 Author |
 Post
|
 |
|
Marcus
Joined: Apr 23, 2009
Posts: 132 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Chatterbox
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Male & 20
Country: New Zealand
Province/State: Waikato
City: Hamilton
|
Do YOU take education for granted?
April 25, 2009 - 09:15 AM
|
|
Hey everyone 
I want to share with you a Newspaper article I wrote that was published with our S.P.L.I.C.E work in the local newspaper.
Its about education and taking it for granted, I would like to hear your thoughts back on Why does an Education matter. *
Why does it matter?
"As a country we take education for granted, we offer our children so many opportunities, in schooling, leadership , learning, fun, then apprenticeships and tertiary training. Later in life: advancements, extra training and careers. Education should matter to us. It should be the most important value we have. It should be second only to family and good health. After all, learning is what makes a society progress. Without learning we would still be rubbing sticks together to make a spark. If spark was the potential, education is the fire. Education matters! However, I’m concerned that the way we are going, the ink will fade long before the message sinks in.
Last year we held a mufti-day to raise money to buy desks for a small school of about 20 students in Malawi. We raised approximately $1800.00 and to thank us Malawi sent a dozen handwritten letters from the students who benefited from our desks. These letters were mostly drawn with cheap crayons on scraps of paper but they were heartfelt. It didn’t seem like much - a small gift of desks from a school that has a substantial budget and students who take their education for granted, but it mattered a lot.
Why did it matter? Desks are not essential to an education system. We know you don’t need desks to learn yet in return we received letters straight from the heart of these students. They were overcome with the knowledge that on the other side of the world there were students who cared. Students who wanted them to experience the simple benefit of using a desk to write on. It mattered a lot to them because they believe that learning is essential and that going to school is a privilege. They thought we felt that way too.
To be continued...
This post was edited on: 2009-04-25 at 09:17 AM by: Newklear
This post was edited on: 2009-04-25 at 09:18 AM by: Newklear
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Marcus
Joined: Apr 23, 2009
Posts: 132 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Chatterbox
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Male, 20
Country: New Zealand
Province/State: Waikato
City: Hamilton
|
Re: Do YOU take education for granted?
April 25, 2009 - 09:16 AM
|
|
Continued...
In Malawi most students find themselves having to leave school before they complete high school. Not because they no longer enjoy or benefit from it, but because they need to work to help their family survive. The majority would love the opportunities we have here in New Zealand, to be able to stay at school until they are 18 and then go on to further their studies, but the majority just can’t do that. It’s simply a matter of survival.
I know several college students who left our school before finishing Year 13 without having a job or a trade lined up. Their reason for leaving was that they just no longer felt that school was right for them. Six months later, many feel that perhaps leaving school so early was not the best idea. Some can’t find work in the current job market. Others miss the sensation of learning something new. They wish that they had stayed to complete their final years of schooling. It’s simply a matter of choice.
We do take our education system for granted. I guess we’ve had it for so long now that we’ve stopped valuing it as much as we need to. The Malawi students know why it matters so much. They recognise that a proper well rounded education doesn’t just create a path for a future full of prosperity; it gives us many skills which we cannot obtain anywhere else. Without these skills we are incomplete and for an economy and country to prosper we need large numbers of people who have the opportunity and the encouragement to achieve their full potential. We need our students to develop in a community which values and actively supports learning. We need our students to have an excellent education, but first we have to decide what an excellent education is in the 21st century."
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Liza Bolton
Joined: Apr 21, 2009
Posts: 50 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Talkative
User is
Offline
Country: New Zealand
Province/State: Waikato
City: Hamilton
|
Re: Do YOU take education for granted?
April 25, 2009 - 05:56 PM
|
|
That article almost made me tear up the first time I read it, Marcus.
I think education is often undervalued, especially by students who don't, or feel they can't, take ownership of their learning and become engaged.
We need to create a culture of appreciation and value for learning!
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Meaghan
Joined: Apr 12, 2009
Posts: 30 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Talkative
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Female, 19
Country: New Zealand
Province/State: Auckland
City: Auckland
|
Re: Do YOU take education for granted?
April 25, 2009 - 07:43 PM
|
|
Nice article Marcus- you raised some truly valid points and it’s inspiring to see you offering so much to your community!
We definitely take our education for granted, not only on a global scale, but also when national and local disparities are taken into account.
My English teacher once said that a student is unable to judge their aptitude by how they rank in a class or school. Schools of Asian countries in particular emphasize routines of such intensity that it is difficult for New Zealanders to imagine. This is because when your family are financially disadvantaged are you are competing with millions for university entrance, your value and your very future is judged by how you perform in exams.
University entrance for us is ridiculously easy, while my relatives in China are committing hours of study every night to vie for a chance.
The reputation of my school drives up the property value of houses that are in its zone, and just like you, I am befuddled at the students who completely ignore the education offered here and instead, get expelled for smoking and fighting.
It is truly amazing, and sometimes saddening, to witness how disparate of a mindset we possess.
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Marcus
Joined: Apr 23, 2009
Posts: 132 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Chatterbox
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Male, 20
Country: New Zealand
Province/State: Waikato
City: Hamilton
|
Re: Do YOU take education for granted?
April 25, 2009 - 08:47 PM
|
|
Thank you Meaghan Li,
That was truly an insightful reply
I know what you mean; I have friends who have moved here from China, one when he was a baby and the other when he was 6.
The one who moved when he was a baby treats school like the rest of us kiwi kids. He doesn’t really have a respect for the education system. He does his work but he won’t study and thus doesn’t pass with good grades. The other was brought up with the same regard to education as your relatives who still live in China. This has meant that although he spends long hours working in his families shop after school he still goes home and studies hard. Because of this work ethic he came top in the world for Economics last year in the Cambridge exams.
Then again one of my friends has such a thirst for learning that she thrives on anything to do with it. She will happily study after school, beyond what is asked so that she properly invests in her education. She comes from a family where learning is valued, actively sought out and supported.
Because of her amazing work ethic she is rewarded each year with becoming the top student at our school. She is truly inspiring; more so when you hear the fruits from her learning were 108 excellence credits.
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Jessie James L. Marcellones
Joined: Dec 12, 2008
Posts: 236 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Chatterbox
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Male, 25
Country: Philippines
Province/State: Davao City
City: Davao City
|
Re: Do YOU take education for granted?
April 25, 2009 - 09:56 PM
|
|
I don't take it for granted. EDUCATION is the key to success. Therefore, we should take more time with it; otherwise, we will be left behind. Do you want to be left behind?
regards,
Jessie James
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Meaghan
Joined: Apr 12, 2009
Posts: 30 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Talkative
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Female, 19
Country: New Zealand
Province/State: Auckland
City: Auckland
|
Re: Do YOU take education for granted?
April 25, 2009 - 10:58 PM
|
|
108 excellences...phewww!
It is unfortunate that there are millions upon millions of teenagers who devote so much more time and effort towards their studies who will never be presented the same opportunities as those in first world countries.
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Jessie James L. Marcellones
Joined: Dec 12, 2008
Posts: 236 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Chatterbox
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Male, 25
Country: Philippines
Province/State: Davao City
City: Davao City
|
Re: Do YOU take education for granted?
April 25, 2009 - 11:06 PM
|
|
Opportunities come if you did great in the eyes of judges. If that is the real scenario today, let's start making a difference NOW! as in NOW!
regards,
Jessie James
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
franmarie
Joined: Sep 30, 2006
Posts: 154 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Chatterbox
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Female, 25
Country: Philippines
Province/State: Manila
City: Manila
|
Re: Do YOU take education for granted?
April 26, 2009 - 09:45 AM
|
|
I never take education for granted though sometimes I felt like giving up but I turn it as a challenge for myself. As a matter of fact, right now I'm planning to take post-graduate education or another bachelor's degree that I can combine with my degree to acquire more knowledge, furnish my skills, and develop positive attitude; and also to help me become successful in my endeavors. Education is my only wealth which is priceless!
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Jessie James L. Marcellones
Joined: Dec 12, 2008
Posts: 236 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Chatterbox
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Male, 25
Country: Philippines
Province/State: Davao City
City: Davao City
|
Re: Do YOU take education for granted?
April 26, 2009 - 08:31 PM
|
|
That's great. May you find more success because of education.
regards,
Jessie James
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
franmarie
Joined: Sep 30, 2006
Posts: 154 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Chatterbox
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Female, 25
Country: Philippines
Province/State: Manila
City: Manila
|
Re: Do YOU take education for granted?
April 27, 2009 - 06:32 AM
|
|
marcellones wrote:
That's great. May you find more success because of education.
regards,
Jessie James
Thanks Jessie, And I hope all of us will also be successful in our chosen path through the education that we acquire and self-determination or perseverance...
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Marcus
Joined: Apr 23, 2009
Posts: 132 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Chatterbox
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Male, 20
Country: New Zealand
Province/State: Waikato
City: Hamilton
|
Re: Do YOU take education for granted?
April 27, 2009 - 06:38 AM
|
|
Newklear wrote:
We need our students to have an excellent education, but first we have to decide what an excellent education is in the 21st century."
Jessie and franmarie, you too are both online Would you like to have a discussion about the last question in my essay?
Shall we try and include innovation and technology into our answers?
Lets see if we can come up with an answer to...'What is an excellence education in the 21st century?'
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Jessie James L. Marcellones
Joined: Dec 12, 2008
Posts: 236 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Chatterbox
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Male, 25
Country: Philippines
Province/State: Davao City
City: Davao City
|
Re: Do YOU take education for granted?
April 27, 2009 - 06:38 AM
|
|
In due time, we will. Let's make use of the technology as well to help us learn more knowledge and skills.
regards,
Jessie James
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Jessie James L. Marcellones
Joined: Dec 12, 2008
Posts: 236 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Chatterbox
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Male, 25
Country: Philippines
Province/State: Davao City
City: Davao City
|
Re: Do YOU take education for granted?
April 27, 2009 - 06:44 AM
|
|
Sure, Marcus. For me, education in the 21st century must be more advanced, using the technology and innovation as a tool for learning and making sure that all the fields or courses or subjects are updated.
How about you? That's definition I wrote is not really perfect. It's just an input for us to come up with a good definition through putting together what we all think.
Looking forward to receive yours as well.
regards,
Jessie James
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
Marcus
Joined: Apr 23, 2009
Posts: 132 (view all)
Poster Rank:
Chatterbox
User is
Offline
Gender & Age: Male, 20
Country: New Zealand
Province/State: Waikato
City: Hamilton
|
Re: Do YOU take education for granted?
April 27, 2009 - 06:58 AM
|
|
marcellones wrote:
Sure, Marcus. For me, education in the 21st century must be more advanced, using the technology and innovation as a tool for learning and making sure that all the fields or courses or subjects are updated.
How about you? That's definition I wrote is not really perfect. It's just an input for us to come up with a good definition through putting together what we all think.
Looking forward to receive yours as well.
regards,
Jessie James
Its kind of late here, and I'm pretty tired had Squash Club tonight and I'm exhausted XD
Is it ok if I add mine tomorrow ( my time) after school? Lets try and elaborate more then one or two sentances and aim for maybe 3-4 paragraphs? Could be quite fun
Cya tomorrow
|
|
back to top |
link to this post
|
|
|
Display posts from:
|
