side of the family to have a Master's degree. If I had the money, I'd be a career student. My parents may have raised me this way because neither of them had a formal education. My mom took some college courses after she graduated, but she does not hold a degree.
My dad graduated from high school in 1972. A year and a half later, he married my mom. He never went to college. I grew up poor and didn't really have access to the technology that everyone else seemed to have until I was halfway through high school. When my parents bought that old Hewlitt-Packard, they learned how to work it at the same time I did. When they bought their second HP, they learned how to work that one on their own as well. My parents may have raised me to want a formal education, but they have a natural curiosity that carries them through life. When the situation arises, my parents learn the necessary skills to carry them through.
My mom is still a housewife, like she's always been, but my dad works two jobs. During every weekday, he is a well-respected plumber and electrician. Every Monday night, he is Mayor Pro-temp of my hometown. Not bad for a man who doesn't have an education past high school.
My husband is also one of those people who learns best on his own. The only formal education he has received is a few tech school classes over the years and AIT this past spring. For as long as I have known him (going on four years now), I have never taken any of my vehicles to a shop to be repaired without him first looking at it himself. If he can't figure out what is wrong with my car, he'll then tell me to take it to a shop to get fixed. He has this natural curiosity towards cars because he was allowed to tinker with them at a young age. About a year ago, my dad let my husband restore this old-as-dirt riding lawn mower that he bought off of someone. J (my hubby!) began working on the mower before he left for Basic training and finally finished it when he returned home from AIT in April. There were days when he'd be outside cussing at it and calling that mower all kinds of names, but he only quit working on it if he ran out of parts.
The moral of my story is that sometimes our kids don't necessarily need a formal education. We already know that only a handful of them are going to college, university, or tech school. The majority of our students will end up in the military or work force right outside of high school. Our jobs as teachers are to teach our students to be lifelong learners, to continue learning no matter what. So, 10, 20, 30, or even 40 years into the future, these students won't be afraid to learn something new.
References
BuyGitomer. (2008, April 19). Life Long Learning. Video posted to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zh6yd6wfCgU
ProfStephanie. (2008, January 28). Life Long Learning. Video posted to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzJDylq_UTQ
No comments:
Post a Comment