An Attitude to Live By

In mainstream ideologies, education has lost most of its meaning. It is too much result-based. In order to get something, we study accordingly. That's not fundamentally wrong but I'm afraid that it has turn education from experiencing learning into purposeful learning which means if there's not a piece of candy wrapped at the end of learning, we don't learn. Learning is a joyful act; it's an attitude.

There's always hope, and hope... isn't "a dangerous thing". Aside from public education, many others have been created and become more known to us who care enough to act on existing problems we face in education.

Having a "co-learning" group of my own since last August has been another chapter of my life. Rather than teaching, it allows me to realize that this is the job that I have been waiting for all along. However, I couldn't have had the temperament to fulfill my role in this position as their "life teacher". I needed to go through those jobs in the past. They certainly made me, shaped me and enhanced me. Thank you, discomfort, pain ,and suffering.

As we started to talk about education this week, I've been reflecting a lot of the ideas we share in class back on myself. What is co-learning? Why, instead of a job, it is more like just "living" to me? To be honest, it feels so right yet so strange. Perhaps it's guilt knocking.

Co-learning is basically to learn together, simple and clear. We're a small group of 5, myself included. Every day we meet, finish our tasks, find something fun to do; we eat side by side and sometimes sleep shoulder to shoulder too. Living together plays a major part but how we live together is the key.

"How we stay together is more important than staying together."

This is what separates us from others. I am their teacher, parent. and friend; they are my students, children, and friends. This is one of the key concepts in operating a co-learning group, to know the different roles we have at times. The realization is essential because not one single role could create a healthy and balanced relationship.

The students and I are not rivals but partners; I am not the boss but leader. Although, like their school teachers and birth parents, I also have expectations from them but nothing about how well they achieve academically. I just expect them to be people, or at least not bad ones.

Having a good heart makes all the differences. As we learn to be more capable, we are more capable to help and do so because we really want to in our hearts. Our role in life is to make others better. If we cannot co-exist, we can well be "co-doomed". The world isn't dying for another powerful person to rule over us, nor another billionaire to create more jobs that suffer us, nor another medicine to prolong our lives. The world needs Superman... No, I mean the world needs kindness. What's the point of living if we can stand the sight of our differences? We don't have to be the same but we need to live with our differences.

No matter how long I could do what I do. The reason that it suits me well is this attitude, this philosophy of life. I happen to turn 30 this month. It's probably why I get extra sentimental... but I think I've always been somewhat like this. I hope as a reader of this blog, the content has helped you in any way.

#selfreflect

#education