I had a thought the other day. We recently were contacted by someone who asked us a very probing question...what is our dream education? What would be the most ideal way for each of us to be formally educated in a way that makes us feel fulfilled?
This question has been on the back of my mind since I received it, mainly due to the fact that I didn't necessarily have a straight answer. It seems that everyone these days is looking for ways to make their education more personal to their wants and needs, and many colleges do allow for students to formulate their own educational path. High schools, however, do no such thing.
So I started thinking about how I learn, what makes things really stick in my brain and grabs my interest to make me want to learn more.
Oddly enough, I realized this in my dance class. I was taking a class that was just above my skill level, hoping to be more challenged. He would teach us a combination, we would run it a few times with him, then he would have us dance by ourselves while he watched. Then he would stop and make corrections or small reminders that make certain moves look better or easier to perform. In short, it was a combination of teaching and strong interactive learning. In something like dance, it is impossible to learn without doing and also impossible to learn without being willing to make mistakes, and being able to recognize differences between your mistakes and when a move is done correctly.
I left my class feeling challenged, yet strongly fulfilled that I had really learned something. In short, I realized that my dream education would involve strong interactive learning. While I know that most forms of education do require some time in a classroom or burying your face in a book, I feel that I would strongly benefit from an education that allowed me to be able to really experience what I was learning with my own two hands. Anyone can sit in a classroom and imagine what it is like to do just about anything that you learn from a lecture, but personally, I have no way of knowing if it is something that I can or want to participate in. I feel that learning about yourself is just as important in your education as learning anything else.
Food for thought, people. Hope this gets you thinkin the way it did for me!
Stay excellent,
Edwina
