Thursday, April 23, 2015

Educated, or not ...

Education...

Whether formal, with classrooms, theses, and degrees, or life lessons given by numerous random happenings and folks - education is a daily, even hourly process. From birth, the human is absorbing information, at individual amounts - each one grasping new concepts depending on their own circumstances and genetic makeup. Some humans learn to talk first, some walk first, some learn to trust and be friendly to all, and some learn to build psychological walls to keep friends to a minimum.

The term, "uneducated" is, or should not be a useable term on it's own, for we all learn from day one to our final day, education happens for everyone. The term holds merit if you say, "That Person is uneducated in nuclear science." Or, "That Person seems uneducated in the nuances of sarcasm." No one ever should use the phrase "That Person is an uneducated jerk!" There are as many ways to learn as there are people on earth. A teacher is not always the possessor of knowledge, but the tool or instrument, if you will, to direct the human to unearthing the knowledge for themselves. The most interesting and useful parcel of information I have gleaned in my experiences and schooling is that even the dullest of formally educated  human beings possess vast knowledge in something - whether I am interested or able to understand their certain avenue of intelligence is irrelevant to their abilities.

One thing I have found is that change can not be mandated in people. Change can be introduced, but a bully must choose to think and act differently, they can not be made to stop. It has been proven over and over the prejudice is a learned behavior. For learning, the teacher is not a magician, mystically imparting knowledge into the cortex of those who sit and listen. Teacher's are conduits, giving life and energy to a subject, or concept, and presenting it in a way that the optimum amount of material can be gleaned and retained.