Saturday, October 9, 2010

Education is at WAR. So why do you teach?

Having attended some of the Virtual Round Table conferences I had this insight:

I'd like to start saying that at first I did not pursued this career. My first thought was to become a personal trainer due to my great affection for sports at that time.
My family is basically compounded by teachers. I have my mother, two aunts, an uncle, a cousin and a few other more distant relatives who are educators. For this reason, I'd often said to my parents that this would not be the kind of profession I would follow. Why? Why getting so little for working so hard? Why trying to educate children who were not educated at home? Why working so many extra-hours at home, preparing material and stuff? (I'd seen my mother dreading the time when she had to use the mimeograph to make copies of tests. The only thing I liked was the smell of alcohol.) Why spending my leisure time preparing and correting tests if I could be lying on the beach instead?
You know know why? Beacause I had a dream! I dreamed of becoming a better person through making people the best they could possibly be.
And I still have a dream. I dream of making my country the top of the countries. Without education this is unattainable.
Education is at war. Noone dares doubt it. Unprepared teachers are ubiquitiously scattered in schools. Meanwhile, unprepared parents are relying on these teachers to educate their children. How could this be possible? Complaining about these trivial problems is easy. Here in Brazil, education never came first. And we'll have to live many years to see it the growing as a priority.
However, there have been more serious problems to be dealt with: our kids have been living a nightmare in schools. Much has been demanded from them. Much has been asked. Much has been said. Nothing has been done.
They often compare themselves to superheroes. Who have to multitask by doing great at school, having some time to see their friends, practsing some sport and the like. Phew! i'd get tired just to imagine.
Education needs heroes. However, these heroes cannot be the students. They have to be us! We have the power to lessen their pain, to make learning more enjoyable. To change their lives!
What have you done to change education so far?
I guess you should start by changing yourself! Education Reform is closer than you might ever have imagined. Be careful. You might be the one who's been left behind!

See you in post :-)
please comment!



2 comments:

Cybrary Man - Jerry Blumengarten said...

Great post! I share many of your feelings. I even taught in the era of mimeograph and ditto (rexograph) machines that had that pungent odor and purple ink that got on your fingers and clothes. Many people do go into teaching hoping to make a change. I just wish that more parents and people in general valued education.

The strength of any country is dependent on the people who should be educated so they are better people and citizens.

Everyone has to take a part for change to be successful in education. It is up to the students, parents and teachers to do something positive in terms of education reform.

My contribution now is to keep adding resources to my website to help busy educators, students and parents.

gret said...

Great post Bruno! I like what you said: "We have the power to lessen their pain, to make learning more enjoyable. To change their lives!" I totally agree we can make a difference for our students. We need to work hard to change ourselves, to improve our teaching. We must be learners too.
I'm also convinced that by sharing what we do and what works with our students, we can also get other teachers on board.
Thanks for sharing this post!

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